By Ian Stuart of NZPA

Auckland NZPA Feb 28 - The tsunami warning system has been given the thumbs up by a Northland dive centre who says the lessons have been well learned from last year's devastating tsunami which hit Samoa.

The 2009 tsunami hit Samoa after an submarine earthquake in the area on September 29. It killed more than 180 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, and wiped out dozens of houses.

After the Samoan tsunami the New Zealand the warning system was heavily criticised for the lack of information for New Zealand coastal areas.

"We had to gather our own information. There was a lot of confusion," Jeroen Jongejans, who runs Dive Tutukaka, told NZPA today.

He said today the warning system worked very well.

"This time right from day one communications has been pretty good and we know what is happening and we have all been well prepared so it has been a good exercise."

He said he received his first call from the civil defence authorities at 3am and that gave him time to get his five dive boats out of the Tutukaka marina and into the harbour or off shore before the first of the surges arrived.

Most other boats stayed in the marina.

"It was really good to see the level or preparedness this time compared with last time.

"It is thumbs up on this one."

He said the warnings today were "conservative but not stupid, just informative and everybody was aware. There was a good deal of communication everywhere".

Mr Jongejans said some boats carried on with dive charters to the Poor Knights off the Northland coast which was deep water up to 100 metres and largely unaffected by the swell which hit the east coast of the North Island.

"At the off shore islands you hardly notice it. It goes up and down a little bit.

"There are no shallow areas that build up very quickly. Nothing like the Tutukaka entrance where you have a shallow area, a narrow entrance and where water moves in and out with a lot of current running."

The surge was estimated at one metre when it hit Tutukaka and the tidal flow as estimated at 12 knots but Mr Jongejans said by 11.30am the surges were easing off.

Another person who was impressed with the warning systems was Ann Siddall, who lives on Herald Island in Auckland's Waitemata harbour.

"I was woken at six o'clock by a person with a loud hailer, warning of the tsunami, and that warning was repeated very hour on the hour. It was very impressive."