SSI Deep Diving Specialty

The SSI Deep Diving specialty extends your range to 40 metres, the limit of recreational diving.

Over two days you do four dives: three deep dives for the course, building up your depth gradually, plus a reef dive. You'll learn how depth affects you and your air, how to plan a deeper dive, and the use of hang tanks and pony bottles. It's a good course if you want to explore the deeper parts of the HMNZS Canterbury or reach some of the deeper dive sites around the Bay of Islands.

Includes: instruction with an SSI instructor, SSI digital learning and certification, and four boat dives (three deep, one reef).

Requirements: SSI Open Water Diver or equivalent. Minimum age 15.

Gear hire

Gear hire is extra and can be added on the next page: full gear hire $100 (regulator, BC, wetsuit, tanks, weights, mask, snorkel and fins), or tanks and weights only $40.

How the dive days run

Your dive days run from our two wreck trips, and we plan the order of the days around the weather.

Canterbury day

We meet at the shop at 7:45 a.m. to sort out paperwork and gear, then walk down to Paihia Wharf, 100 metres from the shop, and board our 11.5 m hard-top boat. After a safety briefing we head out through the Bay of Islands to Deep Water Cove, where the HMNZS Canterbury sits upright on a sandy seabed. She is 114 metres long, 14 metres deep at her shallowest and 36 metres at her deepest, and there is plenty to see, including the gun mounts, bridge and helicopter hangar. Between dives we have lunch on board, and the second dive is on the wreck or a reef in the cove. We're usually back around 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Rainbow Warrior day

We meet at the shop at 7:45 a.m. to sort out paperwork and gear, then load the trailer and minibus and drive north to Matauri Bay. We launch our 7.5 m powered inflatable off the beach, and it's about a 10-minute ride to the wreck. The Rainbow Warrior lies on a sandy seabed at 26 metres and is covered in fish and encrusting life. After the wreck dive we stop on a beach for lunch, then do a reef dive in the Cavalli Islands, with the site chosen for the conditions. We're usually back in Paihia around 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Rainbow Warrior day depends on the weather.

UNDERSTANDING THE RISKS

I accept that this activity inherently involves risks and potential hazards. The risks and hazards include, but are not limited to breathing compressed gas, Marine traffic, Marine life, Decompression sickness, Drowning, Barotrauma, Air embolism, Hypothermia, Decompression illness, Dehydration, Gas Narcosis, Malfunctioning Equipment, Ear Problems, Sun damage and overheating, Adverse Weather.

I am aware that participating in the Diving/Snorkelling offered by Paihia Dive and Fishing (2010) Ltd can be hazardous if they are not conducted with care, control, and responsibility. I acknowledge that these risks could result in my injury (physical or mental) or even death.

Full course details, what to bring and common questions: https://divenz.com/dive-training/specialty-course/