SSI Advanced Wreck Diving Specialty

Take your wreck skills further over three days on the navy frigate HMNZS Canterbury and the Rainbow Warrior (weather permitting).

Over three days you do six dives: four SSI Advanced Wreck Diving dives on the wrecks, plus two shallower reef dives where you practise the skills in calm, shallow conditions first. It builds on Wreck Diving with more wreck mapping and technique.

Includes: instruction with an SSI instructor, SSI digital learning and certification, and six boat dives (four Advanced Wreck dives, two shallower reef dives for skills practice).

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/