SSI Advanced Open Water Diver
The SSI Advanced Open Water Course is the next step in your diving career. The course consists of 5 dives and with us will see you diving the Rainbow Warrior and Canterbury wrecks.The Course takes 2 days to complete. There is theory to complete for each dive however, the focus is on learning through experience. There is no final exam like the Open Water Course and after you have completed the theory and the 5 dives you will be certified to dive to 30m anywhere in the world.The course includes a dive day on the Rainbow Warrior, and then a day to the Canterbury wreck. Depending on trip schedule we can swap these days around.Rainbow WarriorDive Day (2 dives)We meet at the shop at 07:45am and sort out paper work and gear. We then load our trailer and minibus and set off for Matauri Bay. At Matauri Bay we load our 7.5m 250hp powered inflatable with gear and launch it off the beach. From here it is a 10min ride to the Wreck of the Rainbow Warrior. We do the wreck as the Deep dive or the Wreck dive if done as the 2nd day of the course. The Warrior lies on a sandy seabed at 26m deep. She has been down for 30 years and has an incredible amount of fish life and encrusting life. After the wreck dive it is a quick ride to the beach for lunch and then another short ride to a reef site in the Cavalli Islands. This reef dive is one of the elective dives, but normally we do Fish ID, Photography, Boat, or Peak Performance Buoyancy. There are hundreds of dive sites to choose from and our experienced skippers will select the best one for the conditions. After the reef dive we head back to the beach to retrieve the boat and head back to Paihia. We are typically back around 04:00pm - 04:30pm.Canterbury DiveDay (3 dives)We meet at the shop at 07:45am and sort out paper work and gear. We then load our trolleys and stroll down to the Paihia Wharf (100yards from the shop). Here we load or 11.5m twin 300hp powered hard top aluminium boat. After a short safety briefing we cast off and head through the beautiful Bay of Islands. It is a 40min ride to deep water cove where the HMNZSCanterbury is resting bolt upright on a sandy seabed at 36m. This is either the Deep dive or Wreck dive. The wreck is 114m long and is 14m deep at its shallowest and 36m at its deepest. There is a lot to see including, gunning mounts, telephones, bridge, helicopter hanger and missile room. Deep water cove has been a marine reserve for 10yrs now and this really shows with abundant fish life and a wreck covered in anemones, crayfish and eels. After the wreck dive we head to a shallower reef area to do the Navigation Dive. We then have some lunch on the boat and then head to a reef site for our third dive. This is the last elective dive and you can choose from one of the many options. Our experienced skipper will pick the best site for the conditions on the day. After our last dive it is back to Paihia wharf to unload and log those dives. We are typically back around 03:30pm - 04:30pm depending on numbers and what we see whilst in the bay!
