Diving the HMNZS Canterbury
A guide to the wreck
The HMNZS Canterbury is a former New Zealand Navy frigate lying in Deep Water Cove, about 30 minutes by boat from Paihia. She was sunk on purpose in 2007 to make a dive site, and she has become one of the best-known wreck dives in the country. This guide covers her history, what you’ll find on the wreck, when to dive her and who can go.
At a glance
- Top of the wreck: 14 metres
- Decks: 22 to 28 metres
- Seabed: 32 metres at the bow, 36 metres at the stern
- Length: 113 metres
- Sunk: 3 November 2007, Deep Water Cove, Bay of Islands
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The full guide
Her history
The Canterbury was a Leander-class frigate, built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotland and commissioned into the Royal New Zealand Navy in October 1971. She was 113 metres long, and in 34 years of service she went a long way from home.
In 1973 she sailed to Mururoa Atoll as New Zealand’s official protest against French nuclear testing. That’s the same cause the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was working for when she was bombed in Auckland twelve years later. Today both ships lie within a morning’s drive of each other off the Northland coast. The Canterbury also patrolled the Indian Ocean in the early 1980s and served with the international peacekeeping force in East Timor in 1999.
She was decommissioned in March 2005. The Bay of Islands Canterbury Charitable Trust had her cleaned and prepared for divers, and she was scuttled in Deep Water Cove on 3 November 2007.
The wreck today
She sits upright on the seabed. The top of the wreck is at 14 metres and her decks lie between 22 and 28 metres. The seabed is at 32 metres at the bow and 36 metres at the stern. She’s a big ship, so one dive covers part of her, not all of her. Most divers explore the superstructure, the bridge and the upper deck, and the helicopter hangar at the stern is a highlight.
Nearly twenty years underwater have covered her in encrusting life: sponges and jewel anemones in big patches of colour, with the pink jewel anemones at their best when they spawn in winter. Schools of bigeye (cave fish) live inside the wreck, and schools of sweep hang above her. Snapper and kingfish are regulars. In winter, hundreds of crayfish have made the wreck their home.
Deep Water Cove lies in Maunganui Bay, which has been under a rāhui since 2010, placed by the local hapū Ngāti Kuta and Patukeha. The bay is closed to fishing, although taking kina (sea urchins) is still allowed. The fish life has responded, and the Canterbury sits right in the middle of it.
How the day works
Trips leave Paihia at 8:30am on our boat Sentinel. The run out to Deep Water Cove takes about 30 minutes. You’ll do two dives: the Canterbury first, then a reef dive nearby, with a surface interval in between and lunch on board if you’ve ordered it. There’s a toilet on board. We’re back alongside in Paihia at about 3:30pm.
The trip is $269 with your own gear, $309 with tanks and weights, or $369 with all equipment. Open Water divers diving the wreck with an instructor add $50 for the Deep Adventure Dive. The full list is on our rates page.
Who can dive her
You don’t need to be an Advanced diver, and you don’t need to bring a group. We take individual bookings.
- Open Water divers dive the Canterbury with one of our instructors as an SSI Deep Adventure Dive, which counts towards the SSI Advanced Open Water course. You’ll need to have dived within the last year.
- Open Water divers with deep experience who can show proof of dives to 30 metres dive with the group at the standard rate, without the Deep Adventure Dive.
- Advanced divers need to have dived within the last 18 months.
- Been out of the water a while? Our Refresher gets you back up to speed first.
When to dive her
Deep Water Cove is sheltered, so the Canterbury can often be dived when more exposed sites can’t. Autumn usually brings the best visibility of the year, 15 to 30 metres or more. Winter averages around 15 metres. Summer swings anywhere from 8 to over 20 metres, and spring is the least reliable at around 8 to 12. Water temperatures run from about 16°C in late winter to about 22°C in February. For most of the year a 7mm wetsuit with hood and gloves is the call; in the height of summer a 5mm is fine. There’s more on the seasons on our Bay of Islands page.
If the weather’s against us, we make the call, usually the day before, and refund you in full if we cancel.
Want to see where else we dive? Explore all our Bay of Islands and Cavalli Islands dive sites.
Planning a wreck trip? See how the Canterbury and the Rainbow Warrior compare with other wreck dives around New Zealand.
Book the Canterbury
Press the Book Now button below to see dates and book online, or call the shop on 0800 107 551.
Diving Packages
Experience Scuba Diving in the Bay Of Islands.
important information
Before diving with Paihia Dive please have a look at our Understanding The Risks form, as this will need to be completed before joining any of our trips. If you are doing any dive training including Intro Dives or refreshers, please have a look at our Medical Form, if required you may need to get your doctor to sign you off as fit to dive, before completing the activity.