BAY OF ISLANDS, New Zealand (19 Nov 2007) — Commercial and recreational divers have been given the all-clear to dive the Canterbury. The Bay of Islands Canterbury Trust declared the former naval frigate - which was scuttled near Cape Brett on November 3 - free of explosives last week after navy divers inspected the wreck on Tuesday. The trust asks people planning to dive the wreck - which sits in 30 metres of water at Deep Water Cove - to observe its code of conduct. Auckland diver Paul Morris says the Canterbury promises to become one of the country's top dive sites. The cove's sheltered location and clear water make it ideal for diving, says Mr Morris who has dived about 100 times since he took up diving a year ago. Underwater visibility at the cove can reach up to 60 metres in certain conditions, he says. Visibility at many other popular dive sites in the North Island - including HMNZS Tui and HMNZS Waikato at Tutukaka near Whangarei - is only a fraction of that at the cove, he says. Visibility at the Poor Knights - rated by SCUBA pioneer Jacques Cousteau as one of the top 10 dive locations in the world - averages 20 metres between mid January and late April. Plankton can reduce visibility to as low as 10 metres between September and early January. Meanwhile, the open sea location of the Rainbow Warrior at Matauri Bay makes that wreck unsafe to dive in bad weather. Swift currents in the Cook Strait make the HMNZS Wellington a challenging dive even under favourable weather conditions. | The navy's last steam warship -- HMNZS Canterbury now sits in 28 metres of water in the Far North as the country's newest dive attraction. By contrast, less experienced divers will be able to dive the Canterbury which is 150 metres from shore and visible to snorkellers at five metres. Mr Morris plans to dive the Canterbury every few months to photograph changes to the wreck as marine species make it their home. He will post the photos on his web site, www.diveplanet.co.nz, which has information about Northland's dive sites and wrecks. SOURCE - Northern NewsSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba ForumCDNN RELATED NEWSNEW ZEALAND - HMNZS Canterbury newest dive attraction | 
