Off to Tauranga on a three day dive trip. I went with Dive HQ from Wellington and the local Tauranga dive shop taking us out on the water was Dive Zone Tauranga.

We headed out of the marina for Motiti Island. On the way we passed by Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano and a sacred Maori site.

Mount Maunganui

Motiti Island

We were aiming for the Taioma Tug Boat Wreck but had a bit of a misfire. The buoy attached to the mooring line on the wreck had gone missing making the wreck difficult to locate. We went to the known GPS coordinates of the wreck but it had shifted as wrecks can move around a fair bit due to tides, current, swell, and storms.

Eventually the wreck was located using sonar and the anchor was dropped as close as possible. However, by the time we got geared up and got in the water as a group, the boat had changed location and dragged the anchor away. The plan was to tie a line to the anchor, dive out to the extent of the line, and do a circular search pattern for the wreck.

 

In Search of the Taioma

Unfortunately, we never did find it. We headed back up the anchor and ended the dive early. These things happen.

Location: Tauranga, Motiti Island, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Dive Number:   183 Bottom Time: 22m Time In: 11:37 a.m. Tank In: Max Depth: 28.40 ft Table Used:

Mix:   Air Safety Stop: 3m Time Out: 11:59 a.m. Tank Out: Average Depth: 17.40 ft Start Pressure Group:

Surface Interval:   End Pressure Group:

blog comments powered by Disqus