Bay of Islands · New Zealand · Wreck · Artificial reef
Rainbow Warrior
The Greenpeace ship bombed in 1985, now a dive wreck at 26 m
Photo: Hans van Dijk for Anefo · CC0
The Rainbow Warrior was scuttled in Matauri Bay, in the Cavalli Islands, in December 1987, two years after French intelligence agents bombed her in the Port of Auckland and killed a photographer on board. She lies at a maximum of 26 m and has been down long enough that the hull now carries a large colony of varicoloured sea anemones, with a huge variety of aquatic life on the structure.
Also known as Jewel of the North.
Where it is and how deep
34.9748° S, 173.9349° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Boats leave from Matauri Bay and the wreck is eight minutes offshore, so there is little sitting around between kitting up and dropping in. The Warrior bottoms out at 26 m, and that maximum is the number to plan around: bottom time rather than distance is what limits how much of the ship you cover. Dive North run the wreck as the first dive of the day, then move on to a Cavalli Islands beach for lunch and snorkelling and a reef dive in the afternoon.
The growth is what registers first. A large colony of varicoloured sea anemones covers the hull, so the ship reads as a coloured shape at range and the deck lines, rails and superstructure only resolve when you are close to them. The wreck is now home to a huge variety of aquatic life, so it pays to stop moving for a few minutes and let the fish settle back around the structure.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Rainbow Warrior
- Type
- Greenpeace campaign vessel, ex-trawler
- Built
- 1955
- Sunk
- 1987
- Cause
- Scuttled as a dive wreck and artificial reef, two years after being bombed by French DGSE agents
- Lies
- In Matauri Bay, off the Cavalli Islands, with a maximum depth of 26 m
Built in 1955 as the trawler Sir William Hardy and later run by Greenpeace, the Rainbow Warrior was sabotaged just before midnight on 10 July 1985, in the Port of Auckland, by two explosive devices attached to her hull by operatives of the French intelligence service, the DGSE. One of the twelve people on board, photographer Fernando Pereira, went back aboard after the first explosion to retrieve his equipment and was killed by the second, larger blast. The wreck was refloated on 21 August 1985 and moved to a naval harbour for forensic examination, then scuttled in Matauri Bay, in the Cavalli Islands, on 12 December 1987 to serve as a dive wreck and artificial reef.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows Bay of Islands: Jan–May is warmest and clearest as the East Auckland Current pushes south; winter is cold, green and frequently blown out.
Know before you go
- The wreck bottoms out at 26 m, past the Open Water limit and short on no-decompression time; take the deepest part of the ship early and finish the dive on the shallower structure.
Dive videos
The Rainbow Warrior Wreck Dive · Doyle Larsson on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Rainbow Warrior wreck?+
The maximum depth on the wreck is 26 m. That is past what an Open Water certification covers, so it is a dive for someone with deep experience.
How do you get to the Rainbow Warrior?+
By boat from Matauri Bay, an eight-minute run out to the wreck. Dive North run it as a day trip from Paihia, starting at 7:45am at their Williams Road shop and leaving at 8:30am by minibus and trailer.
Sources
- Rainbow Warrior (1955) - Wikipedia — Wikipedia
- Rainbow Warrior dive trip — Dive North (Paihia Dive)
Photo credits
- Black and white photo of the original Rainbow Warrior docked in Amsterdam harbour, 1981 by Hans van Dijk for Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
- Ships sunk on purpose, and where to dive themWrecks · 14 min read
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