Challenger Deep is the deepest known point on earth. Located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It is named after the British Royal Navy ship the HMS Challenger that first discovered it during a 1872-1876 expedition, and the HMS Challenger II who determined it's record breaking depth in 1951. Due to the difficulties in work at such extreme depths the exact depth of Challenger Deep is an estimation of 10,935m.

The first crewed descent was in January 1960 by the bathyscaphe Trieste. In March 2012, a solo descent was made by film director James Cameron in his vessel the Deepsea Challenger. As of July 2022, 27 people have descended to Challenger Deep. We will be joining that exclusive group in 2024!

So what is the 'Descent to Challenger Deep' challenge?

As a diving community we will conduct regular club dives, over the next 12 months. These dive depths will accumulate until we reach our goal depth of 10, 935m - the deepest known point of Challenger Deep.

We are raising funds for Wellington Volunteer Coastguard as we know they will be there for us should any of our divers get into trouble; and I Am Hope as diving has so many benefits for mental health.