AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS
Diving in Northern Territory
Explore 82 listed dive sites and find the local knowledge to help plan your visit.
THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF
Start with current local advice, not a map pin
Northern Territory records require particular care in how they are used. The NT Government warns that crocodiles occur in coastal, harbour and river environments. A site appearing in this directory is not a recommendation to enter the water. Research the exact activity with a qualified local provider and follow current official access and crocodile-safety guidance.
Choose the setting, then the trip Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
There are 82 published site records across Northern Territory. The recorded categories include wreck (35), reef (12), artificial reef (11), aircraft wreck (8). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.
Start with one of the regional pages below. State-wide totals are useful for browsing, but the actual choice should be made at the level of an operator, a site and a proposed itinerary.
Research operators in Northern Territory →Ask before booking
- Is there a current, appropriate operator-led activity at this location?
- Which official access and wildlife guidance applies?
- What permissions and travel arrangements must be confirmed?
Save the answers with the contact name and date. Separate confirmed arrangements from items still waiting for a reply.
Record your trip questions →Darwin records
Historical, harbour and offshore listings provide research context. Confirm whether a visitor trip is actually offered and appropriate; do not turn a recorded location into a self-directed shore plan.
Remote regions
Resolve permissions, transport and the provider’s operating arrangements before building an itinerary. A place name alone does not establish public access.
Official guidance
Use the NT Government’s current advice and local operational decisions. The absence of a warning in a directory record is not evidence that a hazard is absent.
Questions, answered
How do I choose a dive in Northern Territory?
Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 82 published records are research options, not a list of trips available today. Match the plan to your training, recent experience and the operator’s current requirements.
When should I visit Northern Territory for diving?
Choose dates with a provider who runs the activity you want, then discuss seasonal patterns, recent conditions and alternative itineraries. A generic best-month claim cannot establish the conditions at your exact site or guarantee a wildlife encounter.
Can I use these maps to enter or navigate a dive site?
No. Recorded and approximate map positions support orientation only. Confirm the exact access, permissions, meeting point and route with the responsible local provider or manager.
Regional planning context: NT Government — Be Crocwise ↗. Directory counts come from published YouDive records. Individual site claims remain subject to their source and review notes.
Find your region
Dive sites to explore
WreckDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Amanda Lee
An 18–20 m trepang vessel lying on her port side with wheelhouse, rails and a large Kort nozzle clearly visible and good coral…
WreckDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Antares and Steel Barge
Upright 22 m coastal trader scuttled in 2011 with a steel barge alongside – part of the Antares, Amelia C and Merindah Pearl…
WreckDarwin Harbour
Booya
A complete 1917 three-masted schooner lost with five people in Cyclone Tracy and found by chance in 2003.
WreckDarwin Harbour
British Motorist
Engine-room remains of the tanker that was refuelling USS Peary when the 1942 raid began.
Aircraft WreckDarwin Harbour
C-47 Dakota A65-115
An almost intact RAAF Dakota transport that ditched off Mindil Beach in 1946, reached by a heritage mooring and guide line.
WreckDarwin Harbour
DK 06 Ham Luong
A small, upright refugee boat packed with fish, in reach of two other wrecks on the same dive.
WreckDarwin Harbour
Ellengowan
Darwin Harbour's oldest known shipwreck - an 1866 Norwegian-built missionary steamer with its boiler standing proud.
WreckDarwin Harbour
John Holland Barge
An upturned construction barge whose cylinders and beams form a maze of overhangs full of fish.
WreckDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Marchart 3
The 32 m ex-research vessel and prawn trawler that founded the Fenton Patches reef field in 1988 – upright, intact and heavily…
WreckDarwin Harbour
Medkhanun 3
A modern confiscated fishing boat lying intact on its side, with holds and wheelhouse visible - the shallowest of the complex.
WreckDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
SS Brisbane
The NT's largest surviving colonial wreck: an 85 m 1881 steamer whose boilers break the surface at low springs while the intact…
WreckDarwin Harbour
SS Mauna Loa
Holds still full of 1942 war cargo - trucks, Bren carriers, a Harley-Davidson and ammunition.
WreckDarwin Harbour
SS Zealandia
The former Huddart Parker liner and troopship, now the most coral-covered of the 1942 raid wrecks.
WreckDarwin Harbour
USAT Meigs
The largest ship sunk in the 1942 raid, with a Bren gun carrier in the bow, trucks, railway iron and ammunition dumps still on…
WreckDarwin Harbour
USS Peary
The US destroyer sunk with 88 of her crew in the first raid on Darwin; the harbour's deepest and most solemn WWII dive.
WreckDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Amelia C
A 25 m prawn trawler cleaned by Darwin Sub Aqua Club volunteers and scuttled in 2013 – upright, open and busy with snapper and…
Aircraft WreckDarwin Harbour
Beaufort A9-497
An intact RAAF Beaufort bomber with guns and cockpit instruments in place, found by sonar and kept undisturbed.
WreckDarwin Harbour
Bellbird
An upturned Cyclone Tracy trawler draped in gorgonians, a few minutes from the CBD and sheltered from the trade winds.
Artificial ReefDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Bottlewasher Artificial Reef
An old Coca-Cola bottle-washing machine surrounded by 1,500 tonnes of concrete culverts – a shallow, fishy and unmistakably…
IslandEast Arnhem Land & Gove
Bremer Island
Gove's closest island dive: colourful fringing coral in the shallows and sponge- and fan-filled caves deeper down, with turtles…
Artificial ReefDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Bus Stop Reef
An improvised early-1990s reef of steel pontoons, truck tyres, concrete bus shelters and a 10 m boat, known for very large cod.
Aircraft WreckDarwin Harbour
Catalina A24-1 (Catalina 1)
The RAAF's first Catalina, crashed on take-off in 1945 and left on a mangrove mud bank where its engines show at low tide.
Aircraft WreckDarwin Harbour
Catalina A24-206 (Catalina 3)
An RAAF Catalina sunk by an accidental depth-charge explosion in 1945 that killed two airmen; nose section intact.
Aircraft WreckDarwin Harbour
Catalina A24-69 (Catalina 2)
The most intact RAAF Catalina in the harbour, with its bow and cockpit section still recognisable in 10-12 m.