Rockingham Wreck Trail

Meet the site

The Rockingham Wreck Trail, also called the Churchill Park Dive Trail, is Perth's busiest dive site and where many WA divers did their training. It began to take shape around 1987 when Malibu Dive opened in Rockingham, and the steam tug Petrel (1895) was scuttled here in 1985. Over the years clubs and dive shops added small boats, aircraft, steel frames and tyres, connected by pole-and-rope lines in 10–17 m.

The trail as currently documented includes the timber motor boat MV Target (about 10 m long, sunk 1991, 12 m), the motor cruiser Old Timer (the deepest, about 17 m), a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air (sunk 1998, tail removed, half buried) and a smaller Cessna (1999), both at 12 m, an upright steel chicken coop at 17 m, a collapsed coop at 15 m, and tyre piles at 10 m and 14 m, the larger rising 3 m. Older lists also name the Unsinkable, the Luna Sea and the Petrel. Storms in the mid-2000s buried or broke up several items, so the trail changes over time.

The structures are heavily encrusted with soft corals and sponges and are prime habitat for macro life. The chicken coop is known for seahorses, and divers also find octopus, cuttlefish, wrasse, blennies, eels, crustaceans, rays and, in winter, Port Jackson sharks.

The drawback is visibility. Silt and heavy use mean 2–5 m is typical, and visibility worsens as the day goes on. On a quiet winter weekday it can reach 10 m or more.

The trail suits students, newly certified divers practising navigation, night divers and macro photographers. With permanent lines, a dive flag and shelter from most winds, it is dependable and easy to organise.

What you might see

West Australian seahorses, octopus, cuttlefish, wrasse, blennies, eels, crustaceans, nudibranchs, rays, Port Jackson sharks (winter), soft corals, sponges

Location

A trail of small scuttled boats, two light aircraft, steel structures and tyre reefs in 10–18 m, about 100–150 m off Rockingham Beach from the end of Flinders Lane.

Facilities nearby

Car park at the end of Flinders Lane; Rockingham foreshore toilets, showers, cafes and restaurants within a short walk; dive shops and air fills in Rockingham.