AUSTRALIA BELOW THE SURFACE
Every wreck has a story.
Historic ships, former naval vessels and scattered remains. Explore Australia’s wreck-diving places—and learn how to read the story behind the steel.
AI illustration of a fictional wreck. Not a photograph, site plan or equipment demonstration.
HISTORY. HABITAT. EXPLORATION.
Find the wreck.
Understand the dive.
A wreck’s name and depth are only the beginning. Its history, condition, access rules and the route you intend to dive all matter. Use this section to discover places, compare records and ask better questions of local operators.
Our directory includes wreck remains and reef sites associated with wrecks. Inclusion does not mean a site is currently open, regularly visited or suitable for every diver.
10 CHAPTERS • ORIGINAL EXPLANATIONS
Start with the learning guide
Understand the wreck you are looking at
Distinguish a vessel’s history from the kind of dive it offers.
Read depth, access and location correctly
Turn a directory entry into questions that can be verified.
Choose a first wreck for the experience you have
Compare the proposed trip, not a list of famous names.
Know the boundary between outside and inside
Recognise when the environment changes the training question.
Account for conditions and a changing structure
Read current notices before relying on old descriptions.
Connect training and equipment to the intended dive
Ask what a course teaches before choosing equipment or a certification.
Treat wrecks as heritage, not souvenirs
Find the applicable site rules and leave the evidence in place.
Photograph the wreck without changing the dive
Build a visual story from the route you have already agreed.
Build a booking that can survive a change of plan
Resolve practical questions before committing travel time and money.
Turn the dive into a better understanding of the wreck
Record observations that can improve your next visit and the directory.
A FEW STARTING POINTS
Wrecks to research
Explore these records for history, maps and local context. Recorded depths and operator links need confirmation for your actual trip; this is not a ranking or a list of guaranteed departures.
WreckSunshine Coast
Ex-HMAS Brisbane
Queensland's great destroyer wreck – 133 m, upright, funnels 3 m below the surface and 1000+ species – now with a…
Artificial ReefPort Phillip Heads
ex-HMAS Canberra
A 138 m guided-missile frigate scuttled in 2009 and sitting almost upright in 28–32 m with the bridge at 8 m – bridge, galley,…
WreckFleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor
Ex-HMAS Hobart
A 133 m guided missile destroyer sitting upright in 30 m with the superstructure from 5 m, and the only prepared naval wreck in…
WreckHervey Bay & K'gari
ex-HMAS Tobruk
Australia's largest military dive wreck – a 127 m landing ship lying on her side, with the shallowest point at 11 m for Open…
WreckGeographe Bay & Busselton
HMAS Swan Wreck
A 113 m warship upright in 31 m with the crow's nest at 8 m and cut-outs for safe penetration - Australia's first purpose-sunk…
WreckTownsville & Magnetic Island
SS Yongala
A 109 m passenger steamer lost with all 122 aboard in the 1911 cyclone, lying almost intact on its side and swarmed by giant…
BROWSE BY STATE & NAME
Explore the wreck directory
560 wreck-related recordsRecorded information, not live availability
WreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
PS Yarra Yarra wreck
An upright 1851 paddle steamer with both paddlewheels still standing, just north of Newcastle Harbour.
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Quarantine Station Anchor
A large concreted Admiralty-pattern anchor from the quarantine-station era standing alone on the sand at 11 m off Point Nepean –…
Details need confirmationWreckBruny Island & D'Entrecasteaux Channel
Quiet Corner – Natal Queen Wreck
Easy kelp-garden snorkel over the anchors and iron ribs of the 1909 barque Natal Queen.
Details need confirmationWreckNingaloo – Coral Bay
Rapid
One of WA's oldest wrecks, once carpeted with Spanish silver coins.
WreckRottnest Island
Raven Wreck
A hunt through kelp for the ballast stones and sheathing of an 1891 barque lost under a drunken skipper.
Artificial ReefDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Rick Mills Artificial Reef
Plant equipment, 1,500 tonnes of concrete culverts and five shipping containers in 15 m, with the Van Bruggen yacht wreck nearby.
WreckPort Phillip Heads
RMS Australia
The boilers, shafts and plating of a 142 m P&O mail steamer that struck Corsair Rock in 1904, strewn over 300 m of reef in 3–8 m…
WreckPerth
RMS Orizaba Wreck
The boilers, engine and steering gear of a 140 m Orient liner wrecked in 1905, swarming with fish on shallow Five Fathom Bank.
WreckFar Northern Reef & Torres Strait
RMS Quetta wreck
A coral-encrusted 1890 royal mail steamer teeming with fish, often compared with the Yongala – dived only at slack water.
Artificial ReefPerth
Rockingham Wreck Trail
Perth's most-dived shore site: two light aircraft, small scuttled boats and steel structures joined by rope lines in 10–17 m,…
Aircraft WreckBroome & Kimberley
Roebuck Bay Flying Boat Wrecks (deep-water Catalinas)
WWII Catalina flying boats sunk in the 1942 Broome raid, with engines and turret still recognisable.
WreckRottnest Island
Rottnest Ships' Graveyard
Dozens of deliberately scuttled vessels, mostly unseen, in 46-200 m - Perth's frontier for technical wreck exploration.
WreckRottnest Island
Rottnest Wreck Trail
Thirteen historic wrecks linked by plaques and plinths, with two easy snorkel wrecks and a land trail from the museum to Bathurst…
Artificial ReefHervey Bay & K'gari
Roy Rufus Artificial Reef
Hervey Bay's signature dive: historic hulls, barges and car bodies scattered over about 3 km² off Big Woody Island, three ships…
WreckNorth Stradbroke Island
Rufus King Wreck
The broken stern of a 1942 Liberty ship that grounded carrying bombers and aviation fuel for the Pacific war.
Details need confirmationWreckLord Howe Island
Runic wreck (Middleton Reef)
The fire-blackened hulk of a 13,500-ton ship, landmark of Middleton Reef since 1961.
Details need confirmationWreckRottnest Island
Salmon Bay Unidentified Wreck
A lone boiler, shaft and propeller of unknown origin in clear 26 m water off Salmon Bay.
WreckPilbara & Dampier
Samson Wrecks
Trawler and barge wrecks turned into fish-rich artificial reefs.
Details need confirmationWreckDarwin Harbour
Sandbar Barge
A small upright barge near Cullen Bay that punches above its weight for snapper, jewfish and cod.
Details need confirmationShore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Sandringham Pier Breakwater
Breakwater built partly from old ship hulks, with the J7 submarine wreck 150 m away; sheltered, fishy and good at night.
WreckEsperance & Recherche Archipelago
Sanko Harvest Wreck
Australia's largest wreck dive – a 174 m bulk carrier broken into giant sections in 13-44 m, protected by a 500 m no-take zone.
WreckEast Arnhem Land & Gove
Sanyo Maru
A 1937 Japanese pearling mother-ship in 26 m off Arnhem Land – archaeologically significant and inside a closed 200 ha protected…
ReefCoral Sea
Saumarez Reef
A remote crescent reef with vast coral meadows, turtles and a Second World War Liberty ship wreck.
WreckPerth
Saxon Ranger Wreck
An intact 38 m trawler scuttled as a dive wreck in 18–20 m, with public moorings and cut access holes, only minutes from the…
Go deeper into the history
Use heritage records to investigate a vessel’s identity and story, then check site managers and operators separately for present-day access.
DCCEEW — Underwater cultural heritage
Australian underwater heritage framework and research resources.
Open primary source ↗WA Museum — Maritime Archaeology Databases
Researching ship identities, archaeological records and artefacts.
Open primary source ↗DCCEEW — Underwater heritage protected zones
Site-specific protected zones and activities requiring permission.
Open primary source ↗