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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
BROWSE BY STATE & NAME
Explore the wreck directory
103 wreck-related recordsRecorded information, not live availability
WreckSydney Harbour
Itata wreck (Salt Pan Creek)
The burnt-out iron hull of an 1883 barque abandoned in a mangrove-lined Middle Harbour creek – Sydney's zero-visibility training…
WreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
LVT-4A amphibious tank (Stockton Beach)
An upright WWII 'Water Buffalo' amphibious tank in 33 m off Stockton Beach, lost in a 1954 exercise.
WreckEden & Green Cape
Lanercost
Scattered remains of an 1872 timber barque, identified by an 1864 US cent, in two gullies near Mowarry Point.
WreckSydney Northern Beaches
M24 Japanese midget submarine (protected zone – no diving)
The midget submarine that torpedoed HMAS Kuttabul in 1942, found by recreational divers in 2006 off Bungan Head at 55 m – a…
WreckSydney Northern Beaches
MV Bellubera wreck
A 1910 Manly ferry in two pieces with an intact bow and open, fish-filled interior at 45 m.
WreckSouth West Rocks
MV Fairwind wreck
A 1950 Army lighter lost with all hands in a cyclone, undiscovered until 2009 and now one of Australia's premier deep technical…
WreckSydney South & Botany Bay
MV Malabar wreck (Long Bay)
Massive swim-through diesel engine, propeller, rudder and anchors of a 107 m passenger liner in just 9–10 m, reachable from shore.
WreckJervis Bay
Marina Star
A modern trawler wreck at 60 m off Point Perpendicular with instruments still visible inside.
Details need confirmationShore/Rock PlatformSydney Harbour
Middle Head (Cobblers Beach and Obelisk Beach)
Unvisited boulder reef, sponge gardens and a small wreck around a national-park headland between the two harbours, reached from…
ReefLord Howe Island
Middleton Reef
Remote southernmost coral reef with Galapagos sharks and black cod, and the hulk of the Runic on the reef flat.
Shore/Rock PlatformLord Howe Island
North Bay
Secluded lagoon bay with coral, turtles and a 1965 tuna-boat wreck, reached only on foot or by boat.
Cave/CavernCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
North Solitary Island – Elbow Cave
An easy, current-free swim-through cave surrounded by extraordinarily dense anemone beds and a 1980s trawler wreck, allowing…
WreckEden & Green Cape
Olive Cam
Boiler, engine and anchor of a WWII minesweeper-turned-trawler in shallow gullies south of Eden.
WreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
PS Commodore wreck
A scuttled 1878 paddlewheel tug with the remains of a paddlewheel still recognisable in 36 m.
WreckCentral Coast
PS Maitland wreck (Maitland Bay)
The boilers of the 1898 'Maitland Storm' paddle steamer on the rock platform of a beautiful, protected national park bay.
WreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
PS Yarra Yarra wreck
An upright 1851 paddle steamer with both paddlewheels still standing, just north of Newcastle Harbour.
WreckLord Howe Island
Runic wreck (Middleton Reef)
The fire-blackened hulk of a 13,500-ton ship, landmark of Middleton Reef since 1961.
Details need confirmationWreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
SS Advance wreck (Catherine Hill Bay)
An upright, relatively intact 1908 tug with boiler, galley stove and side plating in place, alone on sand off Catherine Hill Bay.
WreckSydney South & Botany Bay
SS Annie M. Miller wreck
Complete 1928 collier on her side at 43–46 m with engine, boiler, funnel and masts close to the Heads, sheltered from the strong…
WreckSydney Northern Beaches
SS Birchgrove Park wreck
The most intact wreck off Sydney – a 1930 collier lost in a 1956 southerly buster, with enterable bridge and forecastle in 51 m.
WreckWollongong & Kiama
SS Bombo
Upturned 46 m collier broken open by storms, with an exposed triple-expansion engine, boiler and a separated upright stern…
WreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
SS Bonnie Dundee wreck
A compact two-part 1879 steamer wreck off Swansea with an exposed boiler, engine, rudder and propeller - and dense fish schools.
WreckNewcastle & Lake Macquarie
SS Byron wreck (Redhead)
An undived-since-1996 timber wreck in 40 m off Redhead - an exploration target for technical divers.
Details need confirmationWreckForster & Seal Rocks
SS Catterthun wreck
An 1895 gold-carrying steamer wrecked with 54 lives lost near Seal Rocks — now a deep technical wreck dive at 55-60 m, with an…
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 ↗