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
52 wreck-related recordsRecorded information, not live availability
WreckKangaroo Island
Loch Vennachar Wreck
The scattered iron of a Loch Line clipper that vanished with all hands in 1905, beneath the cliffs at West Bay.
WreckAdelaide Metro
MV Andrew Wilson Wreck
A 1962 grab hopper dredger scuttled in September 2026 as Adelaide's newest wreck, with bridge, galley and engine room accessible.
WreckAdelaide Metro
MV Seawolf Wreck
A 1940s Japanese tuna boat lying on its side in 20 m, a club-built wreck that forms a two-wreck dive with the HA Lumb.
WreckYorke Peninsula
MV Yatala Reef Wreck
A burnt-out 1948 ex-RAAF motor vessel at 11 m that has become a fish-rich mini reef off remote Port Moorowie.
WreckYorke Peninsula
Monarch Wreck
Scattered timbers of an 1871 wooden schooner in 2 m on Wardang Island's southern shore – a snorkel between deeper wreck dives.
WreckKangaroo Island
Montebello Wreck
The flattened remains of a 1906 French steel barque on KI's wild south coast.
Details need confirmationWreckYorke Peninsula
Moorara Wreck
The most complete Murray River barge wreck in South Australia – wooden hull, two engines and deckhouse in 3-4 m, full of fish.
WreckYorke Peninsula
Mylor Star Wreck
The youngest wreck on the Investigator Strait trail, a 1982 steel fishing boat half-buried under Althorpe Island's exposed…
WreckAdelaide Metro
Norma Wreck
The dynamited remains of an 1893 Glasgow-built four-masted barque sunk in a collision in 1907, now a fish-rich heritage trail…
WreckYorke Peninsula
Notre Dame d'Arvor Wreck
Burnt remains of a French grain barque that ran aground in 1920 – a shallow, poignant snorkel on the Wardang trail.
WreckKangaroo Island
Osmanli Wreck (D'Estrees Bay)
Large iron sections of an 1853 steamer on a shallow reef – an early steamship wreck whose 83 people all survived.
Details need confirmationWreckKangaroo Island
Portland Maru Wreck
Boilers, engine and propeller shaft of a 117 m Japanese steamer in 15 m – Kangaroo Island's biggest wreck.
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Australian Wreck
A flattened but extensive 1879 Dundee-built steam coaster with a detached boiler and prolific fish, lying next to the MacIntyre.
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Clan Ranald Wreck
The only turret ship lost in Australian waters, lying upside down in 18-21 m inside an aquatic reserve – a haunting and fish-rich…
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Ferret Wreck
The boiler of a once-stolen 'pirate' steamer lying beside the Ethel on a wild Innes beach.
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Investigator Wreck
Anchor and propeller of an 1882 steamer lying in just 3-4 m – ideal for snorkellers and new divers on the Wardang trail.
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS MacIntyre Wreck
A converted river barge turned coastal steamer, lost in 1927 a short swim from the SS Australian – an easy two-wreck dive.
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Marion Wreck
An 1854 Glasgow-built steamer wrecked in 1862 that gave Marion Bay its name, lying in two broken sections below the Innes cliffs.
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Pareora Wreck
Boiler, engine, anchor and windlass of a 1919 zinc-laden steamer that took 11 lives, lying in a reef gully on remote Althorpe…
WreckYorke Peninsula
SS Willyama Wreck
A 2,705-ton steel collier broken across the reef off Rhino Head, with sternpost and steering quadrant at the surface and boilers,…
WreckYorke Peninsula
Songvaar Wreck
The Wardang trail's largest wreck: an 1884 iron ship sunk on her own anchor in 1912, with the anchor still piercing the hull and…
WreckAdelaide Metro
Stanvac Barges
Three heavily encrusted barges scuttled in 1954 in 28-30 m – among the oldest artificial reefs off Adelaide.
WreckAdelaide Metro
Stanvac Barges 1 & 2 (small barges)
Two encrusted 1954 barges 33 m apart in 28-30 m, a rarely dived companion to the Saurian.
WreckFleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor
Star of Greece Wreck
An 1868 Belfast-built iron ship wrecked in 1888 with the loss of 17 lives, lying in snorkelling depth 200 m off Port Willunga…
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 ↗