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
106 wreck-related recordsRecorded information, not live availability
WreckPilbara & Dampier
Crown of England
A cyclone-wrecked sailing ship with anchor, masts and bow above water.
WreckMargaret River & Augusta
Cumberland Wreck
Anchor, cannon and timbers of one of WA's earliest colonial-era wrecks, hidden in weed south of Cape Hamelin.
Details need confirmationWreckPerth
D9 Dredge Wreck
An intact, upright 51 m dredge in 12 m in the shelter of Cockburn Sound, with good fish life and a strong reputation as a night…
WreckRottnest Island
Denton Holme Wreck
The standing bow of an 1890 iron barque rising almost to the surface, a spread of cargo and plates, and a shallow cave system on…
Shore/Rock PlatformRottnest Island
Duck Rock & Transit Plinth
A genuine walk-in reef dive near the ferry, with caves off the rock and the plinth marking Rottnest's first shipwreck (1842).
WreckEsperance & Recherche Archipelago
Dunster Castle Wreck (Stokes Inlet)
Boiler, engine and a 20 m hull section of a 1916 steamship in the surf zone of a remote national park.
Details need confirmationWreckPilbara & Dampier
Eddystone
A triple-expansion engine and bent propeller shaft swept by giant trevally.
WreckPerth
Eglinton Wreck
The oldest wreck on the north-metro coast, an 1852 settler ship, with large reef caves beside it.
WreckTurquoise Coast
Europa Wreck (Three Breaks Reef)
An 1897 iron barque on a reef with a cargo field of bottles, a swim-through and a natural sink to 14 m.
Shore/Rock PlatformAlbany & Great Southern
Frenchman Bay & Whaling Cove
Clear, sheltered granite coves beside Australia's last whaling station, with buried whaling-era wrecks.
WreckRottnest Island
Gem Wreck
The plinth and scant timbers of an 1876 cutter lost with all ten aboard, completing the Transit Reef wreck circuit.
WreckPerth
Gemini Wreck
An upturned 36 m hopper barge in 30 m of often clear blue water, surrounded by schools of samson fish and kingfish.
WreckMargaret River & Augusta
Georgette Wreck (Redgate Beach)
Site of the 1876 Georgette wreck and Grace Bussell's famous rescue, with a shallow inshore reef for calm-day snorkels.
WreckKalbarri & Shark Bay
Gudrun Wreck (Cape Peron)
A rarely dived 1901 wreck in a Shark Bay sanctuary zone, rich with groper and lionfish.
IslandEsperance & Recherche Archipelago
Gunton Island
Jagged ridges, bommies and undercuts with schooling samson fish and an unidentified wooden boat wreck.
Details need confirmationWreckAlbany & Great Southern
HMAS Perth Wreck
A 133 m Vietnam-veteran destroyer sitting upright in 35 m with its bridge, gun mount and engine room intact, plus an interpretive…
WreckPilbara & Dampier
HMAS Plym (Montebello Islands)
Site of Britain's first atomic test, 1952.
Details need confirmationWreckGeographe 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…
WreckRottnest Island
HNLMS K XI Submarine Wreck
A 1924 Dutch colonial submarine, lost for almost 80 years and found in 2025, lying in 38 m with torpedo tubes still visible.
WreckGeraldton & Abrolhos Islands
Hadda Wreck (Beacon Island)
Iron knees of an 1877 guano barque amid lush coral gardens in a sanctuary zone near Beacon Island.
WreckPerth
Highland Forest Wreck
The kelp-covered bow of a barque on which Joseph Conrad once served, next to good reef caves and swim-throughs.
WreckTurquoise Coast
J P Webb Wreck (Ledge Point)
A boiler and triple-expansion steam engine in 4 m on the reef that wrecked this 1951 delivery voyage.
WreckMandurah & Peel
James Service Wreck
The most intact of the Murray Reef wrecks: an 1878 iron barque with a recognisable stern in 3–5 m, lost with all hands.
WreckRottnest Island
Janet Wreck
Admiralty anchors, davit and boiler of Fremantle's largest vessel of 1887, plus a small reef cave, a short swim from the Macedon.
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 ↗