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
560 wreck-related recordsRecorded information, not live availability
Aircraft WreckDarwin Harbour
Catalina A24-69 (Catalina 2)
The most intact RAAF Catalina in the harbour, with its bow and cockpit section still recognisable in 10-12 m.
Aircraft WreckCocos (Keeling) Islands
Catalina JX435 Wreck
Engines, propellers and a 600 m debris trail from a RAF Catalina that crashed landing in June 1945 – a shallow dive and a war…
WreckKing Island
Cataraqui
The site of Australia's worst civil maritime disaster (1845), with anchor and capstan on an exposed reef.
WreckBrisbane & Moreton Bay
Cementco Wreck
An inverted ex-Army support ship and coral barge north-east of Flinders Reef, with crayfish-lined interiors and big groupers.
WreckPerth
Centaur Wreck (Marmion)
Galena cargo and scattered remains of an 1874 iron brig under a reef break, with good shallow swim-throughs nearby.
WreckSydney Harbour
Centurion wreck
Masts, chain and frames of an 1864 Aberdeen clipper on sand at 18 m inside the Heads – Sydney's easiest historic wreck and a…
WreckBundaberg & Agnes Water
Ceratodus II (Cochrane Artificial Reef)
The biggest and oldest structure on Cochrane Artificial Reef – a 50 m hull covered in growth and wrapped in schooling fish.
Details need confirmationWreckTurquoise Coast
Cervantes Wreck (Thirsty Point)
The timbers of the 1844 American whaler that gave the town of Cervantes its name.
WreckBundaberg & Agnes Water
Cetacea Wreck
A tiny 13 m trawler in 30 m carrying at least 40 estuary cod plus gropers, cobia and big rays.
WreckPerth
Chalmers Wreck
The ballast mound and scattered fittings of an 1874 barque whose captain mistook a bushfire for the Rottnest light.
WreckHervey Bay & K'gari
Chang Chow Wreck (K'gari)
The buried remains of an 82 m steamer lost in 1884 with Chinese passengers – a K'gari history site rather than a regular dive.
Details need confirmationWreckMargaret River & Augusta
Chaudiere Wreck
An 1863 Sunderland-built barque with stacked sleepers and copper sheathing, the closest wreck to the Hamelin Bay ramp.
WreckAlbany & Great Southern
Cheynes III Wreck
Reputedly the first purpose-sunk dive wreck in the southern hemisphere – a 1943 whale chaser from Australia's last whaling…
WreckShipwreck Coast & Warrnambool
Children
House bricks and scattered iron from the 1839 Henty barque off Needle Rock at pretty Childers Cove – the first great loss of life…
WreckNingaloo – Coral Bay
Chofuku Maru
The largest wreck on Ningaloo: propeller, 40 m shaft, engine, boilers and bow on the reef.
Jetty/PierSydney Harbour
Chowder Bay Wharf (naval wharf and mooring chains)
Warship mooring chains, a naval wharf, two small wrecks and a Land Rover in 10–12 m – the structured outer half of Sydney's…
WreckSurf Coast & Great Ocean Road
City of Rayville
The first American merchant ship lost in WWII, intact and upright in 82 m off Cape Otway – Victoria's premier deep technical…
Details need confirmationWreckRottnest Island
City of York Wreck
Masts, yards, rigging, windlass, anchor, stern and rudder of an 1899 iron barque spread down a shallow reef slope.
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Clarence
An 1841 Hunter River-built schooner wrecked in 1850 and lying almost complete on her port side in 5 m off St Leonards – the…
WreckAdelaide Metro
Claris Wreck
A deep, rarely visited artificial reef where a small cabin cruiser is draped in white Carijoa soft corals.
ReefNorfolk Island
Claytons Wreck (Nepean Island)
Rugged, coral-covered reef at the exposed southern tip of Nepean Island – good for photography.
ReefCairns
Clipper & Super Cat (Norman Reef)
Swim-throughs, a beginner-friendly canyon and a small glass-bottom boat wreck on one Norman mooring.
Artificial ReefBundaberg & Agnes Water
Cochrane Artificial Reef
Bundaberg's best boat dive: sunken barges, a dredge, light ships and three aircraft (two Mohawks and a King Air) in 15-18 m, home…
WreckDarwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs
Cockatoo and Mudlark Artificial Reef
A pair of 20 m hulls lying side by side on the western edge of Fenton Patches, forming a fish-filled gutter between them.
Details need confirmationGo 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 ↗