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
WreckFleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor
AV Ulonga Wreck
A 1910 Murray paddle steamer turned coastal schooner, lost in 1976, sitting upright in 38 m with a Chrysler Valiant beside her.
WreckYorke Peninsula
Aagot Wreck
Scattered iron barque remains among the rocks of Wardang Island's wild western shore – an atmospheric snorkel on flat days.
WreckLimestone Coast
Admella Wreck (Carpenter Reef)
The scattered remains of South Australia's worst shipwreck (89 lives, 1859) on an exposed Southern Ocean reef.
Artificial ReefYorke Peninsula
Ardrossan Barge
A 1911 Sydney-built hopper barge scuttled in 1984 as a fish haven beside the protected Zanoni – no permit required and plenty of…
WreckEyre Peninsula
Bronzewing Tug Wreck
A 1930 ex-Navy tug scuttled in 1990 in shallow, sheltered Boston Bay – an easy close-to-town wreck.
Details need confirmationReefLimestone Coast
Cape Jaffa – Margaret Brock Reef
A vast shallow reef around the old Cape Jaffa lighthouse platform – seadragons, sanctuary lobster and five historic wreck sites.
WreckFleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor
Cape Jervis Barge (Hopper Barge No. 3)
A shallow iron barge lost in 1880 during the salvage of the steamer Sorata, rediscovered by spearfishers in 1968.
WreckAdelaide Metro
Claris Wreck
A deep, rarely visited artificial reef where a small cabin cruiser is draped in white Carijoa soft corals.
WreckEyre Peninsula
Degei Wreck
An intact 1940 trawler on her side in 10-11 m, covered in gorgonians and soft corals and patrolled by boarfish – Port Lincoln's…
WreckEyre Peninsula
Eleni K Wreck
An upright 134.6 m WWII Liberty ship in 11-13 m with her bridge 2 m below the surface – one of South Australia's best wreck dives.
WreckYorke Peninsula
Ethel Wreck
South Australia's most photographed wreck: the iron ribs of an 1876 barque rising from the sand of a wild Innes surf beach, best…
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…
WreckKangaroo Island
Fides Wreck
Brass fittings, bottles and cargo from an 1860 barque scattered in a gully beneath the north-west cliffs.
WreckAdelaide Metro
Garden Island Ships' Graveyard
One of the world's most diverse ships' graveyards, including the 1856 iron sailing ship Santiago, explored by kayak among…
WreckLimestone Coast
Geltwood Wreck
A recognisable iron barque with masts, yards and concreted cargo – lost with all hands on her 1876 maiden voyage.
WreckAdelaide Metro
Glenelg Barge
Adelaide's first purpose-sunk wreck, a 1911 hopper barge in 20 m that can be combined with the Dredge on a single dive via a…
WreckAdelaide Metro
Glenelg Dredge (SS South Australian)
A near-intact 1911 Dutch-built dredge sitting upright in 20 m and packed with fish – Adelaide's most dived boat wreck, easily…
WreckAdelaide Metro
HA Lumb Wreck
A 1943 US Navy tug scuttled in 1994 with cut deck holes for easy penetration, lying beside the Seawolf and the Noarlunga Tyre…
WreckYorke Peninsula
Hougomont Wreck
A dismasted 1897 four-masted barque of the Erikson grain fleet, scuttled as a breakwater with bow and stern still upright in 9 m…
WreckAdelaide Metro
John Robb Wreck
A rarely visited, broken-up 1879 Port Adelaide-built vessel far offshore, with its bow still recognisable.
WreckKangaroo Island
Kingscote – Fanny M Wreck and Nepean Bay Reef
Anchors and timbers of the 1884 barque Fanny M hidden in a sheltered weedy reef off Kingscote.
Details need confirmationWreckKangaroo Island
Kona Wreck (Antechamber Bay)
Forecastle and bows of a 1917 four-masted schooner in 2 m – a snorkelable piece of the shipwreck trail.
WreckWhyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf
Lady Kinnaird Wreck
An 1880 iron barque with plating, chain, masts, winches and an anchor in 6 m, reached by a coastal walk from Port Neill.
WreckWhyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf
Leeton Tug Wreck
A small scuttled tug in 22 m in the Whyalla shipping channel – a slack-water, fish-rich challenge.
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 ↗