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
53 wreck-related recordsRecorded information, not live availability
IslandHuon & Far South
Actaeon Island
Remote island with a thick kelp forest at the southern entrance to the Channel, near the 1822 Actaeon wreck site.
WreckTasmania North & North-West
Asterope (Hebe Reef)
Remains of an 1883 Aberdeen-built wooden barque among the gullies of Hebe Reef.
Details need confirmationArtificial ReefHobart & Derwent
Betsey Island Graveyard – ANM Barges & Floating Bridge Sections
Anemone-covered concrete floating-bridge sections and a fleet of old paper barges in Hobart's ships' graveyard.
Details need confirmationWreckKing Island
Blencathra (Currie)
The debris field of a whisky-laden 1875 barque right beside Currie Harbour.
WreckKing Island
Brahmin (King Island)
An archaeologically rich 1854 wreck with anchors, windlass and scattered china and clay pipes.
WreckKing Island
British Admiral
Site of an 1874 wreck in which 79 of 88 aboard died; a memorial headstone stands on the beach.
Details need confirmationWreckFlinders Island & Furneaux Group
Cambridgeshire (Night Island)
The Furneaux Group's best wreck: an 1875 iron ship with swim-throughs and a fish-filled intact stern.
Details need confirmationWreckKing Island
Cataraqui
The site of Australia's worst civil maritime disaster (1845), with anchor and capstan on an exposed reef.
Shore/Rock PlatformTasmania North & North-West
Devonport Breakwater
A shallow breakwater snorkel with a kelp forest and remains of two 1880s wrecks.
ReefHobart & Derwent
Droughty Point
Historic lower-Derwent point near an old whaling station and the 1907 Rotuma wreck site.
Details need confirmationArtificial ReefHobart & Derwent
Droughty Point Floating Bridge Section
A 177 m section of Hobart's old floating bridge in 20-28 m, carpeted in jewel anemones.
Details need confirmationWreckTasmania North & North-West
Eden Holme (Hebe Reef)
Ribs and plates of a 1907 iron barque, 40 m from the Esk on Hebe Reef.
Details need confirmationReefHuon & Far South
Evoralls Point (Recherche Bay)
Shallow seaweed gardens beside the relics of the Catamaran coal mines, with possible remains of the whaler Offley.
Details need confirmationIslandTasmania North-East
Fosters Island
A shallow weed garden with the remains of two 19th-century wrecks, near the Loch Finlas and General Picton.
Details need confirmationWreckFlinders Island & Furneaux Group
G.W. Wolff (Prime Seal Island)
Remains of a Harland and Wolff-built ship lost in 1912.
Details need confirmationWreckFlinders Island & Furneaux Group
Gaudelette (Cape Barren Island)
The scattered remains of an 1865 composite barque off Cape Barren Island.
Details need confirmationWreckTasmania North-East
General Picton (Fosters Island)
Swim-throughs among the iron plates of an 1888 four-master against a Bass Strait reef.
Details need confirmationReefTasmania East Coast
Gleaner Reef (Schouten Island)
A shallow weed reef under the granite mountains of Schouten Island, named after a wrecked fishing boat.
Details need confirmationIslandFlinders Island & Furneaux Group
Goose Island (Furneaux)
Three contrasting sides around a lighthouse island, plus the remains of the Merilyn.
Details need confirmationDriftTasmania West Coast
Hells Gates (Macquarie Harbour)
The infamous entrance to Macquarie Harbour, with two shallow historic wrecks on its spits.
Details need confirmationWreckHuon & Far South
Katherine Sharer Wreck
Scattered remains of Tasmania's first major locally built trader, blown up in 1855 – also the site of the state's first sport…
Details need confirmationReefHuon & Far South
Kellys Rocks (Recherche Bay)
Large, weedy headland reef in Recherche Bay with remains of the 1846 whaler Maria Orr.
Details need confirmationWreckFlinders Island & Furneaux Group
Litherland (Clarke Island)
Trypots of a whaling ship lost at Clarke Island in 1853.
Details need confirmationWreckTasmania North-East
Loch Finlas (Fosters Island Reef)
Rated 9/10: a relatively intact 1885 iron ship with a canted bow and counter stern at 19-24 m.
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 ↗