Wrecks Diving In Australia

[prowest2012]

We are going to Austrialia at end of March 2013. One dive after a week live aboardD) is the yogala. Does anyone know other wreck dives or dive sites around cairn that should be a must dive. Also any suggestion on land stuff. We are doing the skytrain for sure. And i am doing research on the internet. But there is so much to do, this trip i need to hit the high lights.

Also stopping in Sydney, must do dive site and tours?

 

[ozzydamo]

QUEENSLAND - SHIPWRECKS

Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site

 

[AussiePro]

ozzydamo - the OP asked for wrecks around Cairns. The Queensland Shipwrecks site is absolutely useless to him as it doesn't even have positioning data, let alone information on charter boats that service the wrecks.

prowest - I hear the Lady Bowen wreck, out of Mission Beach is a nice wreck and it is not too far south from Cairns, a minor detour on the way to Townsville/Ayr which are the access points for the Yongala. I'm planning on doing this wreck sometime soon myself. I know that Calypso dive goes out there; I'm not sure who else is in the area. Great Barrier Reef Diving - Lady Bowen Historic Shipwreck - Calypso Adventures, Mission Beach, Cairns, Queensland
There is also the Gothenburg wreck which is also off Ayr and not too far from the Yongala. I don't think that the any of the local dive companies specifically head there, but you might be able to talk them into it. Also I don’t know what the condition of it is now. It is located just off Old Reef. Yongala Dive would be the closest dive store, located in Ayr.

 

[ozzydamo]

ozzydamo - the OP asked for wrecks around Cairns. The Queensland Shipwrecks site is absolutely useless to him as it doesn't even have positioning data, let alone information on charter boats that service the wrecks.

prowest - I hear the Lady Bowen wreck, out of Mission Beach is a nice wreck and it is not too far south from Cairns, a minor detour on the way to Townsville/Ayr which are the access points for the Yongala. I'm planning on doing this wreck sometime soon myself. I know that Calypso dive goes out there; I'm not sure who else is in the area. Great Barrier Reef Diving - Lady Bowen Historic Shipwreck - Calypso Adventures, Mission Beach, Cairns, Queensland
There is also the Gothenburg wreck which is also off Ayr and not too far from the Yongala. I don't think that the any of the local dive companies specifically head there, but you might be able to talk them into it. Also I don’t know what the condition of it is now. It is located just off Old Reef. Yongala Dive would be the closest dive store, located in Ayr.

An alphabetical list of every registered shipwreck in the state of QLD is useless to him???? (and every dive-able wreck in Sydney on MC's site!)

WOW, I never thought information was useless! LOL@ the things I have learned from you!

Lady Bowen. Four-masted schooner, 702 tons. Ashore, wrecked, on Kennedy Shoal in the Great Barrier Reef, 19 August 1894. Built originally as a paddle steamer, she was converted to sail in 1890.

Gothenburg. Iron screw steamer, rigged as a three-masted schooner, 501 tons. Built 1854. Lbd 196.6 x 28.2 x 20.5 ft. Captain R.G.A. Pearce .Lost on a reef south of Townsville, Qld, February 1875. She was returning from Darwin to Adelaide with 126 passengers and a general cargo which included gold valued at about £40,000 when she heeled sharply in the rising seas of a storm, hurling passengers and crew to their deaths. The first two boats were swept away, then a third crammed with women and children capsized when others tried to board it. As the steamer broke up scores of passengers and crew fought for their lives but by morning, only her battered masts protruding above water showed where she lay. Gradually, a few survivors were rescued but the death toll reached 102. Gold worth A£9,300 from the Northern Territory gold fields was later recovered. The captain, who lost his life, was the father of Tom Pearce, the hero of Victoria’s Loch Ard disaster. Steamer Leichhardt involved in rescue. Vessel Bunyip involved in the succesful salvage of the gold. Steamer Porpoise also involved in salvage.

 

[AussiePro]

Yes it is pretty much useless because most of the wrecks on the list aren't dive sites. Some have never been found, others have been destroyed or buried and others are inaccessible to recreational divers. Providing the list gives the impression that there are many diveable wrecks in Queensland. It is about as good as providing a list of all the reefs on the Great Barrier Reef to a tourist diver. It may be interesting but it doesn't help them plan their dive trip.

 

[ozzydamo]

Yes it is pretty much useless because most of the wrecks on the list aren't dive sites. Some have never been found, others have been destroyed or buried and others are inaccessible to recreational divers. Providing the list gives the impression that there are many diveable wrecks in Queensland. It is about as good as providing a list of all the reefs on the Great Barrier Reef to a tourist diver. It may be interesting but it doesn't help them plan their dive trip.

So you have downgraded your critic of my post now to "pretty useless".
He could just use it as a reference after looking at the market advertising to see if "they" are being straight, but its obvious you don't understand that.


Depends on who the "him is".
- lots of blanks your filling to make such an assumption...he could just look at a the Queensland yellow pages under dive charters- or Google dive charters where he's wants to stay- it ain't rocket science- but if he had some reference info, he might show some effort has been maybe, he's put work into researching his dive choices- he's an discerning diver, who has a clue to what he wants to look at...dive operators respect that, often they'll do a better deal in respect of those efforts- smart people usually do!
So what about the Sydney wrecks then is that useless too?

Tell people something they already know- they'll love you!
Tell people something they don't know- they'll hate you!

Most of the educated Americans I've meet diving are over the top with details and specifics- that's what I like about em'

OK?

 

[AussiePro]

Don't get your panties in a twist. It is absolutely useless information in terms of organising dives but only pretty much useless as general information because most of that information and more is on the website of any charter boat that visits the wrecks.

I didn't even mention the Sydney wreck website because I have never dived NSW. The information seems more useful because it is targeted at diving.

 

[mattoau]

Yongala is a great Dive.

From Sydney some of my favourite sites are; Magic Point, Long Reef / Fish Appartments and Wedding Cake. A little further north you have Seal Rocks and Fish Rock. All of them are great sites, hope you have fun wherever you choose.

 

[Mantra]

If you can be tempted to dive midway between Cairns and Sydney, you have Manta season happening:

Manta Lodge and Scuba Centre : Stradbroke Island :: Manta Bommie

And Byron bay a little further south too.

Heh. I'm biased.

In term of topside stuff - hire a car and drive yourself to Port Douglas. A truly spectacular drive. Some of the tropical fruit farms around the place are worth a visit, and have collections that have been being built for decades. You have to see the Daintree. As properly / deeply as you can. It's the inland equivalent to the reef.

EDIT: while you are up north, you have an opportunity to experience something resembling authentic indigenous culture. You won't find it in Sydney. I encourage you to learn a little about our indigenous people and their culture as another angle on what Australia is about. Our indigenous people are the oldest surviving culture on the planet, direct descendants of the very first people to leave Africa.

 

[ferris213]

EDIT: while you are up north, you have an opportunity to experience something resembling authentic indigenous culture. You won't find it in Sydney. I encourage you to learn a little about our indigenous people and their culture as another angle on what Australia is about. Our indigenous people are the oldest surviving culture on the planet, direct descendants of the very first people to leave Africa.

We did a tour with gurrubi tours, they run out of cooktown and it was excellent. Willy is the guy who runs it and he was a wealth of information and experience. If you're in cooktown and have a four wheel drive, there is a pub called the lions
Den (I think) that is supposed to be really good.

We also did a boat tour on the daintree river. Awesome to see saltwater crocks in te wild. It was cheap and only fairly short but it was great.