Diving the S.S. Yongala

The S.S. Yongala is an amazing wreck, home to an incredible variety of aquatic life. Surface conditions can be rough and the current is often strong, but the marine life is teeming, with over 1,500 species of fish alone living off these waters. In the 96 years that have passed since this ship sank during a cyclone, the wreck has evolved into an artificial reef which is exploding with life. Turtles, sea snakes, barracudas, wrasses, rays and oddities such as the Guitar Fish (or Shovelnose Shark), halfway between a ray and a shark, are rife here, as well as a plethora of molluscs and sponges. Bull sharks and Tiger sharks are also known to frequently cruise the sands around the wreck

The S.S Yongala is not only the largest and best preserved wreck (not purposefully sunk during warfare) in Australia, but also reputed as one of the top dive sites in the world. There are limited dive trips available to this protected and monitored area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, so plan ahead. The Yongala is roughly a three hour boat trip from Townsville, where you can find the wreck's museum.

Due to its protected status it is illegal to penetrate the wreck, and those who decide to ignore this will risk a prison sentence- bubbles produced by divers contribute to the erosion of the wreck. The protection also means crowd control, a benefit for the marine life as well as other divers.

Keep an eye out for VW, the huge Queensland groper who lives on the wreck; she's three meters long and literally the size of a VW beetle!