The abundance of life...corals, fish, turtles, sea snakes...is jus amazing at this wreck. The visibilty was around 10m during the end of May. The wreck is protected so you can't penetrate it but the swim round is jus breath taking. I understand why its one of the best wreck dives in Australia!

I have dived the SS Yongala about 10 times now and it is one of my favourite dives ever. Where do you even start to describe this? On my latest dive we went out with Salt Scuba Diving http://www.saltdive.com.au for an excellent day, with near flat conditions and crystal clear water. We entered the water at slack high tide and descended to the stern in 27m of water. The Yongala is about 100m long and is totally overgrown with mostly soft coral. Schools of trevally hunt smaller packs of fish on the wreck, and larger mackerel, grouper and Maori Wrasse come out of the blue to join. If you're lucky you might see a bull shark or two, eagle rays passing through or sea turtles over the wreck. A regular sight are the olive brown seasnakes which frequent the area. Every time I dive this site, I see something else, this time it was a wall of Batfish, the previous dive xmas 2009 we saw a school of hundreds of Chevron Barracuda. The SS Yongala is a marine life oasis in the middle of blue water - it is an essential dive you can't miss!

My husband and I have gone diving with Yongala Dive twice since we moved to Townsville in July 2009. While we could have gone directly from Townsville (with another company), we chose to drive an hour south to Alva Beach to go with Yongala Dive. It was worth the drive! From Alva Beach, it only takes about 30 minutes to get to the wreck. The size of the group you dive with is small, so you don't feel overcrowded in the boat or in the water. The staff was extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. And of course the dive itself was fantastic. We'll definitely do it again sometime!

First a little background;

The S.S. Yongala left Melbourne for Cairns on her last voyage on March 14th, 1911. On board, she carried 29 first class passengers, 19 second class passengers, 72 crew members and a race horse. She was scheduled to arrive in Townsville at approximately 6.00am on March 24th, but never arrived. Approximately 11 miles off the coast of Cape Bowling Green, the S.S. Yongala presumably became overwhelmed by a severe cyclone and sank. The search that followed was one of the most intensive in Australian maritime history, but to no avail.

In 1943, a WW2 mine sweeper clearing a shipping lane came across a large object, however it was entered as a shoal on the sea charts. In 1947 the "object" was identified as a ship wreck, but it was not until 1958 that the watery grave of the S.S. Yongala was finally identified.

When the Yongala sank it locked up memories of a past era, and today gives those who visit the wreck a glimpse into yesteryear. Scattered throughout are signs of how people lived aboard ships almost 100 years ago. Dinner plates, knives, forks, lamps, bath tubs, toilets and bed frames among other items can all be seen if one is observant. Near the bow in a section of the ship which was once the crews quarters is evidence of skeletal remains.

Diving into the deep;

The first thing you'll notice about the dive site is the enormous abundance of fish life.....Even before you take the plunge off the boat you'll be surrounded by huge batfish and red emperors, not to mention the sea snakes and turtles, all coming up to check you out and see what they can scrounge from the boat. On a clear day, the outline of the wreck may become visible from the deck of the boat...all 363ft of her stretched out below you, it's quite a vision!

A descent line is usually necessary for the dive as the current can tend to be a bit strong mid-water. One of the most exhilarating feelings as a diver is watching the S.S. Yongala come into view at only a few metres under the waves. Her port side is poised at only 12 metres below the surface while the starboard side sits at about 27m. One of the best pieces of advise you can take on this dive is NOT to try to see the whole wreck in one dive, you'll just wear yourself out and miss most of the excitement.

Once you reach the sunken vessel, you enter a world of wonder and beauty unlike any other wreck beneath the sea. This is partly due to the fact that the Yongala is almost completely intact and has become a self-supporting ecosystem, and partly because the amazing diversity of marine life seems so BIG! Corals of every shape colour and size form a coral forest over the wreck and provides the backdrop to some fascinating fish life.

Schools of bait fish that seem to total in the millions, Barracuda, giant gropers the size of small cars, huge schools of every type of tropical marine fish you can imagine, and the rays! Schools of giant rays that hover just above you! But don't forget to look for the little things, small clown fish playing in the anemone, brightly coloured Nudibranch's, exotic sea fans, and so much more.