About Tangalooma Wrecks
The Tangalooma Wrecks are 15 small steel and timber vessels - barges, dredges and pontoons - sunk between 1963 and 1984 to create a sheltered breakwater for small craft on the western (bay-side) shore of Moreton Island. The wrecks lie in 2 to 10 metres of water just off the Tangalooma Resort beach and can be entered from shore on calm days. Decades of sponge, soft coral and schooling-fish growth have turned the breakwater into one of the most fish-dense shore dives in QLD. Conditions are usually benign on the protected bay side, but visibility varies with tide and wind direction.
Region: Moreton Island, QLD
Skill Level: Beginner
Depth: 2-10m
Water Temperature: 18-26°C
Visibility: 5-15m
Best Time to Dive: Year-round; clearest water April to October
Marine Life: Wobbegong sharks, batfish, schools of yellowtail, kingfish and trevally, turtles, octopus, soft coral and sponge encrustation on the hulls, juvenile reef fish.
Hazards: Tidal current on running tides; jagged metal on broken hulls; boat traffic in the main channel; surface swell on northerly winds.
Facilities: Shore entry from Tangalooma Resort beach; resort dive shop with gear hire and guided dives; vehicle ferry or fast cat from Brisbane.