Ex HMAS Adelaide

The Ex-HMAS Adelaide is a former Royal Australian Navy guided missile frigate scuttled as an artificial reef off North Avoca on the New South Wales Central Coast in 2011. The ship is around 138 metres long and sits upright on the sea floor, with the hull spread across a depth range of roughly 16 to 32 metres, and the site is rated an advanced dive over a wreck bottom. It draws divers for the scale of the intact superstructure, its penetration routes through internal compartments, and the marine growth and fish life that have built up on the structure over time. Divers have also reported collapsed sections of the aluminium superstructure, general structural damage, and unstable bulkhead joints, so care around penetration areas is warranted. Because of its depth and the swell exposure typical of this open stretch of coast, it is generally treated as a dive for those with wreck experience, and penetration sections are best attempted with training or a guide.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Common StingareeTrygonoptera testaceaReported here · unconfirmed
• Yellowtail ScadTrachurus novaezelandiaeReported here · unconfirmed
• Green Snakelock AnemoneAulactinia veratraReported here · unconfirmed
• Eastern Blue GroperAchoerodus viridisReported here · unconfirmed