Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
Why is risk scored so high here?
Silt, entanglement, lost exits and the urge to “just look inside” show up in fatality reports. Night-plus-wreck is worse.
What is the Yongala?
A 1911 passenger steamer off Queensland, now a protected historic wreck and a famous GBR dive — typically exterior.
What is the Thistlegorm?
A 1941 British cargo ship bombed in the Red Sea, rediscovered by Cousteau’s team in the 1950s, now a mass recreational wreck.
Are wrecks war graves?
Many are. Touching remains or souvenirs is illegal and indecent.
Do people need trimix?
Not for typical recreational wreck exteriors. Deep technical wrecks are another sport.
The recreational method is a briefed exterior circuit with a guide, no silting, no souvenirs. Penetration adds a continuous guideline, lights and an overhead course.
If the wreck is also a grave, the method includes not treating it as a playground.
Steps
- Confirm legal status
Protected wreck, war grave, or artificial reef — different laws.
A blog is not a permit.
- Dive the exterior first
Several dives on the same ship before anyone talks about a hatch.
Sketch the layout on a slate.
- Run a wreck specialty if going near openings
The course is about hazards, not a licence to penetrate deep.
- Overhead only with line training
A primary reel, markers, and a taught lost-line drill.
Cavern-style limits still kill people who skip them.
- Manage silt
Finning, buoyancy, and the decision to turn at the first cloud.
A silt-out is an exit, not a photo opportunity.
- End on gas and time, not on curiosity
The interesting room is how incidents start.
The exit is the skill.
Skills
- Orientation on a large object — Knowing bow from stern without a guide’s fin.
- Prop and line awareness — The entanglement layer.
- Silt discipline — Frog kick, low exhaust.
- Guideline work — Overhead only.
- Gas reserves for the exit — More conservative than a reef dive.
Progression
- Exterior circuits — The recreational wreck.
- Limited, lit, lined penetrations — After a proper course.
- Deep technical wrecks — A different sport (Truk holds, Scapa battleships).
- Never untrained night penetration — Combine chapters only on paper, not in a hatch.
Common mistakes
- “Just the first room” — The sentence in too many reports.
- Souvenir hunting — Illegal and how people cut themselves and the site.
- Lights as the only navigation — Batteries die. Line does not.
- Deep air on a famous name — Narcosis plus overhead is a known cocktail.
The method is a circuit and a no. Hatches are a trained specialty, not a dare.