DIVING THE WRECK OF THE SS YONGALA

DIVING THE WRECK OF THE SS YONGALA

The Yongala sank in a cyclone in 1911, with no survivors among the 121 persons on board. The wreck was not discovered until the 1950s, and is rated as one of the best wreck dives for fish in the world.

Descending the line

A big friendly grouper on the bow

coral encrusted side structure

I dived the Yongala in the 1980s, when living and working in Townsville, and this was my first time back. In those days we got to the wreck from Townsville and used landmarks and batfish to locate it. You can still dive the wreck from Townsville, but you can also start from Alva Beach, which is a much shorter distance, and of course finding it with GPS is much easier.

Inside a passageway

The big friendly grouper again

View of the stern of Yongala

The beach launch is interesting, and depends on the tide; at low tide it is a long way out and high tide close up. The shop drives the boat down to the beach on a trailer, and when ready, the divers follow by 4WD. Getting out through the shifting sands is interesting.

Soft and hard coral growth

Juvenile fish schooling inside

The port side of Yongala

Unfortunately, on our trip we were about half way there, when one of the two powerful outboard motors stopped, and we had to return to shore. The problem was fixed and we made a second (successful) trip out to the site in about 45minutes.
There were about ten divers, and we split into pairs and groups depending on experience. Current can be an issue, but was not on the day we went out, although the sea was a bit rough.

A hump-head wrasse

Schooling fish outside

More juvenile schools

My buddy and I went down the line tied near the stern of the Yongala, which lies to its side in about 30m of water.
After being down for over 100 years in tropical waters, the wreck is covered in corals. As a fish habitat it is second to none, with an amazing amount of juvenile fish that swarm around and inside it. There also some big schools of trevally and some huge groupers around the bow, not to mention hump head wrasse, bat fish and more.
You are not supposed to penetrate the wreck due to the bones of some of the victims still inside, but you can look around.
We did two dives, both of which were memorable for the fish life and corals.
Snacks were provided between dives, and on return to the shop there was a sausage sizzle.
I dived with www.yongaladive.com.au and also stayed in one of their cabins in the caravan park next to their shop at Alva Beach.

Andrew Falconer
http://ttms999.com/scuba.html
August 2021