he victim of a collision, the 'Royal Shepherd' went down in 29 metres of water at the entrance to SydneyHarbour on 14 July, 1890. Built in 1855, the 331 ton collier is one of Sydney's more popular wreck dives.Although the superstructure has disintegrated the prop shaft, fly wheel and large boilers form the main aspects　of the wreck which are now covered with soft sponges

A collier of 368 tons en-route to Sydney from Newcastle, the 'Duckenfield' ran on to Long Reef, north of Sydney　Heads, on May 24th, 1889. She slid off the reef and sank in deep water soon after being abandoned. Now　resting in 24 metres of water, the remains of the 'Duckenfield' are scattered over a wide area. Prominentfeatures include the boilers and heavy-duty winches

  Scuttled in May, 1976 in 48 metres of water off Long Reef - to the north of  Sydney Heads - the 'Dee Why' was one of the ferry fleet plying between Manly　and Sydney. Built in Scotland, the twin-decked ferry was 'retired' to become an artificial reef. One of the sunken fleet of deep wrecks lying in Sydney waters, the 'Dee Why' is a popular site with the deep and technical diving community.

Lying in about fourteen metres of water only a short distance from Inner North Head, in Sydney Harbour, the　'Catherine Adamson' was a wooden vessel of 768 tons, built at Aberdeen in Scotland in 1855. She sank on the　night of the23 October 1857, after losing steerage while entering Port Jackson, with the loss of twenty-one　passengers and crew. Among the relics recovered have been a sextant, pewter mugs, pottery, spoons and　forks. One of her anchors, standing about two metres high, still has 300 metres of chain attached

One of Australia's most notable shipwrecks, the 'Dunbar' smashed onto the rocks at the entrance to PortJackson on the night of the 20 August, 1857. Of the 122 passengers and crew only one survived. Built inEngland in 1854, the 'Dunbar' was a wooden ship of 1167 tons. Resting in nine metres of water relics from theill4ated ship are still being recovered.

A hard-core wreck dive, the 'Myola' was a typical steam-powered collier of the early 1900's. She foundered inheavy seas off Sydney in the early hours of April 2,1919. In 1994 two Sydney divers, Peter Fields and JohnRiley, located the remains of the Myola lying in 48 metres of water. Fish life around the wreck includes large　cuttlefish, groupers, wobbegongs and port jackson sharks. Because of the depth this dive is well suited totechnical divers.

A steel steamship of 707 tons, the Annie M Miller foundered off Macquarie Lighthouse on the night of 8February, 1929. Resting in about forty-three metres of water, the superstructure has since collapsed although　the keel, ribs, boilers and other fittings are still reasonably intact. The remains attract an interesting variety of　marine life.

Built in Aberdeen in 1930, the Birchgrove Park was a steel steamship of 640 tons carrying coal betweenNewcastle and Sydney. She capsized and sank, drowning ten of her crew, on 2 August, 1956. Today she rests　on her beam at a depth of about fifty-one metres and is one of Sydney's more popular wreck dives.

A Bucket dredge sunk in the 60's to form an artificial reef for fishing it is regularly dived by Sydney's avid deepdiving fraternity. She lies in 48 metres of water.

Was a tug again sunk to form the artificial reef she is a little deeper then the other wrecks so extra precautions　need to be taken. She rests in 51 metres of water.

The former HMS Wexford and HMAS Doomba, the 'Meggol' was an 800 ton vessel scuttled off of Long Reef inDecem　ber, 1976. At a depth of 48 metres.

Built in 1876, and operating in New Zealand waters until 1917, the Koputai was a steam driven, paddle tug.While steaming out to pick up a sailing vessel on March 5th, 1920, the 'Koputai' sprang a leak and quickly　foundered. She now lies about 8 kilometres south-east of Sydney Heads at a depth of 78 metres. Discovered in　1994 by David Allchin our skipper this is a serious deep dive for the dedicated trimix tekkies.

Built in 1902 and loaned to the Royal Australian Navy in 1912, HMAS Encounter was a light cruiser of 5,880　tons. Scuttled in the disposal area south-east of Sydney Heads in September, 1932, the remains of the　'Encounter' lie at a depth of 75 metres.World famous Bondi Beach is no doubt a remarkable surfing & swimming destination, however,one of the most　fascinating aspects of Bondi and its best kept secret is the rocky northern point. Its diverse and interesting　underwater marine life and topography is matched only by the abundance of schooling fish that inhabit its swim　throughs, overhangs and caves. Known as Ben Buckler Point it has a monolithic square rock, perched on the　sea level platform which manifested itself there decades ago after a severe storm. It is refereed to as Mermaid　Rock and is often used as a reference to locate many of the dive sites in the area.

At the north end of Bondi Beach, this rocky headland has many features including long gutters andswim-throughs at 12m packed with life - colourful sponges, sleeping wobbegongs, loads of fish, massive bluegropers, schools of resident old wives and nudibranchs. At Cathedral Cave and Slot Cave (16m) you can seegiant cuttlefish, bullseyes, a variety of leatherjackets, wrasses and theoccasional Port Jackson shark cruising around the rocks. Just slightly　north of Slot Cave, a large admiralty pattern anchor lies wedged　between some boulders as a reminder that the sea can be a wild　place. Over some mountainous boulders and to the east the rockytopography gently slopes to the sand at 20m where kelp gardens and　rocky ledges decorate the bottom and provide a home to many　varieties of fish and in particular - weedy sea dragons, an amazing　animal that is related to the sea horse and is found only in the southern　half of Australia. According to the experts this colony is one of the　largest in the Sydney area.

At a depth of 12m and a large entry to the cave that opens as you descend through to the exit at 16m, thismakes a for a fun and easy introduction to the mysteries of cave and cavern diving. The cave is approx 10 m long from entry to exit, this makes for great silhouette photography. (Ideal for experienced open water divers)

As you swim from Cathedral Cave in a northerly direction at a depth of 16m you pass an area strewn with large　boulders that open to a flat rock platform which slot cave is formed by. A spectacular fissure in the rock about　10m long wide enough to comfortably swim along in single file. One buddy pair at a time will be able to　negotiate the slot with plenty of room to turn around at the end. This cavern has a myriad of marine life sheltering　in the natural shelf like structures on each side. Giant pygmy cuttlefish frequent this site and again this is a　photographers dream dive. (Ideal for experienced open water divers)

Heading east then a little north is our pride & joy. Garys secret location is home to the weedy sea dragon,everyone's favourite undersea critter. This dive is for advanced divers as the depth of the site is 21m. A sandy　bottom with individual rocky reef and kelp gardens is the place to find, photograph, measure, sketch or just　enjoy these amazing animals. The record to date is 23 dragons on one dive with an average of 8 the norm. Dive　Centre Bondi Rd, in conjunction with Dragon Search is currently undertaking a study of the weedy sea dragons　population, habits and environments and have supervised dives every Saturday morning for interested divers to　help participate.

Camp Cove is in Sydney Harbour near Watsons Bay. It is where the First Fleet's Captain Phillip landed in1785. There is a monument at the south end of the bay to his landing, but what many people don't know is that　there is another monument under water. Around the south end of the bay in shallow water amongst the many　boulders, there is an admiralty anchor still wedged between the rocks. The many years of corrosion and the　amount of marine growth has made it part of the environment. To the north of the bay there are many　swim-throughs around the rocks and kelp gardens. There are often large blue gropers, schools of small　yellowtail, trevally & pike. Sea grass covers most of the bottom of this bay with loads of long cornetfish,　leatherjackets and schooling striped catfish common in the area. It is in the sea grass that you can spot whites　and short headed sea horses and tiger pipefish. Camp Cove is also a great night dive and offers shelteredconditions for diving when the sea is too rough to dive elsewhere.