HMAS Hobart (D 39) - South Australia
HMAS Hobart, sunk in 2002, sits upright at 30 metres, just off the coast near Adelaide. We love this wreck because it’s big enough to feel like a proper exploration, but not so vast you get lost. The bridge is our favourite part, you can swim through the navigation room, feeling the cool current pull you gently from one side to the other. Look for the schools of yellowtail scad that often swirl around the mast, catching the light. Inside the engine room, a ghostly silence amplifies the small creaks and groans of the metal, a reminder of its past. We’ve seen giant cuttlefish here, lurking in the shadows, their skin flashing patterns as you approach. If you visit in winter, the visibility can drop a bit, but that just adds to the atmospheric feel of the wreck. Keep an eye out for the Australian fur seals that occasionally dart past, a blur of speed and curiosity. It's a great dive for anyone comfortable with deeper wreck penetration and who enjoys the chillier Southern Australian waters.
- Location
- South Australia, Australia, Australasia
- Coordinates
- -35.481056, 138.157210
- Type
- wreck
Marine Protected Area: Encounter
Nearby Dive Sites in South Australia
- Bird Reef (reef)
- Broken Bottom
- Buffalo Reef (reef)
- Christies Beach Reef (reef)
- Donnington Reef (reef)
- Edithburgh Jetty - 5-15m (reef)
- Emmes Reef (reef)
- Encounter Reef (reef)
- Ex-HMAS Hobart (wreck)
- Glenelg Barge (wreck)
- Glenelg Reef (reef)
- Godfey Islands Reef (reef)
- Hareby Island Reef (reef)
- Hawkers Devil Reef (reef)
- Horseshoe Reef (reef)
Nearest Dive Centres to HMAS Hobart (D 39)
- Adelaide Adventure Charter Pty Ltd - ["PADI"]
- Adelaide Scuba - ["PADI"]
- Diving Adelaide - PADI
- The Dive Shop Port Lincoln - ["PADI"]
Marine Life in South Australia
Home to 102 recorded species including 44 reef fish, 17 whales & dolphins, 15 sharks & rays, 7 seagrass & algae, 5 other, 4 starfish.
Notable Species
- Bronze whaler (Carcharhinus brachyurus) - Sharks & Rays
- Snapper (Pagrus auratus) - Reef Fish
- Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) - Seagrass & Algae
- Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) - Whales & Dolphins
- Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) - Sharks & Rays
- Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) - Whales & Dolphins
- Port Jackson shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni) - Sharks & Rays
- Inanga (Galaxias maculatus) - Reef Fish
- Cowfish (Tursiops truncatus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) - Reef Fish
- Yellow-eye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri) - Reef Fish
- Medium-snouted pipefish (Vanacampus phillipi) - Reef Fish
- Crested Weedfish (Cristiceps australis) - Reef Fish
- Bluefin Gurnard (Chelidonichthys kumu) - Reef Fish
- Five-armed seastar (Uniophora granifera) - Starfish
- Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Tasmanian Blenny (Parablennius tasmanianus) - Reef Fish
- European fan-worm (Sabella spallanzanii) - Worms
- Smooth Toadfish (Tetractenos glaber) - Reef Fish