The same questions seem to be constantly popping up, so I thought it might be worth writing a master post for it.
You have two options for diving the Yongala wreck…
1. Get yourself to Alva Beach and dive with Yongala Dive
The SS Yongala is located about an hour offshore from Alva Beach. Alva Beach is a 2 hour drive south of Townsville, or a 6 hour drive south from Cairns. Both Cairns and Townsville have airports with regularly scheduled flights, but regardless of which one you fly into, you will subsequently need access to a vehicle.
Getting to Alva Beach is most convenient if you have your own vehicle (both Cairns and Townsville airports have a number of hire car options). That being said, there is a Greyhound bus service that runs between Brisbane and Cairns (and vice versa) several times a day which passes through Ayr (a town on the highway about 30 minutes inland from Alva Beach). The dive shop in Alva Beach runs a pick up and drop off service from Ayr – but it needs to be arranged with them in advance. The dive shop also has convenient onsite accommodation for divers.
This is the most reliable option for people who are short on time, as the location of the launch site for the dive boats means much shorter distances to the wreck, and is thus less at the mercy of weather related cancellations.
Please note that diving the Yongala is not a viable day trip from Cairns. Look at the scale bar on the map above, it’s hundreds of miles away. It will take you the best part of a day just to get to Alva Beach. It is a potentially viable day trip from Townsville – but only if you are already in Townsville and have your own vehicle to drive yourself to Alva Beach (the Greyhound schedule means you will need at least one night in Alva Beach).
2. Get yourself to Townsville and dive with Adrenalin Dive
There is a day trip boat that operates out of Townsville 2 days a week by Adrenalin Dive. It is roughly a 3 hour trip each way from the marina in Townsville out to the wreck across open seas. As such, the weather often wreaks havoc on the trip. Adrenalin Dive will not take the boat out to the Yongala if the weather conditions aren’t good. This trip is regularly cancelled due to the weather conditions. I have seen it cancelled 6 weeks in a row – please bear that in mind.
This option is not recommended unless you have plenty of time up your sleeve to account for weather related cancellations.
Adrenalin Dive also operates a liveaboard charter boat, however it really only operates on an ad hoc basis, it’s not a regularly scheduled trip. It’s dependent on getting a big enough group of people together in order for them to run a trip. It’s not really a viable option unless you’ve got a group of at least 6-8 divers to charter the boat.
Another thing to note is that the wreck sits at about 27-28 meters depth. As such, both dive operators that run trips there require that you have a minimum Advanced Open Water certification, or that you be willing to sign up and pay for a deep orientation dive (this can count towards your AOW certification). Both operators offer nitrox, and strongly recommend it if you’re certified, but it’s not strictly necessary.
Water temps vary from around 21C in winter to 30C in summer (Australian winter and summer that is).
Current is variable and ranges from non-existent to ripping. Check the moon cycle, it's generally stronger near the full.
You have two options for diving the Yongala wreck…
1. Get yourself to Alva Beach and dive with Yongala Dive
The SS Yongala is located about an hour offshore from Alva Beach. Alva Beach is a 2 hour drive south of Townsville, or a 6 hour drive south from Cairns. Both Cairns and Townsville have airports with regularly scheduled flights, but regardless of which one you fly into, you will subsequently need access to a vehicle.
Getting to Alva Beach is most convenient if you have your own vehicle (both Cairns and Townsville airports have a number of hire car options). That being said, there is a Greyhound bus service that runs between Brisbane and Cairns (and vice versa) several times a day which passes through Ayr (a town on the highway about 30 minutes inland from Alva Beach). The dive shop in Alva Beach runs a pick up and drop off service from Ayr – but it needs to be arranged with them in advance. The dive shop also has convenient onsite accommodation for divers.
This is the most reliable option for people who are short on time, as the location of the launch site for the dive boats means much shorter distances to the wreck, and is thus less at the mercy of weather related cancellations.
Please note that diving the Yongala is not a viable day trip from Cairns. Look at the scale bar on the map above, it’s hundreds of miles away. It will take you the best part of a day just to get to Alva Beach. It is a potentially viable day trip from Townsville – but only if you are already in Townsville and have your own vehicle to drive yourself to Alva Beach (the Greyhound schedule means you will need at least one night in Alva Beach).
2. Get yourself to Townsville and dive with Adrenalin Dive
There is a day trip boat that operates out of Townsville 2 days a week by Adrenalin Dive. It is roughly a 3 hour trip each way from the marina in Townsville out to the wreck across open seas. As such, the weather often wreaks havoc on the trip. Adrenalin Dive will not take the boat out to the Yongala if the weather conditions aren’t good. This trip is regularly cancelled due to the weather conditions. I have seen it cancelled 6 weeks in a row – please bear that in mind.
This option is not recommended unless you have plenty of time up your sleeve to account for weather related cancellations.
Adrenalin Dive also operates a liveaboard charter boat, however it really only operates on an ad hoc basis, it’s not a regularly scheduled trip. It’s dependent on getting a big enough group of people together in order for them to run a trip. It’s not really a viable option unless you’ve got a group of at least 6-8 divers to charter the boat.
Another thing to note is that the wreck sits at about 27-28 meters depth. As such, both dive operators that run trips there require that you have a minimum Advanced Open Water certification, or that you be willing to sign up and pay for a deep orientation dive (this can count towards your AOW certification). Both operators offer nitrox, and strongly recommend it if you’re certified, but it’s not strictly necessary.
Water temps vary from around 21C in winter to 30C in summer (Australian winter and summer that is).
Current is variable and ranges from non-existent to ripping. Check the moon cycle, it's generally stronger near the full.
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