Lady Elliot Island · Australia · Wreck · Reef
Severance Wreck
The island's only wreck, coral-grown at 21 m since 1999
Area photo: Christo.j.brown · CC BY-SA 4.0
The only wreck dive at Lady Elliot Island: a vessel sunk in 1999 that now sits at 21 m off the western side of the cay, carrying enough hard and soft coral growth to fish like a small reef. Sweetlips, trevally, morays, pipefish, blennies and moon wrasse live on it, and manta rays and stingrays drop in to be cleaned.
Also known as Severence Wreck, The Severance.
Where it is and how deep
24.1104° S, 152.7099° EPublished position for this site.
Site maps published elsewhere
The dive
You arrive by boat, a short ride from the beach launch on the western side of the cay, and drop straight onto the wreck. It lies at 21 m, deep enough that bottom time is the limiting factor rather than anything about the site itself, so the dive is usually a single circuit of the hull followed by time in the shallower water nearby.
The structure has been down since 1999 and is well grown in, with hard and soft corals covering enough of it that the fish life reads as reef rather than metal. Sweetlips hold in the shadowed sections, trevally cut past in the open water above, and moray eels sit in the gaps. Close in, the small stuff is what rewards a slow pass: pipefish, blennies and moon wrasse working the coral-covered plating.
The wreck also functions as a cleaning stop. Manta rays and stingrays both turn up to be worked over, and when Queensland grouper or shovel-nosed sharks are around the island they tend to show here too. Stay low and off to one side rather than swimming at anything that comes in, then work back up the water column for the ascent.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Severance
- Type
- Vessel type not published
- Sunk
- 1999
- Cause
- Not published; the wreck is recorded only as sunk in 1999
- Lies
- At 21 m off the western side, grown over with hard and soft corals
Marine life and season
- Manta rays
- Stingrays
- Groupers
- Trevally & jacks
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Lady Elliot Island: Mantas peak May–Aug when cooler water brings them in; humpbacks pass Jun–Oct and turtles nest Nov–Mar.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Severance wreck?+
It sits at 21 m, which makes it one of the deeper dives at Lady Elliot Island. That depth shortens bottom time on air, so it is usually run as a single circuit of the wreck before the group moves into shallower water nearby.
How do you get to the Severance wreck?+
By boat. The island's dive sites are reached on a short ride from the beach launch, with the furthest about ten minutes out, and the wreck lies off the western side of the cay.
Sources
- Dive Sites & Map — Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort (Internet Archive)
- Severence Wreck - Lady Elliot Island — Scubago
More dive sites in Lady Elliot Island
Pinnacle
A manta cleaning station beside a coral-covered Admiralty anchor
Cave & cavern
An L-shaped cave in from 14 m and out of the wall at 22 m
Coral garden
Shallow coral regrown since the 1992 cyclone, and a strong night dive
Cave & cavern
A twin-entrance overhang at 24 m below a 16 m cleaning station
Pinnacle
The island's main manta cleaning station, in 14 m of water
Pinnacle
Loose bommie field in 14–19 m that rays and sharks cross
Reef
Branching coral gardens in 5–12 m with three turtle species
Pinnacle
Resident leaf scorpionfish on bommies at 18 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Chains, cables and the 1914 Wallarah wreck under a coal jetty in 11 m
Nearly 152 metres of liner (500 feet), broken across the reef in under 20 m
A small wreck at 22 m reached over rock clusters full of macro
The 27 m liveaboard Atlantis X, bow at 16 m