PADI Wreck Diver Course

PADI Wreck Diver Course at the Iconic HMAS Brisbane Wreck

Embark on an educational underwater adventure with our PADI Wreck Diver Course. This immersive training program spans two action-packed days, offering you the opportunity to explore the legendary HMAS Brisbane wreck off the coast of Queensland. As you delve into the mesmerizing secrets of this historic wreck, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge to unlock the wonders of wrecks around the world.

What you can expect

Wreck dives are fascinating windows into the past, whether a vessel was purposely sunk to become an artificial reef, or lost at sea by accident. Dive ships, airplanes, even buses or cars – they are often teeming with aquatic life. Diving a wreck will allow you the chance for discovery, exploration and adventure, maybe even the chance to find something others may have missed.

The PADI Wreck Diver Course with Sunreef will give you the knowledge and skill to safely and responsibly explore different types of wrecks, some of which may be protected by laws that guard the vessels cultural and historical dignity.

Check in at Sunreef starts at the time outlined on your confirmation email or text. When you arrive, we will see you at our check in desk and ensure that your gear is organized. If you bring your own gear, our crew can carry it down to the dock and set it up for you, or if you prefer you will be free to do it yourself. If we know you are hiring gear, everything will be organized for you prior to check in.

On departure to the Ex-HMAS Brisbane, our trained crew will provide a thorough briefing for all our divers about the Ex-HMAS Brisbane site and will answer any questions you may have about it. Once the boat exits the calm waters of the Mooloolaba River system, it is around a 15 minute ride to the site. The vessel will be moored and our crew will help you set up to get in the water.

Each dive is planned to last for either 50 minutes or will end to have you on the surface with 50 bar (whichever one comes first), while also taking into consideration the skills that need to be completed by all student divers in your group.

Every dive is different depending on the conditions that day and time.

Between dives, we will come up for a surface interval where you are provided snacks and water. Feel free to bring along your own snacks if you have allergies or would like more substantial food.

The divers then return to the shop, where we will have refreshments and hot wedges or chips ready for you while we debrief. While this is happening we will unload the vessel and wash all your gear for you if you so wish.

Read more about the Ex-HMAS Brisbane dive site and her history.

Course content

Safety considerations of navigation of wrecks, surveying and mapping these types of sites, and how to properly use penetration lines and reels to guide exploration and more.

Scuba diving equipment

Air tanks and weights are included in the course, however please see the below list of dive equipment needed:

• Torch
• Slate and pencil (not available for hire)
• Dive reel (not available for hire)

If you have all your own equipment, please remember that to dive the Ex-HMAS Brisbane during the day you must have a snorkel, computer, SMB, a whistle, and a torch along with the rest of your scuba equipment (BCD, tanks, weights regulators, mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit, gloves).

If you do not have all the above listed gear, it will be available for either hire or purchase from our shop.

Take advantage of the Sunreef Student Diver Discount to purchase necessary gear. The Sunreef shop has many options to purchase all the above listed gear, your PADI Dive Instructor or the Sunreef shop crew will help you with finding the best options for you, and give you recommendations on everything you need.

Student Divers please read the following

To enroll in a PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course you must be 15 years old or older. You need adequate swimming skills and need to be in good physical health.

Prerequisite: Minimum PADI Adventure Diver or equivalent.

Required forms: Each diver must complete a Sunreef PADI Continuing Education Enrollment Form before starting this course with us. This will be sent out to you with your booking confirmation. When booking in for your PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course you will receive a link to a waiver. If you answer “YES” to certain medical questions on this waiver, you will need to receive a medical statement from your doctor. We will provide the acceptable format for the medical statement if required. Please read our Terms and Conditions for more information.

Course confirmations: The course dive will depend on the sea conditions and weather. We will monitor this closely and if the weather or sea conditions are unsuitable, we will let you know as soon as we can. We will send out an email and text message the day before your trip around 3:30 pm to inform you of the status of the trip and its departure time. If you do not receive the text message and email you must call us on +61 7 5444 5656 we will not call you to confirm receipt of the messages.

Seasickness and equalization: If you find yourself dealing with seasickness or being unable to equalize, our crew will look after you and ensure you are comfortable and safe. However, as this is not something in our control we will not issue any rebookings or refunds for inability to equalize or being seasick and not completing dives. We suggest you consider seasickness tablets to minimize the risk of seasickness affecting your trip. We will attempt where possible to help you equalize as we descend however we are responsible for the safety of all members of our groups therefore if we cannot in sufficient time and with the safety of the other divers help you descend we will take you back to the surface and you will be unable to complete that dive, we will however where possible take you back in on the second dive and help you try again.

Parking: The Wharf complex has 4 hour parking available, however you will need to find suitable parking for the tour you are on as some of our trips will be over 4 hours. There are some unlimited parking spaces available outside of The Wharf Mooloolaba / SEA Life car park, however please keep in mind especially if you are on an 11:30 am or later trip that parking can get very busy. Please give yourself at least 15-20 minutes for parking. You can find a parking map of The Wharf Mooloolaba here.