Black Wall Reach has always been a popular dive site with Perth divers with the biggest attraction being the Black Wall Reach Barge located beneath mooring 716. The Barge site presents the largest intact wreck found in the river, it is very easy to locate and has always been a magnet for marine life offering a great site at a great depth that is always full of surprises.
Shore entry along the cliffs poses the biggest difficulty when trying to access the further out wrecks at Black Wall Reach. Access to the water only being available at either end of the cliff face and the entry at the northern end only possible after a long walk through the bush tracks from the nearest car parking. The information we've covered here only relates specifically to the wrecks of the area and verified through our sidescan searches and dived from boats. We do include bearings for surface swims to make it easier to locate the wrecks for shore based divers although with the long distances involved and boat traffic it is probably not recommended, information given is purely just to provide details on the wrecks and to assist in planning dives in the area. Swandivers.org have a great page detailing Blackwall Reach and the pole trails at:
Blackwall Reach Barge
Position: S 32° 01.165'
E 115° 47.042'
Nearest Mooring: 716
S 32° 01.159' E 115° 47.048'
wreck @ 210° 2 metres
Entry Point: 1
(Beach Blackwall Reach Parade)
Bearing at entry point:
1 to mooring 033° 165 metres
1 to wreck 033° 155 metres
Construction: Steel
Dimensions: 21.1 x 8.3 metres
Depth: 14 metres
The largest and most intact wreck in the river the Blackwall Reach Barge is one of the very few sites where the origin of the wreck is known. The barge was sunk in 1967 after permission was sought by The Goldfields Metal Mining Company to sink the barge in the deep water off Blackwall Reach. Sitting upright at 14 metres it is the most accessible and interesting site in the area, it can be a great place to find seahorses and is usually abundant with marine life. Very unusual for the river, through the spring of 2016 a large 10kg Samson Fish was present over the wreck in all of our 4 visits in that period. It can also be home to resident Lionfish and Scorpion Cod. The wreck is very easy to find if descending down mooring 716, it sits almost directly at the anchor point to the south and rises 1.5m off the riverbed.
Blackwall Reach Cruiser 1
Position: S 32° 01.102'
E 115° 47.050'
Nearest Mooring: 666
S 32° 01.096' E 115° 47.055'
wreck @ 210° 14 metres from mooring
Entry Point: 1 (Beach Blackwall Reach Parade)
Bearing at entry point:
1 to mooring 20° 285 metres
1 to wreck 20° 271 metres
(Bearing from Barge site to cruiser
005° 116m, by pole trail)
Construction: Metal (possibly plate aluminium)
Dimensions: 7.2 x 2.8 metres
Depth: 15 metres
Another impressive cruiser site sitting upright on the riverbed, the large intact cruiser is a little out of the way for surface swims but is connected to the underwater trail on the swandivers.org site.
Blackwall Reach Cruiser 2
(Porthole Cruiser)
Position: S 32° 00.957'
E 115° 47.087'
Nearest Mooring: Red Courtesy Mooring
S 32° 00.967' E 115° 47.092'
wreck @ 340° 18 metres from mooring
Entry Point: 2 Beach, accessed from
Honour Ave, 200 metre walk
along the footpath
Bearing at entry point:
2 to mooring 300° 106 metres
2 to wreck 310° 123 metres
Construction: Wood
Dimensions: 9 x 2.5 metres
Depth: 17.5 metres
The large wooden Cabin Cruiser sits upright on the river bed in 17 metres at the northern end of Blackwall Reach. The wreck is a difficult wreck to dive from a shore based entry point, with a very long walk with gear to get to the beach. We dive it from a boat which is convenient due to the nearest mooring being a public access mooring, we've never really had good vis on this site however the wreck is of an impressive size and condition making it an interesting dive.
Blackwall Reach (Dinghy)
Position: S 32° 00.080'
E 115° 47.104'
Nearest Mooring: 774
S 32° 00.967' E 115° 47.092'
wreck @ 210° 20 metres from mooring
Entry Point: 2 Beach, accessed from
Honour Ave, 200 metre walk
along the footpath
Bearing at entry point:
2 to mooring 205° 153 metres
2 to wreck 205° 175 metres
Construction: Fibreglass
Dimensions: 4 x 1.5 metres
Depth: 14 metres
A small sunken dinghy sitting upright rising about 30cm above the riverbed, not a very interesting site with not a lot of life. As a shore dive from entry point 2 it's a long walk and swim in dive gear for little reward.