Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail

Dive in clear shallow water to see eight heritage wrecks – explore the history of the fast clipper ships and the beautiful undersea environment.

This is an ideal trail for novice shipwreck divers. Each wreck has a plaque and there are six interpretive signs on the shore at Port Victoria.

Port Victoria on the west coast of Yorke Peninsula was an important trading port in the early 1900s. It was one of the last Australian ports where large square-rigged sailing vessels operated. There was fierce competition to ship grain and the last Grain Race from Australia to Britain began from Port Victoria in 1949.

Wardang Island is just eight kilometres off Port Victoria in the Spencer Gulf. There are at least thirteen shipwrecks in the area. Eight of these are within 16 kilometres of each other and together they form the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail.

The Monarch, S.S. Australian, S.S. Investigator, MacIntyre and Moorara were small local schooners and coastal steamers carrying wheat and other cargo to Port Victoria. They also ferried wheat from the jetty to the larger vessels. The Aagot, Notre Dame D’Arvor and Songvaar were three masted square-riggers which carried the grain overseas.