Uribes Wreck - Rottnest Island snorkelling

The Uribes was built of iron at Stockton-on-Tees in 1868 as a barque and rebuilt in 1934 as a three-masted auxiliary schooner of about 118 tons. In mid-1942 she arrived at the Thomson Bay jetty with military stores, including 150 six-inch shells and two motor vehicles, but a northerly breeze forced her master to head back to Fremantle. Near Phillip Rock her engine cut out, her anchors would not hold, and she drifted onto the reef and sank.

She filled with sand to deck level almost at once. The vehicles and some stores were salvaged, but the sand made it impossible to recover the shells. The hull lies just off the beach, hard against the reef a short way west of the Natural Jetty, with her port gunwale breaking the surface at low tide.

Seasonal scouring sometimes uncovers her engine and machinery, while the small deck winch and the remains of the windlass are visible at all times. She is one of only two Rottnest wrecks that the official heritage trail recommends as a snorkel from shore, safe in calm weather but not when wind and waves are blowing onshore. She is protected by law - look, but disturb nothing.

• Experience level: Easy
• Depth: 2-4 m
• Access: Metres off the beach near Phillip Point, Thomson Bay; about a 20-minute walk south from the settlement, or the Island Explorer's Kingstown Barracks stop. Public toilets, showers and drinking water near Kingstown Barracks (RIA map). Shore entry; safe in calm conditions but not when wind and waves blow onshore (WA Museum). Wear a shirt or wetsuit top against cuts, stings and sunburn (WA Museum).
• WWII-Era Wreck (1942)
• Iron Schooner
• Shore Snorkel Wreck
• Military Cargo
• Machinery Visible
• Heritage Protected

See live conditions for every Rottnest Island snorkelling spot