The Speculant was an iron, three-masted barquentine ship that was wrecked at Cape Patton, a few miles north-east of Cape Otway on 10th February 1911. While there was, fortunately, no loss of life, the Speculant's voyage and wrecking was nevertheless a perilous experience for the crew.

The location of the site for a long time was marked by two anchors on the shoreline until in 1970 the larger of the two anchors was recovered by the Underwater Explorers' Club and mounted on the foreshore at Apollo Bay. The bell from the wreck was also donated to the Apollo Bay Surf Lifesaving Club but is recorded to have been stolen (Loney: 1979).

Rusting remains of the wreck can still be found on the shoreline on the southern side of Cape Patton on the Otway Coast, along with more recent wrecks of car bodies that have suffered equally perilous voyages since the Great Ocean Road was built. However parts of the Speculant site have been buried by rubble from construction and maintenance works to the Great Ocean Road, as well as by naturally occurring landslides.

You can park at Orchard Creek and dive off the rock platforms on either side of Cobble Creek. Then make your way east towards the wreck site.

If you're a good climber, you can climb down from directly above the wreck site, about 200 metres west of Cape Patton Lookout car park. Then it's best to enter from the protected gutter just east of the wreck site.

You need to be strong, fit and a very experienced diver to safely dive the Speculant wreck site. It requires careful planning and perfect weather conditions.

Dive Type: Wreck Dive

Imported from The Scuba Doctor