SS Ly-ee-Moon wreck (Green Cape) – protected historic wreck
The SS Ly-ee-Moon, a 282 ft paddle-built steamer of 1859 originally designed for the opium trade, was wrecked below Green Cape Lighthouse in 1886 with the loss of 71 lives. The remains lie in a gully between a bommie, the western reef and the shore at about 12–14 m near the bommie and 7–9 m along the eastern wall, with some wreckage visible on the rock platform from shore. As a wreck over 75 years old it is protected historic shipwreck, look-only. It can be dived only in extremely calm seas on a handful of days each year.
Facts
- Region: New South Wales – Byron Bay to Eden (Australia)
- Area: Eden & Far South Coast
- Depth: 5–14 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: strong
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: -37.26528, 150.05028 (approximate)
- Highlights: wreck pieces, kelp, wall
- Permit: No permit, but the wreck is protected as a historic shipwreck (over 75 years old): do not remove or disturb anything.
- Tips: Wrecks more than 75 years old are automatically protected under Australian heritage law (the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976, now the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018): look and photograph, never remove or disturb anything. Position is the published anchor point (AUS66 datum, so it may be up to a few hundred metres off WGS84); approximate. Needs no southerly swell and at most very light north-easterly swell; charter operators generally do not dive it, so a private boat is usually needed (about 26 km from Eden, or from Womboyn with a small boat and a bar window).