The Antares was an old coastal trader and fishing vessel of about 22 m that was scuttled at Fenton Patches in 2011, together with a 10 m x 10 m steel barge placed close by. She was one of the first vessels added to the Fenton field after a long gap following the original Marchart 3 and Bus Stop deployments, and she has since become part of a small cluster of wrecks that includes the Amelia C and the Merindah Pearl, both prepared by Darwin Sub Aqua Club volunteers and sunk in 2013.

The Antares sits upright on sand in 25–28 m. She is a compact, beamy workboat with a raised bow, an open working deck and a deckhouse aft, and the hull has taken on a coat of sponges, soft corals, hydroids and oysters typical of Beagle Gulf. Hatches and doorways are open and can be looked into by torchlight, but the interior is small and silty. The DSAC description records the Amelia C's port bow resting against the Antares' starboard bow, which makes the two hulls one continuous structure on the sounder – the NT Government reef list, however, gives the Amelia C a separate position shared with the Merindah Pearl, so treat the exact layout as something to confirm on your first dive.

The steel barge is a flat, box-like structure that has become a fish-aggregating block in its own right: schools of fusiliers, trevally and baitfish hang over it and snapper shelter along its edges. Between the barge and the hull there is little more than sand and scattered debris.

The attraction of the site is concentration of fish rather than wreck architecture: golden snapper, saddletail snapper, cod and big black jewfish use the hulls, and pelagic mackerel and trevally sweep through on the tide. It is an advanced-level dive because of depth, open-water descent and the short slack window, and it is best combined with a second dive on the Merindah Pearl or Amanda Lee. For Darwin divers it is one of the more rewarding Fenton sites on a clear neap-tide day.

Fenton Patches lies about 17 nautical miles (roughly 31 km) north-west of Darwin in open water beyond the harbour mouth, so it is a boat-only site. Club and charter boats usually launch from the Cullen Bay ramp and marina (Marina Boulevard, Larrakeyah – ample trailer parking) or from Dinah Beach / Sadgroves Creek ramps inside the harbour, then run out past East Point and across Beagle Gulf. In a fast 6–7 m trailer boat allow roughly an hour each way in trade-wind chop; slower in a southeasterly above 15 knots.

There are no public moorings: the site is found on GPS and sounder, and a shot line or grapnel is dropped on the structure. Private boats need a competent skipper who can work the tide and keep a boat cover on the surface while divers are down.

Fenton Patches is open water in Beagle Gulf with no shelter. Dive it only on neap tides and time the dive for slack water (typically a window of 30–60 minutes around the turn; Darwin's tidal range reaches 7–8 m on springs and currents at Fenton run hard outside slack). The dry season (May–October) brings the south-east trades: mornings are usually calm, but a 15–20 knot south-easterly by late morning makes the run back uncomfortable, so plan an early start.

The build-up (October–December) brings glassy days but storms in the afternoon; the wet season (December–April) brings north-westerly monsoon winds, heavy run-off that cuts visibility, cyclone risk (November–April) and box jellyfish in the water. Visibility is best after several days of neaps and no rain.

Shot the Antares hull, descend and orient on the upright wreck. Circuit the hull at 22–25 m starting upstream so any residual current carries you back, look into the open hatches from outside, and check under the bow and stern for jewfish and cod. If visibility allows, make a short compass swim to the steel barge nearby and back – run a reel if visibility is under 5 m.

Finish on the wreck superstructure at 18–20 m and ascend the shot for the safety stop.

No daily operator. Darwin Sub Aqua Club (DSAC) runs member boat dives to Fenton Patches on suitable neap-tide weekends in the dry season; Dive Darwin (learntodivedarwin.com.au) and Western Blue Dive Charters offer outer-harbour/offshore wreck trips on demand when tides and weather line up. Otherwise private boat only.