The Apollo is the biggest and most intact of the dumb barges sunk in the Long Reef artificial reef area, and for divers who have exhausted the ferries it is often the favourite. It is an unpowered hopper barge roughly 60 m long, 10 m wide and 6 m deep, of the type used to carry dredge spoil out to sea and dump it through bottom doors. Its working name is unknown; it was probably scuttled around 1980 with the rest of the reef program, and was found by Peter Fields and John Riley while searching for another wreck.

They named it after the dive-gear sponsor of their expedition. It sits upright on sand at 45–47 m with the deck at about 41 m, roughly 1.2 km south-south-west of the Dee Why and 11.6 km north of Sydney Heads. From the blunt bow with its anchor winch, a forward hatch drops into a large silt-filled compartment; behind it the hopper holds are divided into bays with the twin bottom-door mechanisms still visible.

At the stern is a small engine room housing a three-cylinder diesel that powered the winches and doors, a bridge structure with side doors, and hull plating that is beginning to rust through. Sydney Dive Charters describe two entry points into the machinery space, which is home to schools of blue morwong. The rear holds hold the densest fish: bastard trumpeter and jewfish in numbers.

Visibility is usually 15–20 m and current is seldom a problem, so with good gas planning this is one of the more relaxed dives at the depth. Anchoring must be precise because the bottom around the barge is sand with isolated rocks that will not hold. It suits decompression divers who have done the Dee Why and want an intact structure with penetration options; the silt inside the compartments is the principal reason to make a first dive an external tour only.

Boat only. Charters and private boats usually launch from the Roseville Bridge ramp on Middle Harbour or Rose Bay/Manly in Sydney Harbour and run north up the coast past North Head, Manly and Dee Why (roughly 45–60 minutes at cruising speed), or from the Akuna Bay/Pittwater ramps and run south past Barrenjoey (similar time). There is no all-weather ramp on the Northern Beaches ocean coast itself.

The wrecks lie on a flat sand plain and cannot be seen from the surface; you need accurate GPS and a sounder, and must drop the anchor or shot line directly onto structure because it will not hold in the sand. A drifting decompression station with spare gas is the normal arrangement.

The Long Reef wreck ground is 4–5 km offshore in open water with no lee. Any southerly or north-easterly swell above about 1.5 m makes anchoring on the wreck and the long decompression hang unpleasant or unsafe; charters generally want under 1 m swell and under 15 knots. Surface current from the East Australian Current can run north–south across the site even when the bottom is still, so a drifting deco station or a strong anchor line is essential.

Visibility is best from late autumn through winter (15–25 m) when the water is clear and cool; summer brings warmer water but more plankton and thermoclines. Avoid the days after heavy rain when the Narrabeen and Hawkesbury outflows dirty the inshore water. Mornings before the sea breeze are calmest.

Descend to the deck at 41 m. Circuit the outside first: blunt bow and anchor winch, along the hopper hold openings, to the stern engine room and bridge. On a second visit, trained divers may enter the engine room through the side door to see the three-cylinder diesel, and look into the holds for the fish schools.

Return to the shot and decompress.

Decompression dive. Typical plans use trimix (e.g. 21/35) or air/EANx with 50% and/or 100% O2 deco gases; 20–25 minutes bottom time gives 30–50 minutes of decompression. Twin cylinders or CCR with bailout, reel/line for any penetration, DSMB and surface support boat mandatory.

Silt inside compartments; several fatalities have occurred on this wreck group, so treat penetrations as overhead dives.

No scheduled recreational charters. Sydney Dive Charters (Rose Bay/Manly) runs technical charters to the Long Reef wreck area on demand for T1/Tec45+ certified divers; otherwise private boats and technical dive clubs launching from Roseville, Akuna Bay or Rose Bay ramps. Expect a handful of visits per year.