The Batavia is Australia's most infamous shipwreck. The flagship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) return fleet, a 650-ton, 56 m retourschip carrying about 322 people and a fortune in silver, struck Morning Reef in the Wallabi Group on 4 June 1629 – the second recorded shipwreck in Australian history. Most of those aboard reached nearby islands. Commander Francisco Pelsaert and others sailed a longboat to Java for help, and in their absence the under-merchant Jeronimus Cornelisz led a mutiny that murdered about 110-125 men, women and children on the islands, with women forced into sexual slavery. A group of soldiers under Wiebbe Hayes held out on West Wallabi Island, where their improvised stone forts survive as Australia's oldest European structures. When Pelsaert returned in the Sardam on 17 September, fewer than 150 remained alive. The mutineers were tried; most were hanged on Long Island, and two young men, Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom, were marooned on the mainland near present-day Kalbarri – the first Europeans known to have been left on the Australian continent.

The wreck was located in 1963 and excavated by the WA Museum from the 1970s; much of the surviving hull and a stone portico destined for Batavia are displayed at the Shipwreck Galleries in Fremantle and the Geraldton museum. At the site today, on the seaward side of Morning Reef in about 7 m, many cannons and anchors remain around a large sand hole where the stern lay, set among coral and reef fish.

It is a short, shallow dive with enormous historical weight, but it is exposed and can only be visited in very calm conditions. Divers typically combine it with the Hadda wreck, the Beacon Island trail and a visit to the Wiebbe Hayes forts on West Wallabi.

The Houtman Abrolhos lie 60-80 km west of Geraldton (about 420 km north of Perth). There is no public accommodation or camping on the islands, so divers visit on liveaboard trips departing Geraldton (a 3-5 hour crossing), on private vessels using the public moorings, or – for snorkelling only – on scenic-flight day tours that land on East Wallabi Island. The Batavia site is on the seaward (western) side of Morning Reef, close to Beacon Island in the Wallabi Group, about 60-70 km (3-4 hours) from Geraldton, at S 28° 29.506', E 113° 47.518'.

Liveaboards and private boats anchor in the lee near Beacon Island and run in by tender only when the swell is very small.

The Abrolhos sit on the edge of the continental shelf in the path of the warm Leeuwin Current, which keeps water at 20-24°C and supports the world's southernmost major coral reefs. The islands are exposed to the south-west swell and to strong southerly winds that blow most afternoons from October to March; the crossing from Geraldton is often rough. Marine Life Network recommends March-May and September-November; late summer-autumn highs give the calmest seas.

Western rock lobster season (15 March-30 June) brings fishing camps and boat traffic. The Batavia site faces the open ocean on the seaward side of Morning Reef; divingwawrecks lists under 1 m of swell as diveable, and Marine Life Network describes it as an easy snorkel only in very calm weather. Surge and breaking waves on the reef edge quickly make it unsafe.

From the tender, drop in near the sand hole that marks the stern position, snorkel or dive around it at 5-7 m to find the cannons and anchors, and stay away from the breaking reef edge. Do not touch or move anything.

Protected under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018; a protected zone may apply – check with the WA Museum.

Liveaboard only for diving: Image Dive – 'Southern Image', the only dedicated dive boat at the Abrolhos (4 days/4 nights from Geraldton, max 8 divers, 3-4 dives a day); Eco Abrolhos Cruises – 5-day small-group cruises from Geraldton with snorkelling and diving; occasional Perth club charters. Batavia Coast Dive & Watersports (Geraldton) runs Abrolhos trips when boats are available.