The Falls of Halladale was a four-masted iron barque of 2,085 tons, built by Russell and Co at Greenock in 1886 for the Glasgow Falls Line and designed to carry bulk cargo fast under sail. On 14 November 1908, 102 days out from New York for Melbourne with 28 crew and a general cargo that included 22,000 roofing slates, coils of wire, corrugated iron and benzine, her master was confused by sea mist and a compass error and put her onto a submerged reef about 200 yards off the cliffs west of Peterborough at full sail. All hands got away in the boats. What made the wreck famous was that she stayed upright, canvas set, on the reef for weeks, drawing crowds from Melbourne by train and coach; photographs of the ship standing under sail in the surf became the iconic image of the Shipwreck Coast. She eventually broke up in storms, and between 1974 and 1986 divers salvaged around 22,000 slates, many of which now roof the buildings at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum in Warrnambool.

The wreck today appears, in the Scuba Doctor's phrase, as a complex lattice of iron beams and hull plates. The port side of the hull stands upright with 5–6 m of structure at the bow tapering to 2–3 m at the stern; the starboard side has flattened outward and the masts lie scattered to the east. Anchors, bollards, the windlass and heavy structural iron mark the bow, and at the stern are piles of slate and coiled wire from the cargo, with iron knees and plates everywhere between. Depths run from 4 m over the highest structure to about 12 m on the sand alongside, making this the most substantial and most diveable of the three Peterborough wrecks. Kelp and encrusting growth cover the iron, crayfish and abalone shelter in it, and wrasse, sweep and leatherjackets school over it. The limiting factor, as always here, is the flanking reef that breaks in anything but calm seas. It is a protected historic shipwreck on the Great Ocean Road Historic Shipwreck Trail, with an interpretive sign on the clifftop, and it suits Open Water divers with experience of surge who can find a boat on the right day.

Peterborough is 50 km east of Warrnambool on the Great Ocean Road. Boats launch at the Peterborough Bay of Islands (Boat Bay) ramp off Boat Bay Road or the Curdies River ramp at the end of Dorey Street in Peterborough; the river ramp requires crossing the Curdies Inlet bar, which is only possible at higher tides and in small swell. From the Boat Bay ramp the wreck is only 1–2 km to the east, a five-minute run; from the river ramp allow 10–15 minutes and a bar crossing.

The Scuba Doctor notes a shore dive is possible in calm conditions – there is limited roadside parking on the Great Ocean Road above the site and a scramble down to the beach – but the surf normally makes the boat the only sensible option. The wreck lies about 200 m offshore, flanked by a reef that breaks in all but the calmest conditions.

Best dived on a low swell with northerly winds. The site is flanked by a reef which causes heavy breaks in all but the calmest conditions, so the practical limit is a south-west swell under about 0.8 m; southerly and south-easterly seas break right across the wreck. A northerly of any strength flattens the inshore water and clears the visibility within a day or two.

If launching from the Curdies River, plan around the bar. Morning is better than afternoon. Perhaps ten to fifteen diveable days a year, which still makes it the most accessible of the Peterborough wrecks.

Anchor on sand seaward of the wreck, descend to 10–12 m and swim to the bow, where the port side stands 5–6 m high. Follow the port hull aft along the lattice of beams and plates, noting the anchors, bollards and windlass forward and the slate and coiled wire at the stern, then cross to the flattened starboard side and the scatter of masts to the east. Turn at half gas, return to the anchor and ascend the line.

No regular operator – Warrnambool Diving, Melbourne clubs and private boats on calm autumn days; the site is the most-dived of the Peterborough wrecks because it is closest to the Boat Bay ramp.