The Plutus was a 76 m, 812-ton iron steamship with schooner rigging, built in England specifically for the Australian coal trade. She could carry up to 1,700 tons of coal and had four very large hatches designed for rapid loading and discharge. Barely seven months after her launch, on 9 December 1882, she left Newcastle in fine conditions but ran into thick, hazy weather. At 8.20 pm the second officer saw land dead ahead; the captain, believing it to be fog, reversed engines at full speed too late, and the ship drove firmly onto the sand of Long Beach at Currarong – about ten miles off her intended course.

All twenty crew reached shore safely by morning, but the ship's back broke just forward of the bridge and she became a total loss. A marine inquiry found the master guilty of careless navigation and suspended his certificate for six months. Today the remains lie in about 3 m of water and, according to the Currarong Community Association, are accessible directly off the beach.

This is a snorkel or very shallow scuba site rather than a structured wreck dive. The iron remains are broken, partly buried and move with the sand, so what is visible changes from year to year. Small reef fish shelter among the frames. Its value is historical: it is one of the nine known shipwrecks in and around the Jervis Bay Marine Park and a tangible link to the colliers that worked this coast in the nineteenth century. It suits families and snorkellers on flat days and makes an interesting stop for divers visiting the TSS Merimbula nearby.

Drive to Currarong (about 25 minutes east of Nowra). The Plutus lies off Long Beach on the Currarong side of the Beecroft Peninsula and is accessible from the beach – locals can point out the spot, and remains are sometimes visible at low tide after sand movement. Park near the beach access and walk down with snorkelling or light scuba gear; it is a shallow swim of only a few tens of metres.

A surf-beach site: any swell over about 0.5 m produces breaking waves and surge over the wreckage, and visibility drops in stirred-up sand. Dive only on flat days, ideally at high tide with offshore (westerly) winds. Sand movement periodically buries and uncovers the remains.

North-easterly sea breezes on summer afternoons create chop along the beach, so early mornings are best; after heavy rain, creek outflows can discolour the water.

Snorkel or swim out from the beach to the wreckage, explore the iron frames and plates slowly and return to shore well before any swell builds.

Protected historic shipwreck (Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018).

No operator; a local snorkel and shallow shore dive.