The Clipper is one of the few graveyard wrecks that Perth technical divers visit with any regularity, and its nickname reflects the graceful lines of the old sailing-ship hull. The UWA Underwater Club lists a 65 m 'Clipper Wreck' among its Ships' Graveyard dives, and WreckSploration, which modelled the site from dive footage, identifies it as Graveyard Site 06, colloquially 'The Clipper', and associates it with the Maranda. The WA Museum graveyard précis lists the Maranda as an iron hulk that had been a three-masted barque, 224.2 by 37.8 by 23.5 feet, scuttled in 1933; the museum database records Site 06 as unidentified, so the identification should be treated as probable rather than certain.

At around 65 m the wreck is well beyond recreational limits. What divers describe is an iron sailing-ship hull sitting on the sand, colonised by sponges and gorgonians and patrolled by schools of pelagic fish. Because so few people have dived it, detailed descriptions of its present layout are scarce.

This is a trimix decompression dive in open ocean with no moorings, suitable only for experienced technical teams with their own boat and support. For those divers it is a rare chance to see a late nineteenth-century merchant sailing ship hull largely intact. Teams planning a dive should obtain positions and current information from those who have surveyed it and plan conservatively: the open-ocean setting, the depth and the distance from help leave no margin for error, and any incident needs evacuation by boat to Fremantle and on to the Fiona Stanley chamber.

The graveyard lies well offshore to the south-west and west of Rottnest, roughly 30-40 km from Fremantle. There are no moorings or public marks; teams run from Fremantle or Woodman Point in capable private or club boats (UWA Underwater Club, WreckSploration) with accurate GPS positions and sounders, drop a shot line onto the wreck and dive with surface support. Allow 1-1.5 hours each way.

This is not a commercial charter destination.

Open-ocean site; low swell and light winds essential, usually calm summer/autumn mornings. Expect current at depth and on deco. General pattern at Rottnest: summer brings calm morning easterlies followed by a strong south-westerly sea breeze from late morning, so dive early; winter brings north-westerly fronts and large swell, with clear, calm spells between them.

Check the Bureau of Meteorology coastal forecast for swell height and period before committing.

Descend the shot to the hull at about 60 m on trimix, conduct a short planned tour of the hull, then ascend for a long staged decompression, drifting under a DSMB if the current is running. Agree a turn pressure before descending (half gas, or a third where current is likely), carry a DSMB, and make a 3-minute safety stop at 5 m.

Normoxic trimix (e.g. 18/45-21/35 range) and staged deco gases or CCR; long drifting deco with chase boat. Identification as Maranda unconfirmed by WA Museum.

No commercial operator; dived by UWA Underwater Club technical divers and modelled by WreckSploration from video footage. Nearest dive services: Perth Scuba, Bucket List Diver and Dolphin Scuba (Perth/Fremantle) run Rottnest boat trips; there are no dive shops or air fills on the island.