Victoria Tower was a three-masted iron clipper of 1,563 tons, 75 m (247 ft) long, built by Evans at Liverpool in 1869 for the Australian passenger trade – a new ship on her maiden voyage with 34 passengers and about 25 crew when she was lost. Inbound from Liverpool in dense fog on 17 October 1869, she struck the reef at Point Impossible east of Torquay; the mainmast drove down through the keel and broke the ship's back. Her pinnace was smashed by heavy seas, but with the help of a local resident, Mr Noble, everyone got ashore.

The Torquay Museum records the wreck as one of the founding stories of the town. For a shallow, exposed site the wreck is remarkably intact – the Scuba Doctor rates it the most intact historic shipwreck accessible between Point Lonsdale and Cape Otway, despite extensive historical salvage. The bow is whole, with the bowsprit and martingale still projecting; along the starboard side amidships the iron frames stand upright; two hatches are recognisable on the deck line; and on the seaward side the masts and yard arms lie where they fell, all in 5–8 m about 100 m outside Victoria Reef.

Ceramic fragments, pieces of slate and glass bottles are scattered through the sand and gutters. The iron is heavily colonised with kelp, sponges and coralline growth, and the reef around it holds sweep, wrasse, zebrafish, magpie perch and crayfish, with rays on the sand. The dive is limited entirely by conditions.

It is reached from the beach across a surf-swept reef flat dominated by rips, and the Scuba Doctor stresses good physical fitness and experience; a boat from Barwon Heads or Torquay is the easier alternative when the bar allows. It suits experienced Advanced divers who live locally enough to pounce on a glassy morning, and it rewards them with the best-preserved sailing-ship wreck on the Surf Coast.

Drive Melbourne–Torquay via the Princes Freeway and Surf Coast Highway (about 1 h 20 min), then take Blackgate Road/Point Impossible Road east of Torquay to the Point Impossible car park at the end of the gravel road (unsealed, toilets; a clothing-optional beach lies to the east). Walk 100–200 m down to the beach near marker 55W and gear up on the sand; the wreck lies about 100 m seaward of Victoria Reef, the rock platform that runs out from the point, so the entry is a wade and scramble over the reef flat at low-to-mid tide followed by a short swim. Only attempt it with no swell.

Boats launch at the Barwon Heads river ramp (5 km east, bar crossing) or Fishermans Beach, Torquay, and anchor on sand outside the reef.

Point Impossible is a surf break – the name is a clue – and the Scuba Doctor calls the area highly hazardous and dominated by strong rips, with heavy surge on the wreck even in low swell. It is diveable only in very calm conditions with minimal wind and swell (well under 0.5 m), which occur on a few days a month in summer and autumn and almost never in winter, and only for experienced, fit divers. Northerly winds are offshore.

Visibility is 3–10 m and is poor for weeks after the Barwon and Thompson Creek flood. Tidal flow along the reef is noticeable; low to mid tide on a rising tide gives the easiest crossing of the reef flat and a safety margin for the exit.

On a flat day, cross the reef flat at low-to-mid tide, swim out about 100 m to the wreck and descend onto the intact bow with its bowsprit and martingale; follow the hull aft along the upright starboard frames past the two hatches to the stern, then swim the seaward side where the masts and yards lie, noting ceramic, slate and bottle fragments in the sand. Return to the reef before the tide or swell builds; the exit is back across the flat to the beach. 40 minutes in 5–8 m.

No operator schedules it. Torquay and Geelong divers and the occasional Geelong Dive Centre or Dive Victoria club dive visit on the rare flat days; most visits are independent shore dives by experienced locals.