The Search for Coolangatta 2016

On the morning of the 19th of August 1846, a ship named the Coolangatta was torn from her anchors during a severe cyclone and washed ashore. The 88-ton vessel had been five weeks at anchor off Point Danger. Unable to enter the Tweed due to silting of the bar. As the cyclone intensified the ship tore adrift, all aboard saved themselves by swimming through the surf at the imminent risk of their lives. In 1883 government surveyor Henry Schneider when sent to plan a town at Point Danger saw the wreck and named the Suburb “Coolangatta”. The fate of the ship for which the suburb is named has remained a mystery since it sank. Now “The Search for Coolangatta” has begun, archaeologists and heritage experts are scouring the iconic beach for any signs of the vessel. CONFIDENCE is growing that the wreckage still rests under the sands of Kirra Beach.