The Lillie Parsons is one of those medium wrecks that is nice to do once or twice and then is easily forgotten in the depths of your log book. Being upside-down there is not an incredible amount to see, but the dive itself is more than just that.

It is possible to penetrate at the stern, amble over the load of coal she was carrying and take a look around but there is not much inside to keep your interest aside from the occasional eel - if you don’t like eels don’t say I didn’t warn ya (on one dive the guy ahead of me turned and swam out so fast I thought his butt was on fire, turns out he has a thing about eels). Warnings abound from many sources that penetration on this wreck is not recommended and it could slip down the wall at any time although the current is effectively pinning it to the rock ledge. Exercise caution. There isn’t much to see inside other than the bottom of the overturned hull and a mound of coal anyway.

The Lillie generally features plenty of current, and access is usually obtained by one of two ways. The first entails docking your boat, hiking across tiny Sparrow Island and going hand-over-hand down the chain which starts on shore and leads to the wreck. Be prepared to use two hands to get down the chain, particularly the first 30′ as the current is stronger to wards the surface. Or, your boat can drop you slightly up river and you can drift into the wreck by following the contour of the island at around 50′.

If you drift into the wreck too shallow you will encounter the sizeable anchor chain and all will be well, but if you’re too deep you’ll encounter a fair bit of nothing unless to drift all the way down to the wreck of the King (which some people do on purpose) but it starts at around 140′, with the maximum depth of around 230′ - the King blew up when lightning struck the large quantity of dynamite on board which was being used for deepening/widening the shipping channel, so the King is mostly found in little pieces.

On the Lillie, aside from the overturned hull there’s the… hull. It’s mostly a hull. Did I mention that it’s pretty much just a hull? If I were writing a tourist brochure about the wreck I’d be sure to mention the masts (one it is lying on top of and the other is in deeper water towards the stern), the chain which has been located on the shore-ward side of the wreck to make it easier to swim up current and helps preserve the wreck by eliminating the need to pull on the wreck (hard to do since it’s mostly a hull). If you attempt to pull yourself along the rocks which litter the bottom you’ll find they’re fake and nearly weightless - ok, they’re not fake, they’re the Lillie’s cargo of coal, but they will provide a good laugh if you catch someone trying it. There is also a large tray of genuine artifacts mounted to the port side which is neat to poke around in and a true testament to how much divers in the area are committed to ensuring these wrecks are for appreciating, not stripping.

When you’re done playing with the "rocks" and have seen all there is to see of the stunning hull and you want to end your dive all you have to do is stop - unless you’re inside the wreck the current will carry you along and several minutes later you’ll fly across a rope to follow up to the lee side of the island where your dive boat will (hopefully) be waiting for you. Getting blown past the rope is not recommended since the active shipping channel is very close and unless you wanna be freighter-bait it is not recommended to pop up in the middle of it.

The Lillie does make for a very interesting night dive (the best time for eels). A light should be brought along at any time of day in order to look around inside but don’t expect to see much, it’s mostly to keep from bumping your head or scaring the eels away.

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