Once the land sites had been identified by Playford as remains from the Zuytdorp, there was great interest in the possibility that the wreck lay nearby. Playford's group which included the well known diver/author Hugh Edwards were unfortunately unable to dive and inspect the seabed opposite the land sites. The area is unprotected by off-shore islands, and on most occasions is subject to a heavy and dangerous swell even on days of flat calm in nearby centres of population such as the fishing ports of Kalbarri. Part of the reason for this is the lack of off-shore islands and an underwater topography that is conducive to the development of huge swells that break unhindered against the reef platform adjacent to the land sites.

The divers retired unsuccessful but with undiminished enthusiasm. Despite this, it was not till 1964, almost a decade after Playford made his discoveries, and nearly forty years after the wreck was first found, that the first successful dives were undertaken in the area. What Phillip Playford had suspected was confirmed by the divers i.e. that the wreck lay against the reef platform immediately opposite the remains found on the land. He believed that the ship had either crashed into the base of the cliffs without warning, or if the cliffs had been seen anchors were let go but despite every effort, the ship was still blown ashore.

Each of the two possibilities was of great significance to any investigations into the loss of the Zuytdorp and its entire complement.If the ship had struck the honeycombed reefs which lie in turbulent water at the foot of the cliffs, with little or no warning, then it was to be expected that few survivors would have got off the wreck at all.There would have been no time to launch boats, the ship would have been quickly thrown onto it's side. The scene would have been one of utter confusion. Any body who succeeded in getting off would have been in severe difficulties, and most likely were crushed against the reef platform or sucked under the reef into the blowholes beneath.In that case, the only hope lay in scaling the rigging (if the masts still stood) and dropping of on to dry land or in jumping what is now believed, from measurements and other data to be the relatively short distance that the high poop of the vessel lay away from the reef platform.

On the other hand, if the cliffs had been seen, and the anchors set then there would have been time for some people at least, to have got away from the ship. Perhaps they left with part of the precious cargo of silver that the East India Ships normally carried on the voyage. If that was the case, their remains would now lie somewhere between the wreck site and their intended port of destination, Batavia (Jakarta). The answer to the question lay partly in the number of anchors on the wreck and whether some were to be found further out to sea. From an examination of the wrecks off the Western Australian coast, and a perusal of the various archaeological reports, it was apparent that East India Company vessels of the period carried at least 5 anchors for use on board. Some carried more, but none had any less. Thus, unless at least five anchors could be located on the wreck then indications were that the crew had set some to seaward prior to the ship's loss. In such a case survivors, most likely the high ranking officers, could have got off the wreck but had been unsuccessful in making the small boat voyage to Batavia and safety.

The solution to this interesting puzzle was not to be found till early in 1988. On the first dive conducted on the site nearly a quarter of a century earlier in 1964, a team of Geraldton divers led by Tom Brady and including the Cramer brothers, and fisheries inspectors Gordon Hancock and Neil McLoughlin saw two anchors, iron guns (cannon), lead ingots, ballast stones and a number of smaller, badly eroded brass cannon. Though not able to see all of the site, they began work on plan of the wreck which proved difficult, dangerous and hard to assess due to the breaking water in which it lay.

The group made all their material and notes available to the W.A. Museum and the site was declared a protected wreck on the basis of their report. They made many other attempts under Brady's leadership to dive on the site, but it was not till 1967 that they were able to properly examine the stern section of the wreck. There they found to their amazement a 'carpet of silver' several square metres in area. News of the find soon spread and other groups became involved, some without the positive approach of the Geraldton divers.

The RAN did a feasibility survey at the time. The well known and very controversial salvage diver Alan Robinson also became involved. Further progress was made on the production of a site plan, more cannon were found and numerous schemes put to the Museum (which at that time did not have divers on staff) as to the best means of working the site. But still only two anchors were seen and recorded.

The finding of the wreck of the Trial, and the very rich Batavia in 1964, and then the equally rich Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) in 1969 led the museum to establish a team of it's own divers. The team comprising as its chief personel, Harry bingham (MBE) and Geoff Kimpton dived that year on the site from the sea, and were successful in recovering a number of coins and artefacts.

As the Dutch wrecks were proving richer than was earlier thought, a Maritime Archaeologist, Jeremy Green, from London, was appointed to the museum staff in 1971. He led a number of successful shore based dives on the site with the assistance of the owner of nearby Murchison house station Mr. Jah, once the fabled Nizam of Hyderabad.

Mr Jah provided a great deal of logistical assistance and constructed, on behalf of the W. A. Museum, a large 'flying fox' arrangement that was designed to enable the divers and their equipment to enter the water beyond the breaking waves and regain the land from the cliff top.

The Museum also installed a watch-keeper on the cliff-top with orders to advise when a diving team should be sent up to commence work. After receiving a call to come up to work the site, they would travel from Fremantle by vehicle, a ten hour trip, or land on a very small and dangerous air-strip. Then they would make ready for a dive, using equipment left at the watchkeeper's caravan. Unfortunately conditions were so variable at the site that the team often they arrived after being called out only to find the conditions undiveable. Most call outs resulted in little or no diving at all and when they did enter the water there was invariably a near accident in the swells. The airstrip itself was also fraught with danger.

The sea soon destroyed the 'flying fox', and dives were made without the apparatus and its smaller counterpart which was also destroyed by the sea. Despite these set backs, the museum's team were successful in the recovery of a large amount of coin, artefacts and in the recording of further detail for the final site plan, again only two anchors were seen, though the position and orientation of the anchors shown on each of the site plans produced by the various teams varied slightly.This added weight to the speculation that the crew of the Zuytdorp had seen the cliffs and had set anchors in a vain attempt to keep the ship off the reefs, possibly giving some of those on board time to launch boats and get clear.