Lying some 31 miles from Sharm El Sheikh, the Thistlegorm is a popular site often visited by divers on day trips as well as liveaboard boats. Built in 1940, the Thistlegorm was a sizeable British transport ship. Early one morning in October 1941 while moored at Sha’ab Ali, she was struck by German bombers and sank. She was carrying a cargo of munitions, anti-tank mines, motorcycles, Bedford trucks, spare parts, tyres and medicines amongst other things for the...
The Kingston was a small British cargo ship built in Sunderland in 1871. She ran onto the northern face of the reef, known as Shag Rock, on 22nd February 1881, whilst en route to Aden with a cargo of coal aboard. The intact propeller at the stern of the ship lies at a depth of 15m and the dive usually starts here, after which you can move inside the ship to see the engine room, followed by the boilers. The bow section, lying at around 4m depth, has mostly...
Built in Newcastle in 1873, this British steamer met her end in 1876 while bound for Bombay with a cargo of timber and cotton, which were lost in the ship wreck when the ship caught fire. She lies upside-down in 15 – 29.5 metres depth. The dive starts at the stern and takes you inside the hull where yo
Bluff point is a steep wall dive that follows the coastline. There are plenty of small passages and inlets in the rock that hide away life. The reef is full of glassfish, butterflyfish, crocodilefish and a flat-headed scorpionfish. The wreck itself isn't much to look at, but it serves as an attraction for sealife. Keep an eye out for turtles.
The Rosalie Moller is a sister ship of the famous Thistlegorm. It was bombed by a German airplane (Heinkel 111) and sunk in October 1941 . The vessel is 108m long, 16m wide an d sits on the seabed at around 50 meters, hence it is a dive only for experienced divers with a special license. Her masts reach up to 17-18 meters of depths, leading down to the decks at 35 meters. Much of the deck equipment is still in place, as are handrails and ladders. The ship's funnel is broken and...
The Ulysses was en route from London to Penang when she ran into the reef at Small Gubal Island on 16th August 1887. She was carrying an assortment of cargo – much of which was unloaded at the time of her sinking. However, some large cable drums sank with her and remain at the site to this day.
She lies at a depth of 28m and you can swim inside the stern. Glassfish and sweepers populate the wreck. Other reef life to be seen in the vicinity includes...
The Kimon M was a cargo vessel, built in Germany in 1952. On 12th December 1978, while en route from Turkey to Bombay via Suez with a cargo of lentils, she struck the north-eastern end of Sha’ab Abu Nuhas reef at full speed. For a while the bow of the ship lay visible on the reef while the rest of the ship sank. She lies on her starboard side with the stern at a depth of 32m. However, the propeller and rudder, which are intact, lie at 27m from where your...
Built in Britain in 1862, the Carnatic was a steamship with sails which operated both as a passenger and cargo vessel and plied a route between Suez and Bombay. On the night of 12th September 1869 in strong currents, she ran aground at Sha’ab Abu Nuhas. The following day, the weather deteriorated further and on the 14th September she broke up and sank, with the loss of 31 lives. At the time of her sinking, as well as carrying some 210 passengers and crew...
The Giannis D crashed into the reef at Sha’ab Abu Nuhas in April 1983 and sank with her cargo of timber. Originally built in Japan in 1969 and called the ‘Shoyo Maru’, at the time of her sinking she was owned by a Greek shipping company, Dumarc, hence the ‘D’ in her name
The true identity of the wreck usually referred to as the ‘Chrisoula K’ remains under debate. There are those who believe, in fact, that this wreck is actually that of a cargo ship called the Marcus, while there are others who are convinced that the Chrisoula K has, indeed, been correctly identified. However, what is known to be fact is that the Chrisoula K was built in Germany in 1954 and met her fate when she hit the reef at Abu Nuhas on 31st August 1981...
This is a large horseshoe shaped reef north of Hurghada. It is a sheltered site and excellent for micro reef life such as nudibranch. You are also likely to encounter moray eels and blue-spotted stingrays here. Pods of dolphins also frequent the area.
El Mina wreck, or harbor wreck, was an Egyptian minesweeper, built by the Soviet, 570 tons, and approximately 60mt long. It was bombed by the Israelis during the 6 Days war in 1969. The ship lies between 26 and 30 mt.
The wreck is fully intact and complete with all anti-aircraft guns except for the main deck gun. You can see the damage cause by the blast.
Small Giftun Island has been a marine reserve for a few years now and it makes a big difference as this is one of the best dives in the area. The wall drops away to about 100m so pick your depth and gradually work your way back up as you drift along in the current. There are some picturesque coral formations sticking out from the main wall to explore, often decorated with soft corals. Tunas & barracuda are some of the inhabitant of this reef.
Abu Ramada is a wall dive ending in sandy bottom at about 60m. At the north of the reef there is a plateau , at which divers are often dropped for the dive. The current here can get quite strong and the blue sea along the wall is full with jackfish. Thanks to the soft corals and huge fan corals this is a very scenic wall.
Panorama is a very large coral formation, with walls dropping off to more than 100m. You will be dropped off by the zodiac to explore this reef with its profusion of corals including gorgonians. Jackfish, Barracuda and sharks frequent the area. There are also a huge number of anemones here with their resident clownfish.
This is a large elongated reef with walls dropping steeply to over 400m. Frequent currents mean dives at this site are recommended only for experienced divers and great care must be taken with keeping an eye on your depth and air consumption. However, at either end of the reef, the north and south, there are plateaus which can be explored before the main drop off.
The Salem Express was returning from the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia with a party of pilgrims aboard who had visited Mecca when she struck the Hyndman Reef with full force on 15th December 1991. A large hole was torn in the hull just under the bow door and the bow door was forced upward and open, which let in gallons of water resulting in a very fast sinking of around 10 minutes. This meant that was little or no time to launch the lifeboats. According to official...
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