7-night Northern Red Sea Route
The Northern Red Sea and Straits of Tiran provide some of the most historic wrecks like the Thistlegorm and Abu Nuhas. Ras Mohamed National Park includes many pristine coral reefs, as well as abundant marine life. The Strait of Tiran is the narrow sea passage between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separates the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea. These reefs, named after British cartographers (Jackson, Woodhouse, Thomas, and Gordon), are world famous for their extraordinary diversity of corals and pelagic species.
Dive Sites in the Egyptian Northern Red Sea include:
SS Thistlegorm:
The SS Thistlegorm is the most famous of the Red Sea wrecks. The English cargo ship (129 metres) was bombed by German aviation on 06 October, 1941 in the area of Shaab Ali. She was transporting supplies destined for the British fifth army which was based in Alexandria at the time, as well as armored MGs vehicles, motorcycles, jeeps, trucks, rolling stock, aeroplane parts, stacks of rifles, radio equipment, munitions, and a plentiful supply of Wellington boots. Now the wreck is an artificial reef on a sandy bottom at 32 metres depth and is home to an enormous variety of marine life with large schooling fish. Additionally, the wreck provides a hunting ground for giant tuna and snappers.
Shag Rock:
At the northern side of Shag Rock is a small wreck on the sandy seabed at a depth of 15 metres. Kingston was a British cargo ship and sank in February 1881. Exploring the ship starts at the stern, which rests at 15 metres depth. The dive route continues into the hull, easily accessible as the timber bridge has gone, and the area is well illuminated by sunlight. The remains of the engine room, with the boiler still intact, are still visible, whereas the bow area, situated at 4 metres depth, was destroyed. The fauna here is particularly interesting, and includes surgeonfish, nudibranchs, jackfish, groupers, snappers, sea turtles, whitetip reef sharks, and eagle rays. Pods of dolphin are regularly spotted in this area as well.
Dunraven:
The Dunraven was a Victorian steam and sail ship carrying spices, cotton, and timber from India. Dunraven hit the reef in 1876 during a dispute between the Captain with his wife and his First Mate, and subsequently caught on fire. It sank beside the reef, upside down, and broken in two parts. Inside the wreck are schools of yellow goatfish and giant morays. The hull is covered with corals and full of marine life, such as schools of batfish, nudibranchs, pipefish and the rare ghost pipefish. The wreck rests at 15 - 30 metres depth.
Ras Mohamed National Park:
The park is located at the tip of the Southern tip of Sinai Peninsula. It was declared a protected area in 1983. The jewels in the crown of this national park are Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef. Shark Reef offers the chance to dive with grey and blacktip reef sharks. It is also home to huge numbers of reef fish and some larger pelagics such as tunas. Yolanda Reef is named after the shipwreck. On the plateau, at a depth of 10 - 25 metres, are scattered remains of toilets and baths. Anemone City is a wonderful shallow dive at 12 metres depth. The Shark Observatory is awesome, with plenty of whitetip reef sharks and huge barracudas. The dive sites in Ras Mohamed offer an abundance of reef fish, scorpion fish, multiple macro critters, as well as hard and soft corals. The whole area is a big fish territory.
Shaab Umm Usk:
An awesome coral garden with many different soft and hard coral species. Acropora corals are present in different forms, such as antler, table, and spreading formations. There is an abundance of parrotfish, snapper, wrasse, emperor, butterflies, angles, fusiliers, surgeons, and big groupers – the usual spectacular, colourful reef assemblage of fishes. Night dives here provide the potential to meet curious cuttlefish and squid. The lagoon is also popular with bottlenose dolphins. This dive site is at 20 metres depth.
Siyul Kebira:
Siyul Kebira is a varied reef composed of dense coral patches with a lot to explore. The undulating reef face has furrows, valleys, and depressions. The North side of the Siyul Kebira reef is covered in corals, and both sides of the reef feature a mix of different coral species – hard corals as well as soft ones. The fish life is vibrant and diverse, and Siyul Kebira attracts larger pelagics as well. Nurse and leopard sharks are sometimes spotted on the sandy bottom. This dive site is at 22 meters depth.
Abu Nuhas:
Also known as “Ships Graveyard”, Abu Nuhas is located close to the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Suez. Four wrecks are lying in a chain on a sandy bottom of a steep sloping reef covered with table corals. The following wrecks are found there:
- Ghiannis D was on the way from Rijeka to Al Hudayda at the Southern end of the Red Sea, when the bow ran aground on the reef on 19 April, 1984. The rear half of the wreck lies on the port side. At the front, the funnel is the large letter “D” signifying the name of the shipping company, Danae. In front of the funnel is the bridge deck with different areas, an enormous winch and the bollard. Narrow portholes lead into the engine room. The mid-ship area resembles a scrap heap where steel girders are bent and torn up, and the side panels lie caved in on the bottom. Crocodile fish, scorpion fish, parrotfish, and groupers call the vessel home. This wreck is at 10 - 27 metres depth.
- Carnatic was on the way from Liverpool to Bombay with 27 crew members, 203 passengers as well as a cargo of cotton, copper, and 40,000 pounds Sterling in solid gold. She ran aground in the night of 13 September,1869. The wreck now lies at a depth of 20 - 27 metres. The hull is covered with hard and leather corals.
- Chrisoula K started her last trip on 30 August, 1981, loaded with cheap Italian tiles. Chrisoula K ran aground due to a navigation error of the captain, and sank in the same night. The wreck lies at 5 - 25 metres depth.
Shaab el Erg:
Shaab el Erg, also known as “Dolphin House”, is famous for dolphin sightings; it is not uncommon for a pod of dolphin to join the dive. The reef drops down to a coral garden at 12 meters depth with marine life like nudibranchs, tunas, trevallies, jacks, scorpionfish and sea turtles.
Carless Reef:
Carless Reef is well-known for gorgeous hard and soft corals, spectacular marine life, and a large population of moray eels. The plateau is at 16 - 25 metres depth, and has two large pinnacles covered with hard and soft corals. The reef attracts an interesting variety of marine life such as barracudas, tunas, trevallies, jacks, groupers, scorpionfish, nudibranchs, and sea turtles. The wall slopes down to 40 metres depth, and is covered with soft corals, some fan corals, and longnose hawkfish. The dive site is also well-known for encountering sharks.
Jackson Reef:
Jackson Reef is the Northern most reef in Tiran and is well-known for the Cypriot cargo ship, The Lara, which sank in 1985; some remains of the wreckage can still be seen on top of the reef. The West site has a forest of spectacular gorgonian fan corals at 20 - 30 metres depth as well as many different kinds of reef fishes. The most spectacular and colourful coral garden is at the Southwest site in 15 metres depth. It is very common to encounter sea turtles, whitetip and grey reef sharks.
Woodhouse Reef
is the longest reef in the Strait of Tiran and home to both reef sharks and eagle rays. At the Southern part of the reef is a wall at 30 metres depth covered with coral from the top, all the way down. Along the reef is a canyon at 25 metres depth that spreads out into a coral garden with sand alleys.
Thomas Reef
is the smallest reef in the strait. The reef’s ends are vertical walls with a large plateau at 25 metres depth on the South-Eastern side. This plateau is covered in colourful coral and has a fence of gorgonian fans where longnose hawkfish can be found.
Gordon Reef
is the most Southerly reef of the four islands and has a different topography from the others offering both a shallow plateau and drop-offs. There is a huge variety of reef fishes and the chance to see sleeping whitetip reef sharks on sandy patches. At 4 - 5 metres depth, there is an eel garden. The top of the reef, with its lighthouse, is also home to the wreck Louilla which lies almost parallel to the wreck on Jackson Reef.
SS Thistlegorm:
The SS Thistlegorm is the most famous of the Red Sea wrecks. The English cargo ship (129 metres) was bombed by German aviation on 06 October, 1941 in the area of Shaab Ali. She was transporting supplies destined for the British fifth army which was based in Alexandria at the time, as well as armored MGs vehicles, motorcycles, jeeps, trucks, rolling stock, aeroplane parts, stacks of rifles, radio equipment, munitions, and a plentiful supply of Wellington boots. Now the wreck is an artificial reef on a sandy bottom at 32 metres depth and is home to an enormous variety of marine life with large schooling fish. Additionally, the wreck provides a hunting ground for giant tuna and snappers.
