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 Southern Red Sea Itineraries
- Brothers Islands and Elphinstone Reef
- The Brother Islands
- Brothers Deadalus Elphinstone
- Deep South - St. Johns Reefs
- Great Island Tour
- North Wrecks
- South Safari
- Best of Red Sea
Route: North Wrecks
The "Thistlegorm" is probably the most famous wreck in the Red Sea. The British ship was on the way to Egypt to bring military equipment of all kinds for the British troops in North Africa. But then on the 6th of October 1941 a German bomber attacked the Thistlegorm. Now the wreck is lying upright on the sea-bottom at 30-m depth. Especially interesting is the cargo: Tanks, trucks, motorcycles, weapons, railway carriage and one railway engine.
The Reef at Abu Nuhas is famous for wrecks. There are 4 wrecks here, which are today an attraction point for divers all around the world. For example the Greek cargo ship "Giannis D.", which ran aground the reef on the 19th of March 1983, and sank a short time afterwards. It is now lying in a maximum depth of 27 m and is overgrown with hard- and soft corals. The ship cracked down in the middle. The better part of the two halves is the stern section. Here it is easy to dive inside the wreck, because there are a lot of entry and exit points. Because the wreck is leaning on a 45° angle you will find yourself swimming up a stairwell which your mind tells you are heading down. This effect is very disorientating.
The steamship "Carnatic" struck the reef in September 1869. She sank the following day as the weather worsened. She lies in about 24-m depths. She has broken up amidships, leaving her bow and stern intact. The decking has fallen away to be replaced by a thick growth of tube sponges, alcyonarians and occasional table corals, making her very photogenic. She is also laid open to light from above and is easily penetrated.
The "Dunraven", a steam and sail-powered vessel used to transport spices and timber, ran aground the reef Shaab Mahmud in March 1876 during a voyage from Bombay to Newcastle and sank quickly. The ship broke in two, and her two halves came to rest on the sea floor. The wreck lies upside down with the stern at a depth of 28 m and the bow at 18 m. At the stern you find the propeller and the rudder, which are overgrown with corals. Inside the wreck you see thousands of glassfish.
The marine park Ras Mohammed offers dreamlike diving spots, for example, Shark Reef and Jolanda Reef. Both reefs are standing on a plateau, which is 20 m deep. The edges of the plateau fall down to more than 800 meters. At the reef you will find nice soft corals and fish are plentiful. With luck you can see sharks during your early morning dive. At Jolanda Reef you can see the cargo of a Cypriot freighter "Jolanda" which ran aground in 1980: a large quantity of household toilets.
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