SS Thistlegorm: The SS Thistlegorm is the most famous of the Red Sea wrecks. The English cargo ship (423 feet/129 meters) was bombed by German aviation on October 6,1941 in the area of Shaab Ali. She was transporting supplies destined for the British fifth army based in Alexandria, as well as armored MGs vehicles, motorcycles, jeeps, trucks, rolling stock, airplane 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 104 feet/32 meters 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 50 feet/15 meters depth. Kingston was a British cargo ship and sunk in February 1881. Exploring the ship starts at the stern, the rests at 50 feet/15 meters depth. The dive route continues into the hull, easily accessible as the wooden bridge is 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 13 feet/4 meters 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 dolphins 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. It sank in 1876 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, like schools of batfish, nudibranchs, pipefish and the rare ghost pipefish. The wreck rests at 50 – 95 feet/15 – 30 meters depth.

Ras Mohamed National Park: The park is located at the tip of the 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 32 – 82 feet/10 – 25 meters depth, are scattered remains of toilets and baths. Anemone City is a wonderful shallow dive at 40 feet/12 meters 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.

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 AI Hudayda at the southern end of the Red Sea, when the bow ran aground on the reef on April 19, 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 30 – 88 feet/10 – 27meters 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 gold. She ran aground in the night September 13,1869. Now the wreck lies at a depth of 65 – 88 feet/20 – 27 meters. The hull is covered with hard and leather corals.

Chrisoula K started her last trip on August 30, 1981 loaded with cheap Italian tiles. Chrisoula K ran aground due to a navigation mistake of the captain and sank in the same night. The wreck lies at 16 – 80 feet/5 – 25 meters depth.

Shaab el Erg: Shaab el Erg, also known as “Dolphin House”, is famous for dolphin sightings; it is not uncommon for a school of dolphins to join the dive. The reef drops down to a coral garden at 40 feet/12 meters deep with marine life like nudibranchs, tunas, trevallies, jacks, scorpionfish and sea turtles.

The Straits of Tiran are a narrow channel of water that connects the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea. The straits are located between the Sinai Peninsula and the Saudi Arabian island of Tiran. The straits are home to some of the most beautiful and diverse coral reefs in the world, making them a popular destination for scuba diving. The following dive sites are awaiting you.

Jackson Reef: Jackson Reef is the northern most reef in Tiran and is well-known for the Cypriot cargo ship The Lara that 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 65 – 100 feet/20 – 30 meters depth as well as many different kinds of reef fishes. The most spectacular and colorful coral garden is at the southwest site in 50 feet/15 meters 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 100 feet/30 meters depth covered with coral from the top all the way down. Along the reef is a canyon at 82 feet/25 meters 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 82 feet/25 meters depth on the south eastern side. This plateau is covered in colorful coral and has a fence of gorgonian fans 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 13 – 16 feet/4 – 5 meters depth, there is an eel garden.