2 weeks: North-Tiran-Brother Islands-Daedalus-Elphinstone-Salem Express

Itinerary Highlights

• The SS Thistlegorm is probably the most famous Wreck in the Red Sea. The British cargo ship was on its way 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. The wreck is lying upright on the sea-bottom at 32m depth. Especially interesting is the cargo: Tanks, trucks, motorcycles, weapons, railway carriage and two railway engines.
• The Reef at Abu Nuhas is famous for Wrecks. There are 4 Wrecks, 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 19th April 1984 and sank a short time afterwards. It is now lying in a maximum depth of 27m 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 special. The steamship CARNATIC struck the reef in September 1869. She sank the following day as the weather worsened. She lies in about 26m 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 Mahmoud in April 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 28m and the bow at 18m. At the stern you find the propeller and the rudder, which are overgrown with corals. Inside the wreck you see thousands of glass fish.
• The marine park Ras Mohamed offers dreamlike diving spots. For example SHARK REEF and YOLANDA REEF. Both reefs are standing on a plateau, which is between 10m to 20m deep. The edges of the plateau fall down to more than 200m. At the reef you will find nice hard and soft corals, plenty of fish in all kind of sizes. With luck you can see sharks during your early morning dive. At Yolanda Reef you can see the cargo of a Cypriot freighter YOLANDA which ran aground in 1980: a large quantity of household pottery such as toilets, bath and shower tubes, bidets…
• Straits of Tiran, Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson Reef. The Gordon Reef is marked by the wreck of a large commercial freighter. The reef composition is quite varied, with patchy sections, sand beds and full-fledged coral gardens. In the center of the reef slope, a shark amphitheater or bowl dips to 24m; with luck a variety of shark species can be seen sleeping on the sandy bottom. The site boasts a very good range of corals, with lots of branching varieties. All of the corals are well preserved, in densely grown patches that often show a remarkable mix of different species.
• The Brother Islands one of the best diving spots in the world. The Islands – the Big Brother and the Little Brother – are two small exposed promontories that just come out of the water in the middle of the sea at around 60 km from the Egyptian coast line. The Little Brother has a very high concentration of life in a much reduced area. The walls are covered literally with sponges, anemones and all sorts of hard and soft corals in an astonishing variety of colors and shapes. Of course you will find here plenty of fish. It is not unusual to see sharks: hammerheads, thresher sharks, grey reef sharks, silver tip and white tip reef sharks.
• The Daedalus Reef is a huge reef formation that lies at about 180 km south of Brother Islands. The reef is surrounded by a sheer wall all around, featuring a plateau on its southern side that goes from 28 m beside the reef to 40 m on the edge of the drop-off. If the weather is good, try to get as far north as possible and drift along one of the sides of the reef. Reef and hammerhead sharks are often spotted here. Marine life is here more abundant than anywhere else, with schools of surgeons, fusiliers, carangids.
• The reef of Elphinstone, a truly legendary reef, is one of the most beautiful reefs in the Red Sea, with its north and south plateau, and the walls covered in soft corals, black corals, wire corals and gorgonias. Hammerheads, oceanic white tip sharks and grey reef sharks can also be spotted here.
• The Salem Express is now about 1.5 boat hours southeast of Safaga at a depth of between 11 and 32 meters on the starboard side. The Wreck can be dived from the outside. Since not all bodies could be recovered from inside the ship, the Salem Express was officially declared a grave. In the meantime, the tailgate has been opened to dive in, but the cabins are still not allowed to be entered.