The northern Red Sea is a graveyard of ships, and that is meant as praise. The Gubal Strait squeezes shipping traffic between reefs that sit just below the surface, and for two centuries the reefs have been collecting the losers. The result is the densest cluster of divable wrecks anywhere on earth, all within a week's sailing of Hurghada.
The centrepiece is the SS Thistlegorm, a British WWII supply ship sunk in 1941 with her cargo still on board: trucks, motorcycles, rifles, rubber boots, two locomotives. She is routinely called the best wreck dive in the world, and the case against is thin. Around her, the itinerary stacks up Abu Nahas with its four wrecks on one reef, the Dunraven, and the reefs and walls of Ras Mohamed National Park.
This is the route we recommend for a first liveaboard. The distances are short, the moorings are sheltered, and the diving alternates between wrecks and easy reef, so the week builds skill instead of demanding it up front. It is also the route with the most to look at inside a single dive: a wreck is a story, and this coastline has a shelf full of them.
Do not write it off as a beginner route, though. Wreck penetration on Thistlegorm, the swim-throughs of the Giannis D, and the current at Ras Mohamed's Shark & Yolanda give experienced divers a full week of work. Most boats also fit in night dives at the sheltered reefs, which the offshore routes cannot offer.
A typical week
Itineraries flex with the weather and the group. This is the shape of the week, not a promise of it.
Boarding, paperwork, cabin assignment and a briefing. Most boats sleep in the marina or motor to a sheltered reef nearby for the night.
A check dive on an easy local reef to sort weighting and gear, then the crossing toward the Gubal Strait. Often an afternoon dive at the Dunraven, a Victorian steamer wrapped in a century of coral.
Two to four dives on the Thistlegorm, usually including an early morning slot before the day boats arrive. Holds, cargo, and the debris field around the blast that sank her. Some boats add a night dive nearby.
Shark & Yolanda Reef at the tip of Sinai: two coral towers, a wall that drops past 700m, and the scattered cargo of the Yolanda, including its famous toilets.
The ship graveyard. Four wrecks on one reef: Giannis D, Carnatic, Chrisoula K and Kimon M. Two or three dives, picking the wrecks that suit the group.
A morning dive or two on the reefs off Hurghada, then back to port. Disembark the following morning.
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