Chrisoula K rudder

11th November 2025

A 6am start and the first dive (Dive#1) of the trip was, as always, a check dive at Sa'ab El Erg, a lovely chill dive over white sand and coral bommies. The usual reef critters to be seen, including Blackspotted Pufferfish, Rusty Parrotfish, Bird Wrasse and Coronetfish, to name just some.

Having fine tuned my weights I was a lot more comfortable on the second dive (Dive #2) which was the wonderful Chrisoula K wreck, a.k.a. the Tile Ship at Abu N'has. This was the 4th time I've dived it and I'm getting to know it quite well, enough to be confident to take an an unguided dive. Went through the tile holds then around the outside to the rudder and propeller and then to the bow. Several Batfish and surge by the wreck, and the sea was quite lumpy on the surface when we returned to the rhib.

The last dive of the day (Dive #3), the night dive, was at Abu N'has reef. Not a great night dive as far as things to see went; a Lionfish, Masked Pufferfish and a Red Sea Garden Eel about 18 inches long, which quickly wriggled out of sight under some coral before I could take a picture.

It was good to be back in the lovely warm water of the Red Sea again, the first day not too taxing with just 3 dives. Early to bed for another 6am start tomorrow.

12th November 2025

Dive #4 continued at Abu N'has and commenced with an early morning dive on the SS Carnatic. I love this wreck and have dived it 4 times now but each time you see something new. It is a fabulous open wreck at a comfortable depth, easy to penetrate both fore and aft. The wooden structure has rotted away giving the interior plenty of light and leaving the steel skeleton to be colonised by an amazing variety of coral.
The usual reef/wreck life is found in and around the wreck, Parrotfish, school of Batfish, Striped Butterflyfish, school of Sergeant Major, to name just a few.

Next up (Dive #5) was the Giannis D, a.k.a. Markus, a cargo ship built in Japan in 1969 and sunk in 1983. Another great wreck dive at a comfortable depth, it is pretty broken up into several parts, the most intact being the stern which is possible to penetrate into the bridge, engineering and accommodation and engine room.

A move over lunch time to Ras Mohammed and another favourite wreck of mine, the SS Dunraven (Dive #6). Since 2009 I have now dived this wreck 4 times and am always thrilled to do it, swim through the rudder hole where the propeller rotates, then inside the wreck at the deepest part (~28m), up through the ship through the engine room and past the boilers (a bit of a squeeze), seeing the large school of Glassfish, and emerging amidships at 24m.

The night dive (Dive #7) was at Beacon Rock, a nice bimble but nothing much seen on this dive apart from massive Pore Coral, three Morays out hunting and a large solitary Barracuda seen in the distance.

SS Carnatic Bowsprit ring

Giannis D Command Bridge

Giant Triggerfish

Thistlegorm Port Loco Firebox

13th November 2025

Today's first dive (Dive #8) we are at Shark and Yolanda Reef in the Ras Mohammed National Park. We did a nice drift dive along a wall and then between the two atolls and past the strewn white goods from the Yolanda wreck, a Greek Merchant Ship which sank in 1980 and was carrying hotel furniture, including bathroom white goods. The picture on the left was so funny that I had to include it. The triggerfish was swimming along minding its own, when it saw a school of black rubber clad monsters heading towards it, at which point it decided to play dead, descending to the bottom and onto its side, anxiously looking at us with one, very mobile beady eye, until we passed.
Along with the bathroom white goods and the triggerfish, other wildlife of note were two Bluespotted Stingrays, Napoleonfish, Coronetfish, Crocodilefish, Stonefish and Devil Scorpionfish.

After breakfast we did the first (Dive #9) of 4 dives on the Thistlegorm, adding to the 5 times I've previously dived it. This has to be the best wreck dive in the Red Sea, if not the world, and you see new things each time - you never get bored! This dive was all about the outside superstructure of the wreck, so down the shot to Captains Cabin, along the starboard side to the bow, past the bridge and starboard water and coal tenders, back down the port side and then off to visit the remains of the Stanier 8F Loco, then back to the stern to the two anti-aircraft guns, finally returning to the shot and back up.

After lunch we dropped in (Dive #10) to descend the shot in current, a Napoleonfish swam by as we did. Penetrated into the wreck at the Captains Cabin then down into the lower deck, progressing anti-clockwise through holds 2 and 3, moving up to the upper level to return. The holds are stuffed full with empty trailers and Bedford truck carrying motorcycles, Norton Motorcycles, some with sidecars, rubber boots, tyres and airplane spares, electric cables, Lee Enfield Mk lll Rifles, Portable Electric Generators, Mortars, 4" shells in cases and more.

13th November 2025 continued...

The night dive (Dive #11) was again on the Thistlegorm. The current had dropped by this time making a more comfortable dive. We did not do any penetration of the wreck on this dive, just again traversing the outside looking at the life that had colonized it; Bluespotted Stingrays, Four Colour Chromodoris Nudibranch, Banded Cleaner Shrimp, Lionfish, Coronetfish, Red Sea Anemonefish. There was undoubtedly life that I missed seeing, other reported Crocodilefish and Stonefish to name a couple, but that's the beauty of a dive like this, there is always something else to see (and to miss).

The next morning (Dive #12) we were back on the Thistlegorm for a special occasion. It was Red Neil's 60th birthday and also his 60th dive on the Thistlegorm! We all gathered at the bow for a group photo. Afterwards we struck off the starboard side to find the starboard Stanier 8F Loco which was great because I had never seen that before. It was a lot closer to the Thistlegorm than I'd been led to believe. After that not much bottom time left so a quick tour around the deck and then back up the shot to be greeted by a school of Batfish underneath the dive boat.

Starboard Coal Tender

Four Colour Chromodoris

Winch on Rosalie Moller

14th November 2025

The second dive of today (Dive #13) after breakfast was another classic but deep wreck, the Rosalie Moller. I last dived this wreck in 2011 and that dive and these two make it a total of 3 dives. Not much time on this because of the depth, just time to go around the top from bow to stern in fairly low visibility and at a reasonable leisurely pace, getting to 33.4m depth, total dive time 28 mins without hitting deco. Took some pictures of the superstructure but my favourite was the picture to the left which I'm fairly sure is a Four Colour Chromodoris Nudibranch on a Raspberry Coral.

After lunch we dived (Dive #14) the Rosalie Moller again. Visibility still poor and again it was a pretty basic dive, down the shot around the deck from bow to stern and back up the shot, 25 mins in total to avoid deco. The picture to the bottom left shows some kind of winch on the deck just before the opening to one of the holds.

In the evening we did the night dive (Dive #15), a pleasant bimble on Small Gubal Reef. No current , max depth 12m, checking in and under small coral bommies for interesting things but not a great deal found there. Saw a nice Masked Pufferfish, a couple of large Morays out hunting, moving through the coral with grace and purpose and not at all phased by our presence, a couple of Red Sea Anemonefish hiding away within a Bubble Sea Anemone and a couple of nice Big Fin Reef Squid jetting around.

15th November 2023

Today we are in Safaga, the boat moved overnight to get closer to Hurghada, a reminder that the trip is nearly over.
First dive (Dive #16) today is Salem Express which sank in 1991, sadly with some tragic loss of life. I have dived this wreck twice before. A reasonably deep dive at around 30mm I followed my dive guide, for a rather uneventful tour around the deck area, noting the huge crack in the bow where it hit the reef, a quick look at the propeller and then back up the shot amidships to end the dive at 55 mins.

A little more interesting this dive (Dive #17), again on Salem Express, but quite disturbing dive too, we dropped down the shot and went to the stern to enter the deep car deck. It was a long swim the length of the ship (100m) over all kinds of passenger's luggage, clothing, reams of cloth, furniture and debris. At the end we went up a level to return, past an old Toyota car and back out. Ascending slightly we then entered the canteen and passages before returning to the shot and back up, only 41 mins for this dive. A very eerie experience and one can only imagine the panic and terror of those onboard when it sank.

The dive (Dive #18) after lunch was the wreck Al Kahfain which sank in Nov 2005, only 20 years before this dive. It is upside down and slowly collapsing, in some places unstable. We did some penetration, inside was just wide open spaces and nothing much to see except some old metal frame beds/cots. We swam back from the wreck through a channel in the reef passing lots of massive Pore Coral on the way.

The night dive (Dive #19) was just a reef dive at Tobia Arbaa or the '7 Pillars' in Soma Bay, made of coral pinacles which rise up from the sea bed 10m to 12 m, almost to the surface. The ubiquitous Morays were out hunting, one getting very close to me but not in a threatening way. I think I was slightly irrelevant to it. A number of Blue Fin Trevally cruised by and several Bluespotted Stingrays, one with no tail! A pleasant dive to end the day.

Damage to Bow - Salem Express

Passenger Debris - Salem Express

Heght Allah hold

16th November 2025

The early morning dive today (Dive #20) was the wreck of Hebat Allah, a small cargo ship sank as an artificial reef in 2004, intended to sit at 30m. Unfortunately, this was not to be and it ended up at 46m making this a challenging dive for non-technical divers. A nice to look at wreck, the holds and bridge are wide open for penetration as you would expect for an artificial reef, but realistically, just out reach for normal diving. I hit 38.3m around the top but not much dive time, start to finish was 27 minutes to avoid going into deco.

The last dive (Dive #21) of the trip was a two wreck visit to the El Minya, a Russian built Type T-43 Minesweeper sunk in 1970 and the Mohammed Hasabella, an Egyptian trawler which sank in January 2007. Again quite deep for both vessels, I hit 29.6m and only had time for a quick tour around the outside of El Minya, noting the blast hole in the side and then on to the Mohammed Hasabella, a short swim away, to which a line had been attached from El Minya. So we visited both and then returned to the bow of El Minya and up the shot to end a 33 minute final dive.

All in all, this has been a very interesting and enjoyable trip, lots of wrecks which are always welcome and I visited some old favourites as well as some new ones, creating lots of good memories. I'd certainly do this trip again.