DIVE GUIDE: RAS MOHAMMED MARINE PARK
- Translated from Arabic it means 'Mohammed's Head', but translated from diving talk it means 'Wall Dive'! The sheer drops from the reef tables are home to a wealth of marine life, combining reef dwellers with those bigger fish of the deep blue.

Well known dive sites like Jolonda Reef, Shark Reef, Shark Observatory, Stingray Alley and Anemone City can offer sightings of some real favourites such as large grouper, Napoleon Wrasse and particularly during the summer months, huge shoals of bat fish, barracuda and snapper. If your lucky you may also encounter some of the larger predators that are drawn to this area, such as black-tip and grey reef sharks, and the odd tiger shark has been known to make an appearance too. Ras Mohammed is also home to a varied amount of soft and hard corals.

Below: Shoal of Batfish at Ras Mo.

Ras Mohammed is also infamous for having 'the toilet wreck', the most photographed collection of toilets and bathroom fixtures ever! The location for this bizarre underwater sight is Jolanda Reef, named after the Cypriot freighter which wrecked here but his since slid off the reef down into the depths, but left her cargo of toilets behind.

Sandwiched between Tiran Island and the Sinai coast, the Straits of Tiran are made up of four main reefs, named after those that mapped them; Gordon (in foreground), Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson (in background - see pic left).

If you were traveling from Sharm, the first reef you come to would be Gordon which still bares the dangers of these reefs to shipping; the unfortunate 'Loullia' wreck lies stranded atop the reef, although now badly battered by the seas.

The abundance of plankton in the straits, combined with the wide variety of coral and attendant fish inhabitants means encounters with sharks is a distinct possibility. The reefs rise up steeply from the depths and it is always worth looking out into the blue on the chance that you may catch sight of a white-tip reef shark cruising by. Hammerhead sharks are also frequently sighted on the backside of Jackson reef.

Dolphins are also quite commonly sighted, either from the dive boats or underwater if you are very lucky. The profusion of coral is another plus of this area providing gorgonian fans, sea whips, antler, stony and black corals amongst others.

DIVE GUIDE: NORTHERN RED SEA WRECKS

- The Thistlegorm is possibly the most famous wreck dive ever; a true legend. She was built in Sunderland in 1940 and quickly requisitioned by the Royal Navy for the war effort, and fitted-out with guns in keeping with her new role as a military supply ship.

Her final journey started in Glasgow where she was loaded with a cargo of rifles, munitions, aircraft parts, trucks, motorbikes, boots and even two steam locomotives & their tenders were loaded on the deck. Her destination was the British Eighth Army in North Africa, but passage through the Mediterranean was unsafe due to German patrols, so she had to take the long route around Africa and the Cape, then up through the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. She never made her destination.

On 06th October 1941, whilst at anchor at Sha'ab Ali waiting to proceed up the Gulf of Suez and through the canal, she was spotted by some German bombers and targeted. The bombs hit the aft holds and munitions aboard the Thistlegorm detonated causing the ship to sink quickly. Nine crew members were killed.

The Thistlegorm lay undisturbed until the early 1950's when a young explorer by the name of J. Cousteau found her - rare footage of this can be seen in his film The Living Sea. The Thistlegorm then was left undisturbed and forgotten again until 1990, when her location was again found and she quickly became the popular attraction that she still is today.

The wreck has suffered from plundering in the past, and damage from inappropriate mooring, but she is still a fantastic wreck dive. The cargo holds are still full of old BSA motorcycles and army trucks. One steam locomotive still waits patiently on her deck, while the other was blasted off and lies on the seabed at 33m. There is something is interest everywhere you look! The dive itself is suited to Advanced Open Water dives, as depth is likely to be 25 metres and penetration of the wreck requires competent buoyancy control. The currents over the wreck can be quite strong too.

- The Dunraven was built in Newcastle in 1873 and struck the reef in 1876 at the point now know as Beacon Rock. It is a tribute to her British engineering that she is still intact and diveable to today. She lies upside down, with her hull pointing toward the surface, although it is still possible to enter the wreck at the stern. There are several large groupers here, as well as large resident moray eels and predatory lion fish, which lies in wait for unsuspecting glass fish which amass here in their thousands.

- The Carnatic lies at Abu Nuhas, as favourite spot for ships to wreck in this area! She was built in 1863 and met her fate in 1869.

Above & Below: Steam locomotive and
deck gun on the Thistlegorm wreck.