The Thistlegorm was brought down during World War II by a longe-range German bomber. Sadly, nine crew members went down with it to find their aquatic grave. This wreck dive has almost legendary status among Red Sea divers.  It appeals to any wreck diver’s imagination. The Thistlegorm is at a depth of 30 mtrs between the Sha’ ab Ali reef and the west coast of the Sinai, north of Ras Mohamed in the Strait of Gobal. She is the holy grail of wreck diving in Egypt.

There’s a certain level of expertise and experience required to dive this wreck. Divers qualify the dive difficulty as medium to high and appreciate the photographic opportunities. The wreck of the Thistlegorm has been described as a ‘gigantic, submerged army surplus store’. The site shows healthy growth and flourishing colonization of soft and hard corals. 

As for varied fauna, big jacks, snappers, bannerfish, parrotfish, the redmooth grouper, emperorfish, doublebar breams, etc, have found residence at the Thistlegorm. Anemones and their clownesque partners have settled at the stairway, leading to the forecastle. Cables are adorned with enchanting anamones. 

There’s a crocodilefish inhabiting the ship’s desk. Potato groupers, perfectly blending in as in camouflage, have been spotted, allegedly favouring the area where the propeller and the rudder are located. The trucks and trailers on board have found admirers in the sabre squirrelfish and the white-edged soldierfish. Beware of giant morays and grey morays, having found shelter inside the ship’s paravene.

Diving the Thistlegorm, a listed monument of war and historic relic, is like entering a time capsule. It is also listed as one of the best, if not the best global wreck dive, attracting divers from all over the world. It should be approached with the greatest respect for the deceased. It has to be said that the number of scuba divers, releasing air bubbles and hence causing rapid corrosion, endanger the survival of the wreck. It will come as no surprise the Egyptian authorities have now imposed strict regulations to slow down harm to conservation.

We now continue our ‘dramatic’ journey of wreck diving in Egypt and head for Shag Rock. This rock is in the vicinity of the Sha’ ab Ali reef in the Strait of Gubal. Here lies the Sara H which has now been identified as the Kingston, a screw steamer from Sunderland, England. Shag Rock is at the southern end of Sha’ab Ali. It is generally known as an interesting and ideal dive to a ship that is in only 14 meters of water. 

The remains of the Sarah H/Kingston are partly integrated in the local reef, overgrown with soft and hard corals after having been down for almost 150 years now. The wreck earns its nickname from the photogenic huge, four-leaved brass propeller aboard. 

Sweeping schools of glassfish have found ‘asylum’ at the Kingston, together with goatfish and surgeonfish. The hull exterior has turned into a heaven for sponges, anemones, nudibranch and corals. Other residentials are scorpionfish, lionfish and moray eels. You will note that the shallowness will make for delicate natural light shots. 

Please anticipate currents that can be ‘prominent’. The majority of dives here are performed in ‘drift’ mode.