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Strait of Tiran & Dahab
- After passing by the National park of Ras Mohamed this tour will take you to the famous reefs in the Strait of Tiran.
- Strait of Tiran with the beautiful dive sites at Jackson, Thomas and Gordon Reef.
- Then you continue north towards Dahab. Popular dive sites are the "Canyon", the "Islands", the "Oasis", the "Bells" and the "Golden Blocks". The night dive in Gabr el Bint is a unique experience.
- The dive site "Blue Hole" is considered the most famous in the world.
- On the way back the wreck on the "menu" speaks for itself: The Thistlegorm, one of the most famous wrecks in the entire Red Sea. The freighter, which sank in 1941, with its motorcycles, trucks and the locomotive lying off to the side, captivates every diver.
Expect to see
SS Thistlegorm
The English ship was on her way to Egypt to supply the English Africa Corps with supplies when she was attacked by a German bomber on 6.10.1941 and sank.
The wreck lies upright on the seabed at a depth of 30 meters.
The cargo is especially interesting: tanks, trucks, weapons, motorcycles, railroad cars as well as a locomotive.
The Thistlegorm is a must for every Red Sea diver. She is a delight for wreck enthusiasts, not to mention her spectacular cargo.
But she also offers a variety of fish. Schools of barracudas or big tunas and snappers are not uncommon here. As an artificial reef, it also attracts countless coral fish.
Jackson Reef
The "Jackson Reef" resembles a triangle, the tip of which points towards the north. Exactly here lies the famous shipwreck "Lara", run aground and sunk in 1981. In the area of " Lara " you can always see hammerhead sharks, which are in the blue water and in pleasant depths between 10 and 30 meters.
This highly frequented dive spot is not only a treat for divers, but also snorkelers get their money's worth at "Jackson Reef", as there are two shallow plateaus. Perfect for an underwater excursion with the whole family. Besides the "Lara", the remains of the old lighthouse are also among the highlights of the reef.
Not only reef and hammerhead sharks can be seen with a little luck, but also magnificent coral gardens, red anemones, clownfish, horseeye jacks, eagle rays, napoleon wrasse, groupers or schools of tuna. See, be astonished, enjoy!
Woodhouse Reef
"Woodhouse Reef" is the longest of the four reefs in the Strait of Tiran. The reef top is about 1.2 kilometers long. In the area of the saddle one should be extremely careful, because here we divers are confronted with brutal currents that pull us down. This place is also called the "washing machine" by the locals.
Diving is mainly on the east side because there is a plateau, a canyon and interesting wreck ruins! If we look into the open water we have the chance to spot hammerheads, grey reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, leopard sharks or eagle rays.
The canyon is too narrow to dive; best to stay in the upper area.
Thomas Reef
If you are into cave diving, you will have a great time at "Thomas Reef", which convinces with its vertical steep walls, many gorges and the spectacular canyon. However, the dive is only for experienced divers: Especially on the side that faces "Woodhouse Reef", the currents change immensely depending on the tides and are not only fast, but also create down currents.
Those who dare should not hesitate and book the tour immediately. The "Thomas Reef" is simply a brilliant and unique dive site. The canyon may rightly brag with its three rock bridges, gorgonian fields and black corals are always showing off for their visitors and again lionfish, reef sharks, barracudas, moray eels or family members of the other 1,200 fish species in the Red Sea come by for a visit. Pure fish cinema!
Gordon Reef
"Gordon Reef", the southernmost reef of the Strait of Tiran, has a length of about 900 meters and the reef top is just half a meter below the water surface. This is also the reason why we unfortunately cannot dive the cargo ship from Panama, the "Loullia", which was stranded on September 29, 1981.
In the southwest there is still an unmanned lighthouse and in the north a lighthouse ruin - unfortunately hardly recognizable, but the perfect search object for one or the other challenge! There are sandy moorings in the south, in the east as well as in the west with a depth of two to 10 meters.
Diving is mostly in the southern part, because here the drop-off edge is only between 25 and 30 meters and then later goes down to 50 meters. In the rest of the reef it's a steep descent from now on down to depths of 300 meters.
But finally we come to the colorful part of the explanations: in the "amphitheater", a sandy depression, we meet with a little luck scalloped hammerhead sharks, at the sight of which we are really speechless. The whitetip reef sharks, which are "sweet" in contrast to their counterparts, also grant us an audience here from time to time. It is not for nothing that this sandy depression is also called "Sharkpool". And the grass sticking out of the sand are usually red sea garden eels, the other highlights besides fire corals and gorgonians.
Laguna Reef North & South
This reef is named after its magnificent coral lagoons.
The north lagoon is located in the area of the green and white lighthouse.
North of the lighthouse is the wreck of the Italian bulk freighter Kormoran. The ship was built in 1963 in the Rostock Neptune shipyard for the Italian shipping company "Compagnia Montemare di Navigazione". In 1976 the ship was renamed Adamastos and in 1980 Zingara.
The ship was 82.4 meters long and 12.6 meters wide with a tonnage of 2,730 gross tons.
Coming from Aqaba, the ship, loaded with phosphate, ran aground on the reef on August 21, 1984 and sank.
Ras Mohammed with Jolanda & Shark Reef
The cape takes its name from its rocky peak to the east, whose contours are reminiscent of a male profile with a beard - the head of Mohammed - carved in stone.
Ras Mohamed is one of the world's most famous dive sites and is located at the tip of Sinai. Two small reefs are connected by a vertical sloping wall.
Close to Shark Reef, a little further north, is Anemone City, an vast, shallow reef zone with numerous sea anemones and their red sea anemone fish and three-spotted damsel fish.
From Shark Reef, you can drift with the current along a steep wall that drops several 100 m to Jolanda Reef. The wall is completely covered with colourful corals. On the way to Jolanda Reef you reach a plateau with small boulders and coral islands. Once at the reef, you will see the scattered remains of the Yolanda wreck ,containerised sanitation facilities for the construction industry, now completely taken over by the life of the coral reef.
Jolanda
Containers, toilets, bathtubs, wallpaper, boxes of whiskey and even a BMW 320 that belonged to the captain are spread all over the plateau.
The ship, which partially rose above the water surface and was in an unstable position because the bow was vertically stuck in the bottom, was pushed by the waves to a depth of 50 meters in early 1987 and disappeared into the blue below during a violent sea storm on March 15 of the same year.
Blue Hole
This enormous hole along the coast in the coral reef with a diameter of 50 to 65 meters, is located 10 km north of Dahab in the east of the Sinai Peninsula. The drop-offs reach depths of considerable 70 to 110 meters.
The Blue Hole is a large hole in the reef top of the coastal fringing reef, which drops vertically to depths of 70 meters to 110 meters. It has a diameter of 50 to 65 meters.
The reason why the Blue Hole is considered the most dangerous dive site in the world is because of a connection to the open sea, which is called an "arch" because of its shape. It extends from the bottom of the Blue Hole up to a depth of 55 meters. At its upper end it is only a few meters wide and about 26 m long. Also at the outer edge the reef forms an almost vertical drop-off, which continues below the "exit" of the Blue Hole as a steep slope down to several hundred meters depth.
Canyon
Inside the canyon, depths range from 25 metres to its shallowest point (closest to the reef wall) to more than 50 metres. You must be an advanced diver to dive here. Technical divers can enter the canyon and follow it through a crack at 54-55 metres to the deepest exit.
Gabr el Bint
Gabr el Bint means 'The Grave of the Girl' in Arabic. There are two dives possible here. The right side, also known as the dark side, features a steep wall that drops down to about 60m cut by numerous chasms, sandy ravines and overhangs. The drop-off is adorned with healthy table corals. The left side is a far more colourful featuring a virtual forest of gorgonians. Usually drop down to about 20-25m swimming along massive boulders protruding from the drop-off which attracts dense shoals of anthias and glassfish. Keep a good eye on the blue where you will see trevallies hunting on the shoals of fusiliers. After about ten minutes you will find some of the healthiest gorgonian fan corals in the Red Sea. Here you start to ascend to about 10m and cross the saddle then start to head back along a sandy ledge which parallels to the shore. The ledge is riddled with exquisite coral heads that attract numerous reef species, including swarms of anthias, scorpionfish, parrotfish, crocodilefish, surgeonfish, triggerfish, trumpetfish, stingrays and very often a turtle. At the end of the ledge usually is home to a shoal of black and white snappers and twinspot snappers hang here between 5m and 10m. One of the truly breathtaking dives in Dahab.
Itinerary
ATTENTION: The tour description is merely our suggestion. Which diving places on tour are dived is determined by many factors including the wind and weather.
Arrival
After arrival in Hurghada transfer to the boat.
Check in, dinner and spending the first night on board in the marina.
Departure
Departure in the morning.
Familiarization of the boat,
Diving, safety and equipment briefing.
Dives at Shaab el Erg
Tiran reefs
4 dives at the Tiran reefs
Dahab
Dive at the Blue Hole
Dive at the Canyon
Dive at Gabr el Bint
Night dive
Ras Mohamed
Dives at Ras Mohamed
SS Thistlegorm
Dives at the Thistlegorm
Return
Dive at Small Giftun Island and Gota Abu Ramada
Return to the port.
For safety reasons you should not dive 24 hours before your flight home.
Check out
Breakfast and check out no later than 10 am.
Transfer to the airport or hotel.