Wreck diving from Hurghada: every wreck you can reach, and how

From Hurghada you can reach 19 wrecks in four ways: a normal day boat, a special wreck day, a road trip to Safaga or a liveaboard. The table puts them side by side. Depths are the range published by Egypt's Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS) and the dive guides behind our own dive-site pages; where they differ, both are shown.

"Level we suggest" is the certification our dive-site and trip pages recommend. You only need it to dive the outside of a wreck. Going inside is a different matter: read why you never go inside without training. For a wider list that includes the reefs, see the dive sites around Hurghada.

Four small wrecks lie within 10 minutes of Hurghada harbour, so they can be part of our guided 2-dive day (€50, normally €60). The guides pick each day's sites by wind, swell and the group's experience, so a harbour wreck is never promised. Ask when you book and we tell you if it fits your day.

• El Mina: a Soviet-built T-43 minesweeper of the Egyptian Navy, 58 m long, sunk by Israeli aircraft. She lies on her port side at about 30–32 m. Machine guns on board still hold live ammunition, so touch nothing. Expect glassfish and lionfish, and leave the lone anemone in the blast hole alone. Advanced Open Water is recommended. When the wind blows out the northern sites, this is a common alternative.
• Mohammed Hasabella: a fishing boat about 100 m from El Mina, to 33 m, with current and boat traffic. Published positions differ, so the guides find it by eye.
• Excalibur: a twin-masted motor-sailer, 17–22 m, mild current. Open Water level. Often done as a late or night dive.
• MS Balena: a Norwegian-built boat that burned and sank in 2001, at 8–9 m. Shallow enough for new divers.

Hotel pickup from Hurghada, El Gouna, Makadi Bay, Sahl Hasheesh, Soma Bay or Safaga is included. There are at most 4 divers per guide, and you pay in cash on the day.

You dive the Thistlegorm from Hurghada on a full-day wreck boat or on our 7-night North Wrecks & Reefs liveaboard, where it is day 3. The wreck lies near Sha'ab Ali, about 66 km north of Hurghada harbour in a straight line (measured between the positions on our dive-site pages). That is why the Thistlegorm day trip picks you up before dawn and spends a few hours crossing each way.

• Price: join a group date from €250 per person, or take a private boat for your group from €1,750. There is no fixed weekly schedule; send us your dates and we tell you what runs.
• Dives: two guided dives. The first goes round the hull, stern and deck cargo; the second looks into the holds, always within your training.
• Depth and level: the seabed is about 30–32 m and the bridge about 17 m. Advanced Open Water or equal experience is recommended. At this depth, nitrox gives you more time; read what nitrox really changes.
• What you see: a 126 m British cargo ship sunk on 6 October 1941, still carrying trucks, BSA motorcycles and Bren carriers. Two steam locomotives were deck cargo. Tuna, barracuda and batfish are often reported.

Taking anything from the wreck is forbidden. The full story is in the history of the SS Thistlegorm.

Three of the four Abu Nuhas wrecks have parts shallow enough for Open Water divers; the Kimon M is deeper and better for advanced divers. The reef is about 40 km north of Hurghada harbour. Our Abu Nahas wreck day takes Open Water divers and up, with two dives on the wrecks the captain picks for the conditions. Prices are the same as the Thistlegorm day: from €250 per person on a group date, or from €1,750 for a private boat.

Why so many ships hit this reef is told in the wrecks of Abu Nuhas.

Yes: we dive the Salem Express on a day trip by road from Hurghada to Safaga, then by boat; ask us for the price and pickup time. It is not an ordinary wreck dive. The passenger ferry hit a reef in the Hyndman group near Safaga close to midnight on 14–15 December 1991, on the way from Jeddah, and sank within about 20 minutes. The official death toll is 470. Wikipedia notes evidence that the ship was overcrowded and the real number may have been much higher. The wreck is treated as a grave.

• No entry: CDWS does not allow divers inside the ship at all. Entrances were welded shut.
• Respect: touch nothing and take nothing. The lifeboats on the seabed and the personal belongings are part of a tragedy, not a souvenir.
• The dive: the ship lies on her starboard side, seabed at about 30–35 m, port side at 10–12 m. The bow visor still moves, so keep clear of it. Advanced Open Water is recommended.

On the same road trips our guides can also dive the Al Kahfain (upside down, 16–25 m, advanced; divers report that it moves, so stay outside) and the El Arish, a ferry lying on its port side at 34–40 m.

The wrecks of the Strait of Gubal, Ras Mohammed and the Brothers are too far for a day boat from Hurghada, so we reach them on a 7-night liveaboard. The North Wrecks & Reefs route (from €1,190, Open Water and up) adds them to the Thistlegorm and Abu Nuhas; the captain picks the final sites each day by weather and permits.

• SS Kingston: a 78 m coal ship lost on Shag Rock in February 1881. She sits upright with her bow on the reef, propeller and rudder at about 17 m. The nickname "Sarah H" came from a local guide, Sara Hillel.
• Ulysses: a 95 m cargo ship lost at Gubal in August 1887, lying on her port side down the reef slope. The stern is at 28 m. Dive it in the lee, as currents run here.
• Gubal Barge: broken barge remains at 10–20 m, a classic night dive with moray eels, lionfish and octopus.
• Rosalie Moller: a 108 m coal ship bombed about 48 hours after the Thistlegorm in October 1941. Seabed 45–50 m, decks about 39 m: technical depths. Reports say she now lies in a military restricted zone and is rarely dived, so we cannot promise her.
• Dunraven: lost on 25 April 1876 at Ras Mohammed, from 17 m at the bow to 30 m at the stern.

The Brothers–Daedalus–Elphinstone route (from €1,340; Advanced Open Water or 50+ logged dives) visits the Numidia, lost in July 1901, and the Aida. Both lie on a steep slope in strong current. Most of the Numidia is beyond recreational depth: the top of the bridge is at 8–12 m and the stern at about 80 m. Not sure which suits you? Compare day trips and liveaboards.

Sources often give different depths because some quote the deepest part of the wreck, some the seabed, and some the depth divers usually reach. Here are the main differences:

• El Mina: CDWS and a 3D survey site say 1970 (CDWS: 6 February 1970). A Dutch dive guide's text says 1969, while its own fact box says 6 February 1970.
• Salem Express: Wikipedia gives the impact as about 23:13 on 14 December 1991, while CDWS and many lists say 15 December. Her length is given as 100 m (CDWS), 114 m or 115 m. The number on board ranges from 589 to 658 in different records.
• Thistlegorm: 30, 31 or 32 m to the seabed.
• Kingston: CDWS says 4–19 m. Other guides say 14, 17, 25 or 30 m.
• Ulysses: 28 m at the stern (CDWS) or 40 m in other guides. Rosalie Moller: 36 m or 50 m.
• Carnatic: she hit the reef on 13 September 1869 and sank one or two days later. Sources give 30 or 31 deaths.

Plan your dive on the depth your guide gives you on the day, and on your own certification limit. If you want deeper wrecks, a Deep Diver course or the depth limits by certification are the place to start.