Egyptian Cruising

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North Wrecks and Brothers islands

This beautiful itinerary combines diving at famous wrecks such as SS Thistlegorm, Rosalie Moller, Giannis D and others with lush corals and intense marine life at Brothers islands.
Washed by strong nutrient-rich currents Brothers islands boast by a combination of lush walls of soft corals, magnificent gorgonian forests, anemone cities, spectacular fish diversity, schools of pelagics, soaring mantas, reef sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, thresher sharks, silky sharks, Napoleons, unicorn fish, pufferfish, barracudas, rays, octopuses, clouds of rainbow-colored reef fishes, and two iconic wrecks: Numidia and Aida both in excellent condition, lionfish and morays sheltering inside.
These dive-sites have much in store for divers.

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Carnatic shipwreck

The Carnatic, a beautiful 90m 19th Century wreck that lies almost intact on Sha'ab Abu Nuhas Reef is accessible and appreciated by all levels of divers. Carrying a cargo of wine, gold and cotton, the ship was sailing the Indien route with a destination of Bombay when it hit the reef and sank. The picturesque dive can be done along the outside of the wreck past giant moray eels and other Red Sea reef fish that have made this wreck their home. In the holds you can see the remains of broken bottles and shoals of glass fish inhabiting them. To finish this fantastic dive you can head back along Sha'ab Abu Nuhas reef where you will be able to find many different types of coral and fish before ascending.

SS Thistlegorm shipwreck

SS Thistlegorm, one of the most famous wrecks in the world, set sail on her final voyage on 2 June 1941, destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The vessel’s cargo included: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and 3000 rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, railway wagons and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives and the cargo for the Allied forces in Egypt. The vessel was hit by a German bomber and sank. The Thistlegorm was discovered in 1956 by Jacques Cousteau. The stern section of the wreck lies almost horizontal to the sea bed; the remainder of the wreck is nearly upright. Inside the wreckage, most of its cargo can be seen. Penetration is possible around the bridge and blast area. The large prop is still in position and the guns on the stern are in excellent condition. Artillery litters the blast area. The sea life around the wreck is impressive and rich.

The Big Brother island

The Big Brother washed by strong nutrient-rich currents boasts by combination of great walls of soft corals, spectacular fish diversity, schools of pelagics, soaring mantas, different kinds of sharks and two iconic wrecks: Numidia and Aida both in excellent condition, adorned with purple soft corals and hard corals and awash with burgundy and white striped Red Sea anthias, lionfish and morays, accustomed to strong currents, sheltering inside. The southern plateau is a hotspot for thresher sharks.

Panorama reef

Panorama Reef is one of the best diving sites near Safaga. A plateau is colonized by anemones, sponges and soft corals. Numerous clown-fishes, wrasses, groupers and antias fishes scurry along the plateau and inside few small caves, large predators ply around the reef in search of prey. The reef is easily recognizable due to a small lighthouse installed on it.

Aida wreck

Aida - Egyptian 75m military ship sank in 1957 when trying to moor to the island during the storm. The ship hit the western tip of the reef, broke in two parts and sank quickly. All 140 people on board were rescued by another ship.
Nowadays the main body of Aida rests on a steep slope at depths of 30-68m. Smaller sectors of the ship became parts of the reef covered with sponges and corals.

Numidia wreck

Numidia, a new English 137m cargo ship was going to Calcutta with 7000t cargo in September 1901. The ship hit the Big Brother island directly under the lighthouse and sank. After several hours of trials to save the ship, the captain gave the order to evacuate the crew. The remains of the ship and the cargo are nowadays scattered in a wide range of depths, from 7m to 78m. The locomotive wheels, overgrown with soft corals adorn the upper part of the ship wreck.

Shaab Abu Nuhas

This great reef, also known as the "ships graveyard", streches two miles to the north of Shedwan Island at the mouth of the Strait of Gobal. Abu Nuhas is a wreck divers dream come true boasting seven sunken ships of different eras resting close to each other and within comfortable diving depths of 30 metres or less. On the sheltered south side of the reef there are two beautiful Ergs known as Yellow Fish Reef which offer an excellent night dive.

Giannis D shipwreck

The Giannis D, called by uw photographers "the most photogenec wreck", was built in 1969 by a Japanese shipping company Kuryshima, hit the reef of Abu Nuhas in1983 and slowly sank over six weeks, lying now at a maximum depth of 28 metres. The wreck is broken up in the centre, but the bow and stern remain intact. At the stern on the sea floor you can penetrate and travel up towards the top of the wreck to a pocket of trapped air. Many wildlife has made this wreck their home, where you can find incredible schools of thousands of glassfish occupying the bridge, batfish, lionfish hovering over the wreckage, stonefish, emperor angelfish, wrasses, moray eels, imposing giant parrotfish groups and many antihas. Occasionally bottlenose dolphins appear in the area which gives this wreck a unique aura.

Chrisoula K shipwreck

The Chrisoula K, a 90m freighter got underway from Italy with a cargo of floor tiles destined for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and hit the reef of Abu Nuhas in 1981. The wreck now sits in an open, sandy space with the main body being upright and the cargo of tiles still in place. There is a straightforward penetration with plenty of easy swim-throughs and access to areas worthy of exploration but deep inside the stern, the engine room offers some serious penetration diving for the experienced wreck divers. At the seabed, the large propeller and rudder are still virtually undamaged. The wreck now covered with hard corals and being a home for the reef fish offers a variety of different dives for all levels of experience.

Kimon M shipwreck

The Kimon M, a cargo ship, departed for India in 1978 laden with a cargo of 4,500 tons of lentils for her final voyage. On December 12th 1978, with engines at full speed the Kimon M drove hard onto the northeast corner of Sha'ab Abu Nuhâs Reef and came to rest at the base of the reef. Through the hole in the port side it is possible to access the engineering compartment with an easy swim-through viewing the piping and gauges, following the hull of the ship aft to the stern at 30-32 meters where the propeller and rudder are found on the bottom and continuing forward to the rear of the superstructure there is access to the bridge and accommodation areas.

It is also impressive to dive around the massive wreck from outside in the company of batfish and napoleons.

Rosalie Moller shipwreck

The Rosalie Moller wreck, a 108m sister ship of the famous Thistlegorm wreck, was hit by a German bomber and sank in October 1941 during the World War II. It is a perfect deep dive for experienced divers. She rests now upright as if parked at 55m depth on a sandy seabed. The main deck is 35m deep and the mast raises at 18m. You can still see on the deeper part of the wreck the huge rudder, propeller, ladders, handrails along the main deck. Penetration is also possible through the holds and the bridge.

The corals covering the hull and thousands of fishes make it a great underwater scenary: glass fish, groupers, snappers, jacks, tunas, barracudas, trevallies, reef sharks.

The funnel at the port side is bearing a large "M" on it, it is the emblem of the shipping company Moller.

Little Brother island

The Little Brother island with its magnificent gorgonian forest, anemone city, lush coral walls is famous for its species diversity: morrays, reef sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, thresher sharks, silky sharks, Napoleons, black-tongue and orangespine unicornfish, pufferfish, barracudas, rays, octopuses, clouds of rainbow-colored reef fishes.

Important Note

The time, sites and ports of this itinerary are subject to change at any time without prior notice due to weather conditions or other factors. Direct transfers to/from the yacht are always included. Egyptian Cruising Company reserves the right to cancel the booking for the safety of passengers if it is not possible to change the time and route due to poor weather conditions.

Itineraries