Belina

The Belina has been identified as a liveaboard safari boat as well as a small coaster. Now it has become subject to wreck diving in Egypt. Whatever the origins, its remains rest on a sandy bottom, some 9 meters below the surface. The mast, emerging from the wreck, stands out like a beacon and serves as a mooring point for local dive boats.

The Belina can be spotted from the harbour since it is located close to the shore. In terms of wreck diving, it’s within easy reach but the downside is relatively poor visibility at the spot. Yet, a visit is still rewarding. The Belina area is infested with sweetlips against a backdrop of precious soft corals. One can penetrate the wreck through a passageway that will reveal the compartment with the engine. Caution should always be observed and exercised on penetration.

Colona IV

The Red Sea swallowed the Colona IV, built in Norway, in 1995 in a blazing storm. It was one of the first liveaboards in the Red Sea. It sank into the abyss near Sha’abrur Umm Gamar, only to hit upon the seabed between 65 and at 75 meters deep. Here we are talking a technical dive for the experienced. The boat settled on the eastern side of the reef. Apart from wreck diving, it is now also a training site to enhance technical diving.

El Mina

The Mina is a painful monument and relic from the lasting and delicate Israeli-Egyptian feud. Its remains rest just east of Hurghada harbour. The El Mina was an Egyptian minesweeper, brought down by Israeli fighter jets in either 1967 or 1969; the exact year is still open to debate. Irony and cynicism dictate the wreck is an alternative dive for those who return from a vain journey to Abu Nuhas, in the event weather is not permitting descending there.

The Mina, 60 to 70 meters long, slopes from 25 meters to 32 meters. Yes, the sea is relatively calm here and yes, visibility isn’t that generous to its aquatic visitors. On top of that, the site isn’t exactly ‘festooned’ with flora or gifted with lavish fauna. You won’t find an all too familiar ‘encrusted’ scenery of soft and hard corals.

Speaking of scenery; the blast-hole facilitates gleaming glassfish with jackfish looming in chasing mode. It is not recommended to penetrate the Mina through said blast-hole since space is tight and light only sparsely comes through.

If you happen to hit upon residential clownfish, we can speak on their behalf and kindly ask you to leave them alone, engaged as they are defending their symbiotic partner. They feel like tourists being whistled at by Hurghadian taxi drivers with every step they make on Sheraton Road.

The Excalibur

Whatever supports any evidence to support unfounded claims, hearsay and grapevine tales, the Excalibur, a safari boat, went down as a 22 meters long vessel in the early months of 1996 in the Hurghadian harbour. It now stands more or less upright on the seabed of the Hurghadian harbour, its open saloon doors flirting and inviting with penetration. The visibility isn’t exactly to write home about but the Excalibur is suitable for all levels of divers.

This isn’t necessarily your sensational fish tank experience, regardless of the presence of the inevitable ‘gang’ of glassfish. Lionfish have found refuge on the wreck’s site at a depth of 22 meters, as have colonizing mackerels, teira and orbicular batfish and barracuda.