MUFC
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Views on this as a dive site?
I thought it was very unpleasant and wouldn't dive again.
I thought it was very unpleasant and wouldn't dive again.
Salem Express
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I was there on an exceptionally bright, sunny day with exceptional visibility. I suspect this may have helped the mood quite a bit.
I didn't think penetrating the wreck was something I wanted to do because it was clearly a somewhat upsetting subject for some of the Egyptians on the crew. Just too many lost & too recently for a pentration dive to have been appropriate. But that was my decision & I had no problem whatsoever with others deciding differently.
My buddy & I dove the outside of the wreck. The surrounding area contained enough clues to bring home an appreciation of the tragedy. Tragedy aside, it was a beautiful wreck, brightly visible in the sun and the largest ship I'd ever been able to see along it's full width & breath (my 1st day in the Red Sea - or in any warm water whatsoever). The sun reflecting off the sides made them look new and white like a real ship that you see in service on the surface -that alone was very different from any other wreck I'd ever seen. The bridge and superstructure were really interesting, also because of the slight vertigo of their not being upright. I was impressed and thrilled by the vibrant little colonies of life already taking hold all over the wreck. I liked how nature will just go on and colonize even a tragic wreck like that into a centre of life and color. It was like a field of wildflowers taking over a graveyard. I'm not sorry I saw that.
It occupied my thoughts much more than any other wreck I've visited, both during & along after the dive. But I thought it was beautiful, am very glad I went and would dive there again.
I didn't think penetrating the wreck was something I wanted to do because it was clearly a somewhat upsetting subject for some of the Egyptians on the crew. Just too many lost & too recently for a pentration dive to have been appropriate. But that was my decision & I had no problem whatsoever with others deciding differently.
My buddy & I dove the outside of the wreck. The surrounding area contained enough clues to bring home an appreciation of the tragedy. Tragedy aside, it was a beautiful wreck, brightly visible in the sun and the largest ship I'd ever been able to see along it's full width & breath (my 1st day in the Red Sea - or in any warm water whatsoever). The sun reflecting off the sides made them look new and white like a real ship that you see in service on the surface -that alone was very different from any other wreck I'd ever seen. The bridge and superstructure were really interesting, also because of the slight vertigo of their not being upright. I was impressed and thrilled by the vibrant little colonies of life already taking hold all over the wreck. I liked how nature will just go on and colonize even a tragic wreck like that into a centre of life and color. It was like a field of wildflowers taking over a graveyard. I'm not sorry I saw that.
It occupied my thoughts much more than any other wreck I've visited, both during & along after the dive. But I thought it was beautiful, am very glad I went and would dive there again.
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ArthurGerla
Contributor
Beautifully said, FinnMom.
I dived the Salem Express many moons ago before the hatches were opened. Even then you could see nature returning as tufts of sponges and coral settled in neat rows along the rivets and welds of the hull plates.
The inside was a different matter of course. Dark. Silent. The printing on the mass-produced pilgrims luggage will stay with me forever: "Happy Voyage".
I dived the Salem Express many moons ago before the hatches were opened. Even then you could see nature returning as tufts of sponges and coral settled in neat rows along the rivets and welds of the hull plates.
The inside was a different matter of course. Dark. Silent. The printing on the mass-produced pilgrims luggage will stay with me forever: "Happy Voyage".
We dove it on our last trip. I found it eerie and sad, and both my husband and I agreed that we would not like to dive it again. Just too recent, and too human.
well i personally enjoyed it. the port side all quite "clean" with corals and still being able to read "saleem express." the topside being very interesting with lifeboats and the bridge with all the consoles etc etc. penetrating via the back with all the personal belongings didn't actually upset me, i felt i actually got a very good feel for what it would have been like. i found it easy to imagine it busy packed and in operation. i wish i had gone in the front as there is a forklift and landcruiser which i didn't get to see. i personally would dive it again. i would also say the vast majority 3/4 did penetrate; possibly 1/2 found it a little insensitive and probably wouldn't do it again judging by chit chat after the dive.
OnTheSpot
Contributor
I enjoyed it too. Almost no wrecks go down without loss of life. Wrecks are sad and yes there is a definite 'chill' in doing this particular dive. I suppose everyone is different, but I found it just added a different dimension.
Over the years as dive guide in the Red Sea I have dived Salem many times as all the other wrecks there. I have no problem with it at all. I don't have that "eerie" feeling everybody talk about all the time. Yes people died but that is hardly something unique for Salem Express? To me this is just a hype "Oh Salem Express is so eerie", "I felt so sad when I dived it" and so on... Not me, not more than any other wreck. Maybe I'm not right in the head but hey it's a pile of steel under water... It might also help that I've been guiding divers there for 14 years and more than 4.500 dives. I have researched all the wrecks to make accurate briefings - I don't see the problem diving any wreck...
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The children's toys in the sand outside the wreck were a little different . . . as was the opened luggage.
The WWII wrecks were long enough ago that even the human things are ancient and distant. The Salem Express was just too new . . . the personal things were too much like what one might use on a daily basis, and the loss of life was so great that the wreck just felt sad. In 50 years, maybe not so much.
The WWII wrecks were long enough ago that even the human things are ancient and distant. The Salem Express was just too new . . . the personal things were too much like what one might use on a daily basis, and the loss of life was so great that the wreck just felt sad. In 50 years, maybe not so much.
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