Thistlegorm

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rockystock1

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Next august me and my brother in law have booked a diving holiday in Egypt (sharm)

We are diving the thistlegorm and this will be my 1st wreck dive.

Has anybody else been to this wreck and what are there thoughts??


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I've not had the pleasure yet but several of my mates have and all say good things about it. One thing I hear a lot of people say is it gets busy and the day boats are fighting to moor up. The liveaboards steam out early doors and are generally first on the scene, so if you can, make sure you are on one of the early boats if you're not on a liveaboard.
 
Thank u dave,, 1st up best dressed :)


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I was there less than two weeks ago. We intentionally timed our trip to be there off-cycle from most liveaboards, arriving late in the afternoon, doing an afternoon dive, a night dive, and an early morning dive ... and leaving the site before the day boats showed up. From what others on the boat told me, the Thistlegorm is one of the most popular dive sites in all of the Red Sea. And it is an exciting dive. Some things to know ... if you time it wrong, the current can be very strong ... so much so that you'll need to pull yourself down the rope and hide behind structures. Our first dive was like that, although we took scooters in order to better manage the dive. On an ebb, the flow coming out of the Gulf of Suez can make the water rather murky ... vis on our first dive was in the 25-30 foot range. Vis was considerably better (50+ feet) on a flood.

Some pictures for ya ...

Up near hold #1 and one of the rail cars sitting on deck ...

IMG_4126.jpg\

... you'll find ordnance down in the holds ... don't try to pick it up ...

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Lots of trucks in holds 1 & 2 ...

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... motorcycles sitting in the back of the trucks ...

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... the chain locker on the bow ...

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... George, the resident turtle ...

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... have an awesome time ... I sure did ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
I've done it a few times and its a really enjoyable dive... also well within recreational limits. It can get a little crowded with other dive boats as is typical of the Sharm area but it is well worth the visit.
 
+1 to the above.

Stay with your DM. He will take you on the "guided tours" through the interior so you'll see all the stuff pictured above by NWGD. Not as photogenic, but worth finding on your exploration: the 16" artillery shells, the locomotive that broke free, the Wellington boots, the Enfield rifles, the details of the motorcycle batteries, the perfect "bones" of the vehicle seats stripped of leather, all sorts of stuff.

The wreck of the toilet bowl ship (with the Captain's BMW) requires the appropriate photo pose. Piles of Russian/Egyptian Tanks, now parked under a cliff.

Here's one in the Straits of Tirhan, one with quite a story, they'll tell you of yet another dumbass cruise ship Captain:



The big problem with this entire area is the preponderance of wrecks. The local DMs are expert technicians on guiding you to and through these wrecks. Most of them, however, are absolutely clueless about any animal except Sharks. This is working well for the DMs as most people are captivated by wrecks and Mr. Grey, but there is so much more, right there for the gawking.

Night diving is not high on their activity list. Sitting in 45fsw at night with 80° temps and my buddies are drinking beer on the top deck and smoking Shisha. (Sheesh!). And, in example: Any Brits know this guy? (Chipmunk cheeks, lives for beer, writes better than he speaks, teaches you new words in "English", the bane of PADI North America)



I go solo night diving. Found my first pair of Sea Moths. :wink:



On a late afternoon solo dive, I was summarily assaulted by a Titan Ocean Trigger (whatever it's called, it was pissed off).

The wrecks are cool, the Thistlegorm is the most interesting, there are Sharks (they will steam right past "the Observatory"), but there is so much more that most guests, thus the DMs, are unaware of.

The town of Sharm itself is a delight.






The town of Sharm sleeps during the day. Then, as the cool night prevails, the boys come out to peel back the covering rugs from the outside couches in front of the Shisha Bars. Observe this strange metamorphosis at dusk. The town begins to wake up at 2100 hrs.



Notice though, if you will, they have (real tungsten filament) electric light bulbs everywhere and they are always turned on and burning. It is good to be King.




I had to try it....

Glad I did. Yummy. I guess.
 
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... I didn't particularly care for Sakara beer ... not sure why everyone over there made such a fuss over it. It's basically Budweiser with a different label ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
Thank you bob and doc great advise and great photos, I can't wait to put my own photos up.
I'm wishing the time away now :)


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:wink:done it, loved it:wink:
 
[video=youtube_share;nnSGJQ8G2Zw]http://youtu.be/nnSGJQ8G2Zw[/video]
We have been there on several occasions. The last time was in 2013. It has been rather quiet out there off late. Most operators in the area require more than 50 logged dives. While not to deep, expect to be below 30 m. There is a current sometimes. It won't bother you once inside but going down and up, sometimes you need to hold on to the mooring line. Especially so during the safety stop.
It is a dive you shouldn't miss.
There are more nice wrecks in the area, like the Giannis D btw.
Enjoy! :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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