Diving in the Straits of Jubal, Abu Nuhas & Ras Mohamed

jubal straits 2005

Straits of Jubal Liveaboard, April 2005

(a short summary from Hebrew)

Well, this trip was planned as a 10 days liveaboard to Egypt's deep south, all the way to St. John's reef. Only one day prior to departure we were sadly announced that it has been canceled. Instead we went on a short trip to the Jubal straits, a bit south to the Sinai peninsula.

Map of northern Red Sea

There are some great ship wrecks in Abu-Nuhas reef. In some wrecks I've dived before
and some were 'first timers' for me. This trip was my first (and only) time that I took with me an underwater video camera. Video gear: Dany Weinberg.

Logbook
The main diving sites of the Jubal straits:
The Gianis D. wreck
A greek cargo ship that was sunk in 1983, by crashing on the Abu Nuhas reef, which already claimed several ship wrecks through the years. To me, this wreck has an endless fascination.
Lying at 45° it looks so mysterious, almost a surreal view to look at.

The Carnatic wreck
A steam cargo/passenger ship that sunk back in 1869.. Beautiful wreck, lots of soft corals, schools of glassfish.

The Carnatic [video capture]

The Rosalie Moller wreck
Great diving site, though currents may be very strong. Sank in October 8th 1941, two days after the sinking of the Thistlegorm, by German bombers during the 2nd world war. She lies at the depth of 50m, but the the deck is at 30-35m. Lots of soft corals and schools of fish. This wreck is usally not in the itienrary of most operators, so do not expect any other divers at all when diving there. Due to chance of very strong currents, I didn't take the camera with me. Safety first..

The Small Passage
Well, one of the best dives I've ever had and in this trip it was my favourite dive. This site in one of two entery points between Shab Mahmud reef's lagoon and the open water. A healthy reef with lots of hard corals. In some areas the coverage of hard corlas is so dense as if the corals are fighting for living space, amazing!

The Small Passage [video capture]

Other dive sites in this trip: The Dunraven wreck & Beacon Rock, Bluff Point reef and of course, Ras Mohamed's Shrank Reef & Yolanda Reef. As to Ras Mohamed: as always this site is amazing, a world class must see, but this time there were very strong currents which made the two dives there a little difficult for me.

Video

The Gianis D., The Carnatic, Bluff Point, The Dunraven & Beacon Reef and the
beautiful Small Passage.

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