The romantic solitude long ago experienced by the legendary Laurence of Arabia is no more than a happy memory here, on the Red Sea. In this area, where one can still find some of the most beautiful diving in the world, now high-rise buildings rule, and that truly is a big disappointment for those who used to love the once virgin nature of this paradise.

The region is now blanketed with five-star hotels, cheap tourist villages and noisy nightclubs. The mountain tops of the most ancient desert in the world are now overlooking bungalows, satellite dishes and crowded barbecue areas.

Fortunately the sea, and that is the most important thing, hasn’t been spoiled yet: the Red Sea, which from Aqaba in Jordan washes the coasts of Africa and the Middle-East all the way down to the “Gate of Tears”, the strait of Bab-El-Mandeb, until it opens, in its southern part, to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Most visitors are too overwhelmed by the cheap all-inclusive entertainment to fully understand its vastity.

Alas, Sharm-El-Sheikh has been transformed from a divers’ paradise to a fun fair with pizzerias and loud discos everywhere. Almost the same thing has happened to Eilat and Ras Mohammed. Especially Ras Mohammed: it is long-gone the time when it was possible, from its promontory, to watch with the naked eye countless sharks swimming in the cobalt blue sea below.

Nevertheless, there is still an alternative for those who today still look for closer-to-nature dive travel: the liveaboard trip. Reserved to a restricted number of demanding guests, these cruises will take divers to virgin reefs and unspoiled wrecks. Only four hours by direct flight from Europe and, immediately after the arrival, you will be embarked on your pre-booked motoryacht. The most recent boats, built in shipyards in Alexandria and based on European plans, offer a very high standard in comfort and safety, with roomy, fully-equipped, air-conditioned double cabins.

However, to pick the right boat among the many available, it is really important to choose carefully and ask for good advice, just to make sure that what you have chosen will meet your own requirements. After a few hours of navigation from Sharm, Hurghada or Marsa Alam it’s already possible to dive two or three times a day on almost virgin bottoms.

For those who are really keen, there is also the option of night diving, which can be safely done everywhere. During night dives one can admire a totally different spectacle than in daytime. The reef fauna, in fact, changes totally, and one can meet rather strange creatures like the Spanish dancer Hexabranchus sanguineus, a big flame coloured nudibranch that, if disturbed, will elegantly undulate its red mantle.

For those looking for something more romantic, there are of course the wrecks of sunken ships, which sometimes can be explored also from the inside, diving among storerooms and decks, kitchenware and ammunition, capstans and hatchways which have been lying - sometimes undisturbed - for a long time.

Along the coast - from Sharm-El-Sheik or from Hurgada and Marsa Alam - there are lots of different destinations that can be chosen for a dive holiday in accordance with the period of the year and the amount of time available. During spring, when temperatures are lower and tourists less numerous, big predators like dogtooth tunas and sharks come closer to the surface, while in summer - especially around Ras Mohammed - other species such as batfish, snappers, parrotfish and barracudas gather in enormous schools for mating.

The wrecks, on the other hand, can be dived all year round. Going south, towards the waters of Sudan, seasonal differences become almost imperceptible: this is the remote kingdom of the Brothers Islands, Fury Shoal, Elfinstone, Daedalus and Zabargad, isolated localities recommended only for the more expert divers, where encounters with any kind of big species are likely.

Everywhere, however, the old saying still rings true: God used ochre to dye Sinai and kept all the rest of the colours for the sea that washes it. There are many other incredible places in the world such as Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and Australia, but none of the other seas can boast the unbelievable clarity of water and the amazing colors of the Red Sea. There are no river estuaries to muddy its waters, nor industrial horrors to ruin its coastline. However, there still is a menace lurking on the horizon: oil tankers. Mostly located at north, where the oil rigs are, they travel along the Suez Canal: far, yes, but still dangerously too close to this perfect micro-universe.

THE DUNRAVEN

The Dunraven was an English Steamer which was sunk in 1876 while she was travelling to India. She is now located at Beacon Rock, south of Shaab Mahmud reef. Discovered first by some Israeli divers in 1978, she was believed, until few years ago, to be Laurence of Arabia’s vessel. In reality the Dunraven was a common cargo ship. Today - some thirty metres deep - it is still possible to admire her keel, with three big holes, the stern deck, the big propeller, the rudder and some more remains scattered all over.

 

THE CARNATIC

This was an English steamer which sank in 1869, along the Shaab-Abu-Nuhas reef, two miles north of the Shadwan Island, in the Gubal straits. This mixed-propulsion two mast steamship was travelling towards India carrying 230 passengers, bottles of wine, spices and hundreds of soda water flasks. She lies between 16 and 24 metres deep from bow to stern, and it is still possible to see the well preserved spectacular castle, the rudder and the propeller. It is also possible to get inside the ship.

 

THE GHIANNIS D.

Also known as Dana or Markos D., she was a modern merchant ship of 3.500 tons. She sunk in recent times and is located only 60 metres from Carnatic. She is practically intact but not particularly beautiful, at least to our eyes.

 

THE THISTLEGORM

A British armed cargo of 9.000 tons, she was sunk by German Luftwaffe bombs on October 6 th, 1941 while she was trying to reach Suez, after the circumnavigation of Africa. The enormous wreck is located at 30 metres, three miles northeast of Shag Rock, in a position constantly exposed to strong sea currents. She was almost completely intact up to a few years ago and is still loaded with war equipment such as Bsa and Norton motorbikes, Bren Carrier tracked vehicles, one locomotive and its wagons, two cannons and lots of munitions and armaments.

This and the following one are the TWO wrecks you do not want to miss in the Red Sea.

 

THE UMBRIA

She was an Italian ship of over 10.000 tons, that was scuttled by her crew on June 9 th, 1940 to avoid capture by the British Navy. Located at open sea from Port Sudan, this huge vessel is loaded with war materiel (more than 360 thousand anti-personnel bombs among many other fascinating artifacts). She is an absolutely spectacular wreck, in almost perfect condition, and it is also possible to visit the inside.