This great reef, also known as the "ships graveyard", emerges two miles to the north of Shedwan Island at the mouth of the Strait of Gobal. On the seabed of the surrounding area lie no fewer than seven sunken ships from different eras. It is often only possible to dive the wrecks from a zodiac due to the heavy sea swells. On the sheltered south side of the reef are two beautiful ergs known as Yellow Fish Reef which offers an excellent night dive.

Carnatic

The Carnatic was a splendid 90 metre long sail and engine steamer launched by P&O in 1862. Carrying a cargo of wine and "London soda water" in distinctive oval bottles, it was sailing the Indies route with a destination of Bombay. It struck the reef in 1869 and remained aground a number of hours before sinking Sha'ab Abu Nuhas’ Reef. Despite the length of time (it sank in 1869) it is remarkably intact. She lies on one side with the stern at 24 metres and the bow at 16 metres. The decking of the hull has fallen away exposing blackened support structures which are now draped in hard and soft corals. The very photogenic wreck is now home to a number of morays, large grouper and octopus.

Dunraven

A popular wreck is the Dunraven, a Victorian steam- and sail-ship that was carrying spices, gold and timber from India which sunk in 1876 on its way from Bombay to England. The legend says that she hit the reef after an drunken dispute involving the Captain, his wife, and the First mate, and sunk soon after near in the Gulf of Suez. Although she was stripped of her cargo by a team of archaeologists in the early eighties, the Dunraven still makes an interesting dive.

The wreck of this 72 m long English steamer lies at the southern point of Sha’ab Mahmoud, amongst the series of shallow reefs and lagoons. Her hull lies upside down at a maximum depth of 29m. Completely covered in corals, the wreck has become home to a wide variety of marine life including glass fish, morays, groupers, goatfish and napoleon.

Giannis D

The Giannis D (built in 1969), a large Greek freighter – known for its cargo of timber – hit the reef of Abu Nuhas in1983 and slowly sank over six weeks, lying at a maximum depth of 28 metres. The wreck is broken up in the centre, but the bow and stern remain intact. At the stern on the sea floor there is a point where penetration allows you to travel up towards the top of the wreck to a pocket of trapped air. You will need to leave by the same hole which you entered. At the bow you can see where the boat had been renamed, with the old name just visible under a layer of paint. Expect to see glassfish, scorpion fish, angelfish, bump head wrasse and a napoleon fish. The dive can be finished by traversing the reef, or by climbing up the mast, which rises up to only four metres below the surface.

In translation means „Mother of the Moon“. The plateau of the reef nd the pinnacles with the cracks and tunnels are very pretty. At the end of the dive you may run into the big silver sweetlips that are normally hanging around over the plateau. Free swimming moray eels and turtles are common and if you are lucky you may meet a white tipped reef shark.

The most famous wreck of the Red sea and probably one from 10 best places of the world for wreck dive. The 129m long English Freighter was bombed by German aviation on 6^th October 1941. Extremly interesting dives on a wreck that is exceptional for its historic interest and condition. Maximum depth is 32 m. Inside can be find motorcycles and cars from 2^nd world war. Home of large schooling fish.

The Salem Express is a dramatic dive. Around 500 people perished here, in one of the worst marine tragedies of all times. The 100-meter ferryboat was on its way back from Mecca to Safaga after the annual Muslim pilgrimage in December 1991, when it hit the reef during a stormy night and sunk rapidly without giving the opportunity to the crew and passengers to board the lifeboats.

It is now home to a thriving underwater life, including a famous resident frogfish, blue-spotted stingrays, angel and butterfly fish. The ship itself is covered in a large quantity of hard and soft corals. It is one of the largest wrecks in the Egyptian Red Sea - roughly the same size as the Thistlegorm.

The Salem express lays at a depth of 30m, the top of the boat is at 12m.

Horseshoe shape reef also called "Dolphin house"between Hurghada and El Gouna is a first stop on any northern liveaboard trip. The check dive is featured a large piece of reef, some smaller pinnacles, and a very fetching coral garden that stretched out from the edge of the reef. The gathering of bottle nosed dolphins is more than common.