Getting around in Safaga
 Taxi
In Safaga you can still find the
old version: Old Peugeot station wagons with space for seven passengers but more
and more the new orange and blue taxis with signs and taximeters are taking
over. They are supposed to switch on the meter but they might not. The rule of
thumb is you'd pay LE5 within a zoon and LE10 from one to another. This is per
car. Not per person.
Yalla Bus
Also in Safaga you can hop on a
little minibus and just shout when you want to get of. Then you need to know how
the rout goes. Here you get away with an Egyptian pound within town.
 In
and Out of Safaga
To travel between cities in Egypt
can be interesting. There are of course bus services like El Gouna Travel, Upper
Egypt and Super Jet but if you feel adventurous you can also go with the shuttle
taxi. In Safaga you just go to the Taxi Central and get in a Peugeot station
wagon with six other people (guaranteed to be six Egyptians) and it will cost
you 15 LE to go to Hurghada.
Diving around Safaga
 Some of
the reefs reached by daily boats in the Red Sea are located around
Safaga. The daily diving has a few
well known and quite exquisite dive sites on the program like the walls and
plateaus of Abu Kafan, and Panorama. The coral garden around Middle Reef
and Shaab Sheer, together with a few
wrecks that are worth mentioning such as Al Kahfain, El Tor and the haunting
Salem Express.
One reef, that might not be
the most famous dive site but never the less one absolutely wicked dive
is Shaab Saiman. Located on the north tip of Ras Abu Soma it's only
diveable in absolutely excellent conditions. It's a dive you will
never forget!
Click here to see:
Safaga Dive Site Maps
AL KAHFAIN
 To the north of the Shaab Sheer we find the wreck after Al Kahfain, a 115m
long, 16m wide and 4.270 ton Ro-Ro car- and passenger car ferry. She had
space for 274 passengers and 140 cars. Powered by two 12cylinder turbo
charged diesel engines with 2 controllable pitched propellers. Her service
speed was 17 knots.
She was built by Camell Laird in
1966 at Birkenhead and launched as Ulster Queen in 1967 for the
Liverpool-Belfast service of Belfast SS Co (part of Coast Lines). From
1971, the service was taken over by P&O Ferries. The Liverpool-Belfast
service closed in 1981, and Ulster Queen was laid up at Oostende. Later
she was trafficking the Mediterranean Sea as Al Kahera and Ala-Eddin. In
1988 she was bought by Hellenic Mediterranean Lines, and renamed
Poseidonia. Early in 2005 she arrived in the Red Sea to ad to the fleet of
ferries taking pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia as Al Kahfain.
Her final voyage
started Nov 22nd 2005 when Al Kahfain left Hurghada heading for Jeddah.
Only the crew was onboard since she had been dispatched to collect
returning pilgrims from KSA. She rounded the Shedwan Island and all of a
sudden an explosion in the engine room caused a fire that spread up through the
superstructure. The crew abandoned ship and was picked up by passing
vessels. One crewman died. The rest of the 58 crew
survived.
There was an attempt to tow Al Kahfain to safety but she capsized and
drifted south over night to Shaab Sheer where she sank and is now resting on her
starboard side on a narrow shelf at a depth of 25m. Accumulating to the
increasing list of large ferry wrecks in the area.
 You need good conditions to dive the Al Kahfain.
The site is exposed to wind and waves that sometimes make it impossible to
get the Zodiac all the way to the wreck. On a good day it’s an easy dive
though, and you are likely to make it all the way back to the mooring on
the south side.
Roll in at the bow section
of the wreck and you descend above the keel as the wreck is resting more
or less upside down. However, the hull has split along the waterline and
the portside is bent out in a bizarre angle. It is possible to penetrate
all along the wreck but the superstructure is collapsing and the walls
crinkle, which is not giving a perfectly stable impression.
The funnel is submerged in
the bottom and davits are scattered all over the seabed. Just before you
reach the stern with the huge “backdoor”, the hull has split in two
leaving a gap between the stern and the rest of the wreck. This area is
unstable and you can hear metal squeaking as the two parts of the wreck
grind against each other. Stay way clear of narrow passages and sharp
edges!
When you’re done with your
wreck exploration, you continue east with the reef on your right shoulder.
As you arrive at the corner of the reef you find yourself swimming over a
stunning coral garden that cascades down from the shallows to the seabed
at around 16m. Huge dome corals form a slant that you follow around to the
south side. Here you check your air and chose to either take the short cut
through the lovely channel or the slightly longer stretch around the
pinnacles.
MS EL ARISH/EL TOR
 Built in 1981 in
Bergen, Norway, the El Arish/El Tor was a passenger ferry that ran between
Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In 1999 it was sold
to
Sayed Nasr Navigation Lines (Cairo, Egypt). The final voyage was from
Jeddah to Safaga in 2001. During this trip she was badly damaged by a fire
in her engine room. She
remained in Safaga until its mysterious sinking.
The vessel
went down with no one on board, but with all its
gear and equipment still in place.
“One morning it was just gone” says one of my
friends, a local dive instructors, “I guess most people thought they
sailed away…”
The Dive
To dive the wreck is different to most other wrecks. There
were no lives lost and not much has been salvaged (stolen).
The bridge shows the instruments still mostly intact, seats
and tables can still be seen in the passenger areas. Inscribed with 'EL
TOR ALEXANDRIA 1981', the ships bell is still in place, the ships
certifications still hang in glass frames on the wall, electronic
navigation equipment is still intact and the ship's name is still visible
on the bow and stern as the company logo adorn the funnel.
The superstructure (4 stories) reaches far out
into the blue
with her mast disappearing in the shadows. Swimming towards
the stern along her lifeboat deck, you will find that the lifeboats are
still there. On Salem Express this gives a eerie feeling but not here,
since we know that the ship sank without any loss of any human life.
In the aft section, you can explore the maze of the
intricate display of stairwells and rails connecting 4 levels of decking.
And of course; the two huge propellers and rudders covered in soft corals.
On your way back towards the ascending line you swim along
her promenade deck on 20m where a huge school of yellow tail barracudas
almost cover the wreck. The sunshade structure is covered in soft coral
and you’ll get a good camera angle over the funnel with the
Sayed
Nasr Navigation Lines
emblem.
This Wreck is diveable in all conditions and suitable for
all levels of divers.
Dimensions 105 x 17.3 x 4.12
12 Cyl Diesel - 6620 kW - 19 Knots.
1025 Passengers, 328 berths, 150 cars.
1981 - Built A/S Bergens, Norway.
1981 - Delivered to Misr EDCO Shipping, Alexandria, Egypt.
1999 - Sold to Sayed Nasr Navigation Lines, Cairo, Egypt.
2004 - Sank in an alleged insurance fraud.
SALEM EXPRESS
Built and launched as Fred
Scamaroni in France 1966. Sold to El Salam tour line and renamed Salem Express. The
captain of Salem Express was well known for his skills and experience. He was
also one of the few who confidently navigated the “shortcut” passing the
Hyndeman Reef into Safaga harbour saving almost an hour of travelling time. This
stormy December night he was thinking of the passengers well being as the rough
weather had made many of them seasick.
On December 15th 1991 she hit the
Hyndeman reef ripping a massive hole in the hull. Officially 960 returning
pilgrims were onboard but claims have been made that up to 1.600 people was
actually onboard, 180 survived. This was by far the worst disaster in Egyptian
maritime history.
The dive
Resting on her starboard side in 30m of water Salem Express is an eerie dive.
Begin at the deepest point; the stern where you find the two intact large screws
and the rudders.
Swimming along the bottom you pass
life boats still at the davits. Next the huge funnels with the emblem “S”.
Coming up towards the bow you find the bow door slightly open and the damage
from the collision with the reef is overwhelming.
Many dive guides refuse to dive
Salem Express all together. This is a maritime grave and should be treated as
such. Remember that most likely, on the dive boat that took you to the site,
every single member of crew has a family member inside the wreck.
Dive her with respect!
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