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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
What is the Thistlegorm?
A British WWII cargo ship bombed in 1941 at Sha'ab Ali, rediscovered for the public by Cousteau-era film, now a mass recreational wreck. Holds are overhead. See wreck-diving.
Is Dahab's Blue Hole a beginner site?
The shallow rim can be snorkelled. The arch and deep hole are an advanced, lethal-if-casual scuba problem. Freedivers use it with a plan or not at all. See freedive-safety.
Jackson Reef?
A Tiran Strait reef, often dived as a drift with a wrecked freighter on the reef in the lore. Current and park rules apply.
Elphinstone and the Brothers?
Offshore marine-park walls, typically liveaboard, with a pelagic reputation. Not a first Sharm house reef.
Abu Dabbab?
A Marsa Alam area known for seagrass and, at times, dugongs, plus a few wreck and reef names. Distance and park manners apply.
Boats supply tanks. Visitors bring conservative rec kit, a SMB, and, on wreck days, a light and a cutter. Lycra or a thin suit handles sun and hydroids.
A GoPro tray is the item that most often replaces a reel in a bad Thistlegorm plan.
Core kit
- SMB and reel — Drifts and wreck shotlines.
- Computer — Wrecks and walls jump depth.
- Light — Holds and night jetties.
- Cutter — Wreck line and net.
- Lycra or thin wetsuit — Sun and hydroids.
- Card and log — Liveaboards check them.
Optional
- Nitrox — Common on a wreck-plus-wall week.
- Reef hook — Only if the local brief uses one; not a Palau default everywhere.
- Pointer — Sand and wreck metal, not coral.
- Spare mask — Dry wind and salt.
Care
- Rinse rust after wrecks — Thistlegorm eats zippers.
- Service lights — The failure is in the hold.
- No souvenirs — Park and grave law.
- Dry O-rings in desert air — They crack.
Budget bands
- Dahab jetty week — Cheap berth, own mask.
- Sharm / Hurghada day boats — The ticket is the cost.
- Liveaboard Brothers / wrecks — Berth, not more cameras.
- Skip — A penetration reel as a first-day buy.
Spend on the boat that will skip a blown Tiran day. The jetty is already a sea.