WreckIntermediateSafaga

Salem Express

A ferry that sank near Safaga in December 1991 with the loss of several hundred lives. It is divable, it is a grave, and whether to dive it at all is a question worth answering before you book.

Depth: 10–30m; the hull lies on its starboard side
Access: Day boat from Safaga, around 30 minutes
Best season: Divable year-round; conditions are rarely the limiting factor
Level: Intermediate

The Salem Express is the most difficult site on this coast, and the difficulty is not technical. On the night of 17 December 1991 the ferry struck Hyndman Reef a short distance from Safaga and sank in minutes, most of those aboard trapped below decks. It remains one of the worst maritime disasters in Egyptian history.

It is dived, regularly, by operators out of Safaga and Hurghada, and it is an extraordinary dive: a large intact ship in shallow water with its cargo doors torn open. It is also a place where hundreds of people died, close enough to shore that some of their families watched the search.

Some divers will not go, and some operators will not take them. Both positions are entirely defensible and neither is squeamishness. If you do dive it, dive the outside, take nothing, photograph nothing that belonged to a person, and treat the briefing as a set of rules rather than suggestions. If that framing makes the dive less appealing, that is a reasonable thing to notice before you book rather than after you are in the water.

Conditions

Shallow and generally calm, with mild current
The wreck is intact and lies on its starboard side, close to Hyndman Reef
Silt inside the hull; visibility around the wreck is usually good

What you are likely to see

Soft coral colonising the hull after three decades
Batfish, lionfish and glassfish around the structure
The marine life is not why anyone dives here

What to watch out for

This is a mass grave. The Salem Express was returning pilgrims from Jeddah when it struck the reef on 17 December 1991; the official toll was around 470 and is widely believed to be higher. Relatives of the dead are alive and some live in Safaga.
Do not penetrate the wreck. Personal belongings — suitcases, shoes — are still inside. Egyptian operators who take this seriously brief an exterior dive only, and that is the right briefing.
Take nothing. Removing anything from this wreck is grave robbing, whatever else it is called.
Photographs of human remains or personal effects should not be published. Divers do it and should not.

Dive sites

Panorama ReefIntermediate
A large reef off Safaga with sheer walls on three sides and some of the healthiest soft coral in the northern Red Sea. The best day-boat dive on this stretch of coast.

Kitesurfing

Safaga and Tobia islandAll levels
The coast’s original wind destination — flat water in the lee of a long headland and Tobia island, at prices from a different decade.

The town guide for Safaga

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