Abu Nuhas & Gubal Strait · Egypt · Wall · Drift · Wreck · Night
Bluff Point
A drift along a 35 m wall over the 1887 wreck of the Ulysses
Area photo: W.Strickling · CC BY-SA 4.0
The corner of Gubal Seghir where a wall drops to 35 m and a current running south turns the dive into a one-way drift along it. The wreck of the Ulysses, a British iron screw steamer lost in 1887, lies on her port side across the same northern face with her bow up in the shallows. Average depth on the drift is around 22 m, and the site is dived after dark as well as by day.
Also known as The Barge.
Where it is and how deep
27.6686° N, 33.8089° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Drop in on the wall and let the current do the work. It runs one to two knots and pushes south, so the dive is a one-way trip along the face with a pickup down-current. The wall falls to 35 m, but the average depth on the drift is nearer 22 m, and the first few metres of it are heavily rugged and cut with canyons, so the interest sits in that shallow band rather than in going deep.
Stay close to the wall. That is partly to keep out of the push and partly because everything worth seeing is on the rock: large moray eels use a low overhang along the face and are sometimes out of their holes, and large napoleon wrasse and turtles work the point itself. The wreckage of the Ulysses lies on her port side across the same northern face, her bow up in the shallow water, and a small modern wreck about 20 m long sits on the bottom at around 10 m.
The site is dived after dark as well, and that is the version people remember. Torch work along the same shallow ground turns up schools of scorpionfish, Arabian angelfish and molluscs, including the partridge tun. Navigation stays simple with the wall on one shoulder the whole way, and the platform that opens out at 15 to 20 m gives somewhere settled to work rather than hanging over the drop in the dark.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Ulysses
- Type
- Iron screw steamer
- Length
- 95.1 m (312 ft)
- Sunk
- 1887
- Cause
- Grounded on the northern side of Gubal Seghir and slipped off the reef days later
- Lies
- On her port side on the northern face of Gubal Sheghir, bow in shallow water
The Ulysses was a British iron screw steamer of 95.1 m. On 16 August 1887 she struck the northern side of Gubal Seghir and was left hard aground; The Times of 18 August carried Lloyd's agent at Suez reporting her ashore at Jubal Island and leaking a little. She worked further onto the reef over the following days while assistance was awaited, and by the time her cargo had been offloaded the reef had done its damage. She slipped off and sank.
Marine life and season
- Napoleon wrasse
- Sea turtles
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Abu Nuhas & Gubal Strait: Diving is year-round; Apr–Jun and Sep–Nov give the calmest seas, and winter northerlies can make the exposed north reef unworkable.
Know before you go
- A current of one to two knots sets south along the wall; stay tight to the rock, keep the group together and expect a drifting pickup rather than a swim back to the boat.
Dive videos
Bluff Point Barge Wreck – One of the Red Sea’s Most Surprising Dives! · Road & Reef on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How strong is the current at Bluff Point?+
One to two knots, setting south along the wall. It is dived as a drift for that reason: you go in up-current, stay close to the rock and get picked up at the far end rather than returning to the boat.
Is Bluff Point a good night dive?+
It is one of the standard night dives of the Gubal Strait. Torches along the shallow wall pick up scorpionfish, Arabian angelfish and molluscs such as the partridge tun, and the wall makes navigation straightforward in the dark.
Sources
- Bluff Point — Seawolf Safari
- Bluff Point Wreck — Scubadiving.place
- Featured Red Sea Wreck - The Ulysses — The Scuba News
- Bluff Point, Straits of Gubal, Egypt — PADI AWARE
More dive sites in Abu Nuhas & Gubal Strait
An 1869 P&O steamer rotted back to her iron ribs at 24 m
Tiles still in the holds, bow at 3 m and stern at 26 m
Wreck
An engine room full of glassfish at the end of a canted stern
The stern lies canted 45 degrees to port at 24 metres
A 120 m lentil carrier, bow at 15 m and stern down at 32 m
The Thistlegorm's sister ship, upright and intact below 30 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A freighter's bathroom cargo scattered across the reef at 25 m
A coral peninsula at 30 m with predators working the current line
Scalloped hammerheads off the back of the reef in late summer
A column of gorgonian fans standing from 14 to 28 m