Hurghada & El Gouna, the area around Excalibur

Hurghada & El Gouna · Egypt · Wreck

Excalibur

A dive boat lost to fire in 1996, on the seabed just past 20 m

Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0

A dive boat that sank off Hurghada in 1996 after an electrical fire, the Excalibur is also logged under the name Susana. The floor under the wreck is just over 20 metres, which keeps the whole hull inside a standard recreational profile, and the site listing describes it as suitable for Open Water divers.

Also known as Susana.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Excalibur: typical dive to 20 m (to 66 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit20 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

27.2250° N, 33.8467° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The dive is a single circuit rather than a staged descent. The floor under the wreck is just over 20 metres, so you can drop to the seabed, work around the outside of the hull, and then come back up onto the structure for the shallower half of the dive without ever leaving a normal recreational profile. Keeping the deepest part at the start and finishing higher on the wreck is the obvious way to run it.

What is left of the fittings is not documented in any published description of the site, and no source itemises the marine life that has moved onto the hull since 1996, so treat the boat itself as the dive and ask the guide what is currently worth looking at. No source describes a penetration route or the vessel's dimensions either, so plan an external circuit that finishes shallow rather than anything inside her.

The wreck

Vessel
Excalibur (also known as Susana)
Type
Dive boat
Sunk
1996
Cause
Electrical fire on board
Lies
On the seabed at a floor depth of just over 20 m

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Excalibur
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairGoodPrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodPrimePrimeGoodFair

Season follows Hurghada & El Gouna: Diveable year-round; spring and autumn bring the calmest seas for the Abu Nuhas crossing.

Questions divers ask

How deep is the Excalibur wreck?+

The seabed under the wreck is just over 20 metres. That puts the whole boat inside a single recreational profile, and the site listing describes it as suitable for Open Water divers.

Sources

  1. Excalibur dive site — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)

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