The Excalibur Wreck

A short surface swim from the beach in front of a bar on Roma Beach Sakala, or a quick boat ride, puts you over an upright hull resting on sand with a slight list to starboard. Most sources put the resting depth around 22 metres, though a shallower structural high point nearer 18 metres has also been logged. Part of the bowsprit still stands at the bow, and glassfish crowd the interior in dense, shifting clouds. Moray eels hold position in the openings, and small barracuda and lionfish work the hull. The twin masts that once marked the wreck from above have been torn away over the years by boat traffic passing overhead, though deck fittings and rails remain in places. Entry into the pilothouse and cabin spaces is possible, where sinks and old electrical fittings are still visible.

Excalibur sits inside Hurghada harbour itself, close enough to shore that a boat trip isn't strictly necessary, unusual for a wreck of this quality in an area where most decent wrecks mean a long ride out. It carries two competing origin stories rather than one settled history: one account credits a diver-author who supposedly nicknamed it Susannah in 1996, the other traces the name to a dive centre that once owned the vessel. No one has resolved which is true. The wreck also has a specific, documented niche reputation: in 2012 a citizen-science expedition searched it for pygmy seahorses reported nearby months before, checking every centimetre of the hull without finding one that day.

Coming in from the beach, expect a surface swim of some length before reaching the wreck; a boat trip is the alternative if you'd rather skip it. Corrosion after roughly thirty years underwater means parts of the structure can be fragile, and loose cables inside pose an entanglement risk, so a cutting tool is worth carrying. Sea urchins and lionfish sometimes sit in the confined interior spaces: hover through rather than settle on anything. A torch helps in the pilothouse and cabin areas, and the shallow depth makes this a regular night-dive and last-dive-of-the-day choice.