Amphoras

The dive

Amphoras is one of the local Sharm el-Sheikh reefs on the southern stretch of coast, between Turtle Bay to the south and the Tower to the north. Emperor Divers places it southwest of Tower reef and dives it in the afternoon as a drift. It shares its shape with the reefs either side of it: Red Sea Marine describes a fringing reef wall about 10 m deep, then a wide sandy slope that runs gently out to 25 to 30 m before the drop-off. Circle Divers gives the same profile from the water, a wall down to about 12 m and then a slope to the drop-off at 20 to 22 m, and rates the site for beginners.

The slope carries coral pinnacles rather than a continuous reef. Red Sea Marine notes they are covered in soft corals of the genus Dendronephthya; Circle Divers picks out a large table coral standing in front of two coral towers, and schools of glassfish, feather stars and starfish on the structures. Emperor Divers describes the same pinnacles as small-animal ground, with pipefish, nudibranchs and scorpionfish in the crevices, and says the most interesting part of the dive lies between 18 and 25 m. Camel Dive Club uses the outer edge differently, calling the drop-off an observation point for eagle rays, turtles and larger fish passing along it.

The name comes from cargo, not from a hull. A Turkish vessel sank here in the 17th century carrying amphorae filled with mercury. The ship itself is gone: what is left is its anchor, wedged in the reef and still carrying inscriptions, and broken pots half-buried among the coral heads. Sources put those remains at different depths, from 22 m for the amphorae, to 24 m for the anchor, to 25 to 28 m for the broken pots, so plan for the deeper end. Complete amphorae recovered from the site are on display at the Amphoras hotel ashore.

One Sharm site guide is blunt about the catch: the site is not dived often, most guides no longer know it, and the amphorae are hard to find. It also reports that small amounts of the mercury cargo have been seen remaining in the pots. Book this dive for the topography and the drop-off and treat finding the anchor as the bonus that depends on which guide you get.

• The inscribed anchor stock of the Turkish ship, still wedged into the reef
• Broken amphorae half-buried among the coral heads between 22 and 28 m
• Coral pinnacles on the sand slope carrying Dendronephthya soft coral and schools of glassfish
• A large table coral standing in front of two coral towers
• Eagle rays, turtles and larger fish along the drop-off
• Complete amphorae recovered from the site, on show at the Amphoras hotel ashore

Conditions

A wall from the shallows to around 10 to 12 m, then open sand running out to 25 to 30 m with coral pinnacles standing on it, and the drop-off beyond that. The working part of the dive is between 12 and 25 m. No source we read gives a visibility figure for this site specifically, so we have left it blank rather than borrow a neighbour's; Emperor Divers reports Red Sea visibility often above 30 m in spring for the region as a whole.

On current: Every operator description runs this as a drift, and Emperor Divers dives it in the afternoon for that reason. None of the sources calls the flow strong, and none gives a figure, so the useful point is not the strength but the plan: you are dropped and picked up in different places, and the direction is set on the day. The other disagreement worth knowing is depth. Circle Divers puts the amphorae at 22 m, Red Sea Marine puts the inscribed anchor at 24 m, and a Sharm site guide puts the broken pots at 28 m among the coral heads. We have not reconciled them; assume the artefacts sit between 22 and 28 m and plan gas and a no-stop limit for the deeper number.

Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov