Question 1

How deep is the El Mina wreck?

Accepted Answer

She lies on her port side with the stern at 32 m, the bow at about 26 m, and the blast hole in the starboard bow at roughly 19 m, which is the shallowest useful point. Operators generally quote the dive as 25 to 32 m. That puts the deepest part of the wreck past the standard Advanced Open Water limit, so plan the profile and consider nitrox.

Question 2

What ship was the El Mina and how did she sink?

Accepted Answer

She was El Minya, a Soviet-built T-43 class minesweeper delivered to the Egyptian Navy under a 1956 arms agreement and named after Nasser's home town. On 6 February 1970, during the War of Attrition, Israeli aircraft came in low over Hurghada to strike the radar station and naval base. She was at anchor in the flight path; a bomb hit her starboard bow, she rolled over, and machine gun fire into the exposed underside sank her.

Question 3

Why do sources give different dates for the sinking?

Accepted Answer

Because most dive-centre pages copy each other rather than the record. You will see 1969, the 1967 Six-Day War, October 1973, and even a claim that she struck her own mine. The two researched accounts, the Red Sea Wreck Project and The Scuba News, both give 6 February 1970 and agree on the details of the raid, so that is the date to use. The same problem affects her length: the researched figure is 58 m, while many operators repeat 70 m.

Question 4

Do you need to be a wreck diver to dive El Mina?

Accepted Answer

Not for the outside. Advanced Open Water is the stated minimum across operators because of the depth, and Aquarius Red Sea also asks for at least one logged dive in the past twelve months. Penetration is a different matter and the rules vary: Aquarius limits recreational penetration to the blast hole, while DiveRED requires a Wreck Specialty certification and a guide before anyone enters the engine room or the holds.

Question 5

Is the El Mina a war grave?

Accepted Answer

It depends who you ask, and the sources do not agree. DiveRED describes it as a grave site to be treated with respect and other Hurghada centres call it a war grave and a memorial. Aquarius Red Sea, by contrast, states that the crew evacuated and that she went down with no casualties, and the two researched histories give no casualty figures. Whatever the truth, it is a war loss with live ordnance around it, so nothing gets touched, moved or taken.

Question 6

What is the visibility like on the El Mina?

Accepted Answer

Poorer than you would expect from the Red Sea. It is typically 10 to 20 m, with 15 m a fair working figure, because the site sits close to the Hurghada harbour and gets harbour water rather than clean offshore water. That is worth knowing before you plan photographs, and it is one reason a torch is useful even outside the hull.

Question 7

Is there current on the El Mina wreck?

Accepted Answer

Usually mild on the wreck itself, with the lee side of the hull giving shelter, but the surface can be another story. Egypt Dive specifically warns of a strong surface current here and says divers should hold the current rope and descend on the line rather than free-descend. A buoy on the stern marks the wreck and provides that line.

Question 8

What will I see on the El Mina?

Accepted Answer

The circuit covers both propellers and rudders, the 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and machine guns still on their mounts, the anchor chains, the heavy reels of cable used to tow the minesweeping gear, and the blast hole in the starboard bow. The mast lies on the sand north of the hull where it was torn off. For fish, the wreck holds dense glassfish worked over by a large lionfish population, plus giant morays, batfish, scorpionfish and a resident grouper, with yellowbar angelfish, sweetlips and spotted eagle rays recorded around the pin.

Species	How often	Records
Scarus ferrugineus	occasional	14
Abudefduf sexfasciatus	occasional	11
Chromodoris quadricolor	occasional	9
Pomacentrus sulfureus	occasional	7
Zebrasoma desjardinii	occasional	6
Pomacanthus maculosus	occasional	6
Chlorurus sordidus	occasional	5
Fistularia commersonii	rare	4
Acanthurus sohal	rare	4
Plectorhinchus gaterinus	rare	4
Abudefduf vaigiensis	rare	4
Lethrinus nebulosus	rare	3
Chaetodon auriga	rare	3
Flavocaranx bajad	rare	3
Cheilinus lunulatus	rare	3
Hemigymnus melapterus	rare	3
Lethrinus microdon	rare	2
Lethrinus variegatus	rare	2
Lethrinus xanthochilus	rare	2
Paracheilinus octotaenia	rare	2
Parapercis hexophtalma	rare	2
Pardachirus marmoratus	rare	2
Parupeneus forsskali	rare	2
Plectorhinchus schotaf	rare	2
Pterois miles	rare	2
Scarus collana	rare	2
Scarus fuscopurpureus	rare	2
Scarus niger	rare	2
Scarus psittacus	rare	2
Siganus rivulatus	rare	2
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	2
Tursiops aduncus	rare	2
Scolopsis ghanam	rare	2
Ostracion cubicum	rare	2
Aetobatus ocellatus	rare	2
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	2
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	2
Caesio lunaris	rare	2
Caesio striata	rare	2
Calcinus latens	rare	2
Cetoscarus bicolor	rare	2
Chaetodon fasciatus	rare	2
Cheilinus undulatus	rare	2
Chlorurus gibbus	rare	2
Corythoichthys flavofasciatus	rare	2
Lethrinus borbonicus	rare	2
Lethrinus lentjan	rare	2
Lethrinus mahsena	rare	2
Arothron stellatus	rare	2
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus	rare	2
Ocypode saratan	rare	1
Trachinotus blochii	rare	1
Tridacna maxima	rare	1
Tridacna squamosa	rare	1
Cassiopea andromeda	rare	1
Rastrelliger kanagurta	rare	1
Grapsus granulosus	rare	1
Ablennes hians	rare	1
Diodon hystrix	rare	1
Neoniphon sammara	rare	1

El Mina wreck

El Mina wreck

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Rules and permits

Season

Conditions

Questions & answers

Life recorded at El Mina wreck

Nearby sites in Hurghada

Been here? Log it.