Red Sea Safaris

Barge at Bluff Point

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Virtually nothing is known about the Barge at Bluff Point, sometimes also called the Gubal Barge. Local rumour states that it was sank during the Arab-Israeli war in 1973, it was a barge lost in tow, or might be the remains of a dive charter boat. What is known is that the vessel, or barge, was of steel construction and was approximately 35 meters long and 6 meters wide. Rik Vercoe’s drawing of the wreck site here shows the site’s layout. Located at 27°40’07″N; 33°48’32″E in 14 meters of water, this is a wreck on the recreational dive tours

 

Diving Information

The wreck lies at Bluff Point (hence the name) on the eastern side of Gubal Island in 14 meters of water along the point’s wall. There is not much left of the wreck itself, no superstructure or major hull sections. The sidewalls of the hull have caved in to the interior area where the bottom is covered with a dark grainy sand. The attraction of this as a dive site is that it makes for a wonderful night dive with a wide variety of marine life hiding out in the nooks and crannies of the wreck. A first dive during daylight hours is recommended in order to gain familiarity with the site. Aquatic life to see ranges from the occasional dolphins and turtles during the day, moray eels, lionfish, scorpion fish, crocodile fish, and octopi. Occasionally there are mild currents which one needs to be aware of, especially at night. This is usually one of those “wreck” dives on a “nothing” wreck which is a really enjoyable dive.

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Lee has been in the marketing industry for the last 15 years and now specializes in teaching marketing techniques to people in the scuba diving industry. He is founder of Dive Media Solutions which, in addition to providing complete marketing, media, communications and IT solutions exclusively for the scuba diving industry, also produces The Scuba News. You can connect with Lee via Twitter by following @DiveMedia

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