CHUANCHOM - El Gouna
Chuanchom is a proper chunk of metal, a cargo ship that bought it back in 1980. We love how she just looms out of the blue, sitting upright on the seabed at 20 metres, a real deep dive for El Gouna. You can swim the full length of her 171 metres, taking in the sheer scale. Head to the stern, that's our favourite part, where the propellers are still in place, encrusted with a thick layer of soft corals. Inside the cargo holds, it’s dark and eerie, but peer into the gloom and you’ll often spot a giant moray eel or a school of sweepers swirling in the shafts of light. The mast reaches up towards the surface, a vertical playground for anthias and bannerfish, and sometimes we’ve seen a lone barracuda patrolling the deck. This is a dive for those who appreciate history and don't mind a bit of current on the way down; it can pick up here, so good buoyancy is key if you want to explore the superstructure without getting pushed around.
- Location
- El Gouna, Egypt, Red Sea & Middle East
- Coordinates
- 27.580000, 33.926666
- Type
- wreck
- Maximum Depth
- 20m
Marine Protected Area: شعاب البحر الأحمر
Best Time to Dive in El Gouna
The warmest water temperatures in El Gouna occur in August, averaging 28.3°C. The coolest conditions are in February at 20.2°C.
Monthly Water Temperatures
- January: 20.3°C
- February: 20.2°C
- March: 20.8°C
- April: 22.1°C
- May: 24.5°C
- June: 25.8°C
- July: 27.0°C
- August: 28.3°C
- September: 27.3°C
- October: 26.1°C
- November: 24.6°C
- December: 22.2°C
Nearby Dive Sites in El Gouna
- ABOUDY - 9m (wreck)
- ABOU EL-MAATY - 3m (wreck)
- AL-QUAMAR AL-SAUDI AL-MISRI - 30m (wreck)
- ASHRF ABDO - 60m (wreck)
- ATTIKI (PROBABLY) - 5m (wreck)
- BACCHIS - 5m (wreck)
- BAHRAM - 20m (wreck)
- BASHAYER - 33m (wreck)
- Blind Reef - 21m (reef)
- Bluff Point (Small Gubal island) - 17m
- CARINA (POSSIBLY) - 33m (wreck)
- CHRISOULA K - 10m (wreck)
- DECO International hyperbaric chamber
- Dolphin House - 15m
- DOMIAT - 51m (wreck)
Nearest Dive Centres to CHUANCHOM
Marine Life in El Gouna
Home to 64 recorded species including 46 reef fish, 7 whales & dolphins, 4 seagrass & algae, 3 sea cucumbers, 2 sea snails & nudibranchs, 1 sharks & rays.
Notable Species
- Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Grey Dolphin (Grampus griseus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Bridled Dolphin (Stenella attenuata) - Whales & Dolphins
- Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) - Sharks & Rays
- Cowfish (Tursiops truncatus) - Whales & Dolphins
- White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) - Whales & Dolphins
- Long-beaked Dolphin (Stenella longirostris) - Whales & Dolphins
- Indian Scad (Decapterus russelli) - Reef Fish
- Rock Cod (Epinephelus fasciatus) - Reef Fish
- Bullethead Parrotfish (Chlorurus sordidus) - Reef Fish
- Slender grouper (Anyperodon leucogrammicus) - Reef Fish
- Tail-spot Squirrelfish (Sargocentron caudimaculatum) - Reef Fish
- Wrasse (Stethojulis interrupta) - Reef Fish
- Crested Sabretooth Blenny (Petroscirtes mitratus) - Reef Fish
- False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) - Whales & Dolphins
- Dapple coris (Coris variegata) - Reef Fish
- Diagonal Butterflyfish (Chaetodon fasciatus) - Reef Fish
- Desjardin's Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma velifer) - Reef Fish
- Species code: Hs (Halophila stipulacea) - Seagrass & Algae
- Brown Frillfin (Bathygobius fuscus) - Reef Fish
Recommended Packing List for CHUANCHOM
Based on average water temperature of 24.1°C, currents 19 cm/s.
- Shorty or Rashguard - warm 24°C water needs minimal exposure protection
- Mask - essential for every dive
- Fins
- BCD - buoyancy compensator
- Regulator - your most safety-critical piece of gear
- Dive Computer - tracks depth, time, and NDL
- Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) - essential for boat pickups
- Dive Torch - useful for crevices and colour at depth
- Underwater Camera - capture your diving memories