What It’s Actually Like to Penetrate the SS Thistlegorm Wreck

After a good night’s sleep with dry hair, I woke early for two SS Thistlegorm penetration dives.

One of my absolutely favorite things about liveaboard diving is waking up at an amazing dive site. Day dive boats depart from Sharm el Sheik early but have 3-4 hours of sailing to get to the Thistlegorm. By the time they reach it, we’ve already done at least one if not two dives without many other divers.

Even better, in winter, tho the water and air temps are lower, so are the dive crowds. With only one other boat anchored overnight, the boats communicate their dive plans to better share the site and limit diver traffic!

The best part of Red Sea winter diving? Discounts and sales. I just booked another liveaboard for Red Sea Wrecks over Christmas 2026!

Dive Day Plan

Every day on a liveaboard has a posted schedule (tho’ deviations do happen).
0600 Wake-up bell
0630 Dive 1 Briefing to discuss the first dive
0645 Dive 1 Gear prep and check
0700 Dive 1 Diver groups of 4-6 to follow one guide into the wreck (groups were assigned at the beginning of the trip, based on experience and personal preference)
0830 Dive 1 Completed
0845 Breakfast
1030 Dive 2 Briefing
1045 Dive 2 Gear prep and check
1100 Dive 2 Start
1230 Dive 2 Completed
1300 Boat moves to next dive site
1300 Lunch
1500 Dive 3 Briefing
1515 Dive 3 Gear prep and check
1530 Dive 3 Start
1700 Dive 3 Completed
1730 Snacks
1900 Dive 4 Briefing (I always go to the briefing even if I’m not diving. Because maybe it’s going to be so amazing I’ll jump in to a cold-wet wetsuit.)
1915 Dive 4 Gear prep and check
1930 Dive 4 Start
2100 Dive 4 Completed
2130 Dinner

So as you can see a liveaboard can be full of very long, full days.

Dive Briefing Recommendations

A good dive briefing is critical, more so for wreck penetration dives because of a higher degree of complexity. (Even more so for cave dives.)

Briefings should cover the basics:

Site Overview

Site Name and Map
Dive type: garden, sandy bottom, wall, wreck, swim through, drift, etc
Max dive depth
Water temp
Current
Expected dive duration
Expected marine life
Entry and exit points: boat to boat, boat to tender, tender to tender
Entry type: big step, roll back, negative entry
Risks and Hazards

Planned Dive Route

Descend
Proceed around with reef on left shoulder
Turn back at 60% air or 25 minutes to allow time to return
Safety stop

Behavior

Hand signal review
Don’t leave your group/buddy and what to do if separated
Don’t swim between groups or buddies separating them
Wait your turn for a photo, then clear the area so another dive can get their photo
Don’t touch marine life
Don’t kick coral
Don’t kick people
Required and prohibited gear (torch/dive light, gloves, noisemakers, pointers, SMB, etc)

Wreck basics

Entry/exit penetration points
Fin techniques
Bouyancy techniques
Don’t touch the wreck, if you can help it

Questions for Dive Master/Briefer

If you have any questions, ASK THEM! You may not be the only one who has a question. Knowledge is power.

Comments for Dive Master/Guide

I’m a photographer, I may need extra time or go slower.
I have trouble equalizing, I will descend slowly.
I perfer shallower depth, what can we do to accommodate?
I’m a heavy breather, bad on air consumption. When I’m at 50 bar, my buddy is at 100.
I want to practice a skill, bouyancy, frog kicks, swimming backwards, SMB deployment, etc.

Dive Guide Recommendations

For this trip I splurged and requested a private dive guide for my buddy and I. It’s an added expense and can be worth it.
Important to verify in advance, for private and group guides! These things are not generally covered in dive briefings.

Is the dive guide in addition to the normal boat guides or just dedicating one guide for you. I wanted an additional guide for us, but not to inconvenience any other divers by making their dive groups bigger.
Is there something specific you want to see on the wreck or dive? Do you want to see the tank? Motorcycles? Marine life? Tell your guide!

Dive 1 SS Thistlegorm Penetration

Jumping off the back of the liveaboard and descending down to the wreck we were greeted by a school of Tiera Batfish.

Swimming around the deck.

I saw Bedford trucks, a school of Blotcheye soldierfish, tires, motorcycles, a cart, and lots of floating debris, plankton, and dust.

PRO TIP: Before entering the wreck check your bouyancy. My buddy and guide were not the first from our boat into the wreck and you can see how much plankton, dust, debris we had to swim through. Small kicks and very delicate movements are key.

Some of my favorite stills from the above video.