Dunraven

Beacon Rock, today identified by an automatic lighthouse, is located at the extreme south of the Sha'ab Mahmud reef system. In the night of 24th April 1876, on the way to Bombay, the 80 m long English steam freighter "Dunraven" hit the reef next to the beacon rock. After the impact the ship sank quickly. It is lying broken in two parts, deck-down on the seabed at a depth of 18 to 30 m. Recovered in early 1970's by H. Rosenstein, the more than 144 years old wreck is largely intact, totally covered in corals and rich in marine life. Start the dive at the deepest part at the stern where the large brass propeller is clearly visible although one o...f the four blades is missing. Swim along the upturned keel to a point approximately amidships where the hull is broken and start enter the wreck. The boilers are side by side and they occupy a large amount of space. Although, there is plenty of room for passing trough thousands of glassfish that live here in the shade. Be careful, inside are also plenty of resident red lionfish. After leaving the inside of the wreck explore the bow section with anchor chains and continue with the ship's hull. Overgrown with soft and hard corals the hull provides camouflage for scorpion and crocodile fish. If current allows, dive toward the beacon rock where you can encounter numerous large napoleon fish, hundreds of tiny pipefish and some hard coral heads. Due to sea conditions and current visibility are often limited. The mooring place is quite far from the shipwreck so usually it is necessary to recover divers by Zodiac.Read more