Small Crack: an unexpected find on the Thistlegorm's route

I dived at Small Crack for the first time in June 2024, during a "Sharm & Wrecks" liveaboard with Mastro Sommerso aboard the M/Y Diamante. As soon as I put my head underwater, I immediately regretted never having been there before. Sha’ab Mahmud, the imposing, semi-submerged coral reef on the route to the Thistlegorm wreck at the entrance to the Gulf of Suez, separates a large sandy lagoon from the open sea and is interrupted by two channels. The southernmost one, Small Crack (27°43.884′ N, 34°05.894′ E), a little-dived site, is a true paradise for videographers.

Small Crack 27°43.884′ N 34°05.894′ E, un’immersione poco battuta, è un vero paradiso per i videomaker.
Small Crack 27°43.884′ N 34°05.894′ E, un’immersione poco battuta, è un vero paradiso per i videomaker.

The dive usually begins north of the channel, on a sandy seabed between 15 and 20 meters. Here, you can admire beautiful gorgonians, soft corals, and table corals. Continuing on, you encounter wonderful coral formations full of glassfish, where I recommend lingering for a bit. During editing, it's important to be able to slow down the footage, so 60fps is a must. During the dive, I noticed a rare and beautiful red anemone, which unfortunately was partially hidden on that occasion. The channel is divided in two by a large coral formation, packed with very colorful soft corals and other corals. Omar, our guide, led us into the first branch, the northernmost one, which is also the most colorful. At this stage of the dive, given the shallow depth, two things are crucial: careful management of your tank air (which must be conserved throughout the dive) and adequate weighting (I suggest, just for this dive, adding an extra kilo). The Diamante awaits the divers inside the lagoon, where there are other very colorful coral formations and several very sociable batfish (Platax): filming them between the keel and the white sandy seabed always yields stunning footage. Here is the video of that dive, a small taste of the magic of Small Crack.

Small Crack, Sha’ab Mahmoud, Egypt 2024, with GoPro12, 8:7, 4K, 60fps