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The best known wreck in the region is Cedar Pride. It is a Spanish cargo vessel that was built in 1964. The ship was renamed a couple of times before it was purchased by the Lebanese shipping company “Cedar Pride”. The last given name was “San Bruno”. You can still read it, engraved in the bow of the ship.
In July 1982 Cedar Pride was anchoring in the port of Aqaba, when an accident took place and a fire blast ripped a hole in the vessel. Cedar Pride became a destructed loss and stayed half sunk, half a float in the port. Later King Abdullah, a keen diver himself, took interest in the vessel and decided to scuttle it and transform it into the famous dive site it is today. Cedar Pride was cleaned from oil and anything that could be destructive to any marine life and was ultimately scuttled on the 16 of November 1985.
Cedar Pride is laying on its port side granting divers access and insight into the two big cargo holds. Another highlight is an air pocket located in the rear cargo hold. It is big enough for divers to surface and have a quick look around. Over the past 35 years, Cedar Pride has registered significant coral growth.
Schools of fish roam the site and turtles and napoleon wrasses can be seen occasionally. The depth varies between 12m/40ft and 26m/85ft. The diversity of this dive site makes it draws divers of all levels.
At the maximum depth the wreck and the topography of the reef form an arch where it’s possible to cross underneath. Apart from the open cargo holds, the wreck features some enclosed spaces and squeezes. These can be accessed by advanced divers certified to dive in overheard environments.
The outstanding feature is the crow’s nest. The nest covered with a profusion of colorful soft corals and stands out against the clear blue water. Therefore as you continue further towards the hull, you pass mushroom ventilation shafts and the main mast. Here in the deeper water, the soft corals more dispersed but replaced by hard corals and schools of fish. They including the odd barracuda. As you swim back along the uppermost starboard side, you can find plenty of hard corals and small animals. They have made their home on the hull, including anemones, table corals, pipefish and clusters of acropora. This makes for an excellent night dive.
The deck smothered with lots of critters, including urchins, shrimps, Spanish Dancers and soft coral crabs. For the experienced wreck diver and photographer there are many penetration opportunities within the light zone.
We did the one-day Petra tour with from our Cruise Ship (Aqaba) with Wonders Tourism. This was a small bus (16 people) tour with lunch included. This was a fantastic... read more
Rbben
PETRA - A Day to Remenber - I looked at many tours for Petra arriving in Jordan on a cruise ship & after reading many excellent reviews from Wonders Travel & Tourism, booked with them.... read more
Wayne N
What a treat our tour to Petra was. Great guide and driver.
Very professional and knowledgeable. Very happy with the overall process and tour.
The meal was delicious too.... read more
SirlesT
