Boiler Wreck (Abu Madafi)

Abu Madafi is an offshore reef about 30 minutes by boat north of Jeddah, and its signature dive is the Boiler Wreck, a steamer that has lain here so long that little remains beyond a section of the stern and the two heavy iron boilers it is named for, now thickly crusted in hard and soft coral. The wreckage rests in 4 to 20 meters on a reef pierced by a network of caves and narrow passages where shafts of sunlight cut through openings overhead, and a coral wall drops away alongside into deeper water. Moderate current pulls in whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, great barracuda, dogtooth tuna and jacks, with reef mantas passing through in the cooler months. It is the most dived site in Jeddah and an approachable introduction to Saudi Red Sea diving.