Last month, I came across a story on the website The Travel (www.thetravel.com), with 25 rare pictures of sunken ships most people have never seen before. Of course, this piqued my interest -- what wreck dives had I been missing all these years? Unfortunately, most of them are well-known to divers, but the last ship description had me laughing.

"Another long-forgotten ship that was sunk by the German force was the SS Thistlegorm. Before two German bombardiers sank it in the middle of the 90s, she successfully carried out three voyages, transporting aircraft parts and other valuable goods. A decade later, though, the remains of the ship were [said to be] discovered by the maritime explorer, Jacques Cousteau. Well, admittedly, the sight must have been quite spellbinding, yet a bit freakish. As for the ship, sunk by the Germans, it still resides somewhere in the pitch-dark sections of the Red Sea in Egypt where it surely belongs."

Nothing could be farther from the truth. On one single day during the first week of October, more than 30 dive boats were anchored over the Thistlegorm. That's around 500 divers. It's the most visited wreck in the world, and many Undercurrent subscribers complain in their Reader Reports how it's just too busy with divers. Obviously, don't look for good travel advice from The Travel.

-- John Bantin

Forward this article to your dive buddy