El Mina wreck, or harbor wreck, was an Egyptian minesweeper, built by the Soviet, 570 tons, and approximately 60mt long. It was bombed by the Israelis during the 6 Days war in 1969. The ship lies between 26 and 30 mt.
The wreck is fully intact and complete with all anti-aircraft guns except for the main deck gun. You can see the damage cause by the blast.
Small Giftun Island has been a marine reserve for a few years now and it makes a big difference as this is one of the best dives in the area. The wall drops away to about 100m so pick your depth and gradually work your way back up as you drift along in the current. There are some picturesque coral formations sticking out from the main wall to explore, often decorated with soft corals. Tunas & barracuda are some of the inhabitant of this reef.
Abu Ramada is a wall dive ending in sandy bottom at about 60m. At the north of the reef there is a plateau , at which divers are often dropped for the dive. The current here can get quite strong and the blue sea along the wall is full with jackfish. Thanks to the soft corals and huge fan corals this is a very scenic wall.
Panorama is a very large coral formation, with walls dropping off to more than 100m. You will be dropped off by the zodiac to explore this reef with its profusion of corals including gorgonians. Jackfish, Barracuda and sharks frequent the area. There are also a huge number of anemones here with their resident clownfish.
This is a large elongated reef with walls dropping steeply to over 400m. Frequent currents mean dives at this site are recommended only for experienced divers and great care must be taken with keeping an eye on your depth and air consumption. However, at either end of the reef, the north and south, there are plateaus which can be explored before the main drop off.
The Salem Express was returning from the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia with a party of pilgrims aboard who had visited Mecca when she struck the Hyndman Reef with full force on 15th December 1991. A large hole was torn in the hull just under the bow door and the bow door was forced upward and open, which let in gallons of water resulting in a very fast sinking of around 10 minutes. This meant that was little or no time to launch the lifeboats. According to official...
Abu Dabab is a cluster of seven shallow reefs at depths ranging from 15m to 25m, with many caves and colourful coral gardens to explore. You can expect to see plenty of red anemones with their ever-present clownfish in this area, Blue-spotted stingrays, and Napoleon wrasse. There are frequent dolphin sightings here, too. Night dives in the vicinity are interesting, as well, as Spanish dancers are often seen here. On the southern outer reefs shark encounters are likely.
Elphinstone Reef is a long thin reef formation with stepped plateaus at both the north and south ends and sheer vertical drop-offs to the east and west. Beautiful pink and purple soft corals can be found here as well as Gorgonian fans at between 20 – 30m depth. The site is excellent for encountering large marine life including White and Grey Tip Reef Sharks, Hammerheads, Thresher sharks and Oceanic White Tips.
Is a very nice dive for beginner and experienced diver. The depth is between 10 and 30 mt.
Shaab Sharm, or Gota Sharm is a large, kidney-shaped reef with steep sloping wall on its east and south sides. The crescent of reef around the reef’s southern tip offers the best diving, with rich coral growth from the surface shallows down. There are numerous soft coral and hard corals. There is also some black coral on the wall’s deeper sections.
Groupers, barracudas, snappers and unicorns can be seen here. Currents here can be quite strong.
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