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.
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...
This island is the smaller of the two as the name implies. At the northern end is a long tongue of reef that extends seaward and in good weather it is possible to drop in here and drift. The current runs from east to west and here sharks may be seen cruising. On the south east side is a superb fan coral forest but it is deep and starts at 35m, there are also plenty of caves, overhangs, black coral, and lots of pelagics including sharks, tuna, barracuda, turtles and schools of reef...
The northerly of the two islands and has a small lighthouse. It has two wrecks laying on its walls. At the northern most tip of the island lays a large freighter named the Namibia, the other is the Aida II, an Egyptian supply vessel that struck at night. There is excellent wall diving all along the southern side of the reef with strong currents promoting the growth of a spectacular forest of soft corals. Frequent sightings of big pelagics and an astonishing variety of marine life.
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.
Deadalus Reef is an isolated coral reef some 96 km offshore from Marsa Alam. It is marked only by its lighthouse. The reef table here is submerged and made up of pristine hard corals with abundant soft coral growth. The table drops off at around 30-40m depth with steep walls descending to depths of over 500m. There is a huge variety of reef life here and, as ever, with the remote southern sites, the increased opportunity for encounters with Hammerheads, Grey...
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.
Sha'ab Maksur is a big reef and the most eastern of the fury shoals. Tunas, barracudas and surgeon fish can be seen. At the southern tip of the reef there are some big coral blocks.
This site is situated close to its smaller sister, Abu Galawa Soraya. The main attraction here is the sunken Chinese tugboat that sank on October 1943. The wreck is around 34m long and the stern lies in 17m. The top rises to the surface and peaks above the waves at low tide. The coral cover here is one of the most beautiful in the Red Sea.
Here you have the possibility to encounter sharks, rays and huge groupers.
Claudia Reef is a small reef. The west side of the reef has is covered with hard corals. Current will normally run from north to south.
Is a great dive site for its soft and hard coral garden. Surgeonfish, jack fish, tuna and reef fish can be seen here.
Wonderful dive site, with funny and complex labyrinth of caves. There is a famous cave in the middle of the reef where small baby sharks can be seen.
Sataya, also called Dolphin reef, is located at the southeast tip of Fury Shoal. Many different dives can be done along this reef, but most of them are on the east and southern part.
The east side is a sloping wall with many coral heads. The south side is a coral garden ideal for night dives.
There are many dolphins living in the area together with snappers, barracudas and white tips sharks.
Lying just south of the island, itself, the dive site of Zabargad is comprised of a sandy slope with numerous coral pinnacles, made up of stony corals. Each pinnacle is home to an array of reef fauna ranging from schools of anthias to large groupers. Blue-spotted Stingrays, moray eels, octopus, squid and such like are commonly found here.The site is sheltered making it an excellent place for boats to moor up overnight and night dives can be conducted here.
Only 5½ km south-east of Zabargad, this sheltered site is ideal for divers of all abilities. There is a mix of hard and soft corals and plenty of coral variety from Acropora to salad coral. Steep walls are interspersed with overhangs and the reef life is varied. Larger pelagic including Hammerhead Sharks are often sighted in the vicinity.
St. John’s Reef system lies south of the promontory of Ras Banas and only 40km north of Egypt’s border with Sudan. There are numerous sites here offering divers different experiences. There are plenty of fine coral gardens with magnificient Gorgonian Fans and Black corals. You will have a chance to see many shark species from Hammerheads to Oceanic White Tips, Threshers to Silver Tips, as well as the more common White Tip Reef and Grey Reef sharks.
A.k.a Abu Fendera, is the most Southern dive site of our itineraries. In fact, the site being in Egypt or Sudan is under dispute. It makes part of a 6 km chain of reefs.
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