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.
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...
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