26 sites, described by ground and depth. What is found on each
one is not published — naming the exact spot a rare animal sits on is how it gets
crowded and moved on. The species recorded at this destination are listed below, and the
reasoning is set out in the editorial policy.
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SS Thistlegorm
Strait of Gubal · Boat · Wreck · 15–32 m
A 126 metre British armed merchant steamer carrying military stores, including trucks, motorcycles, rifles, ammunition, aircraft parts and two railway locomotives. She was bombed by German aircraft at anchor on 6 October 1941 and the ammunition in number four hold detonated. She sits upright on a sand bottom at about 30 to 33 metres with the main deck at 15 to 16 metres, the midships and stern section blown apart and separated from the hull, and both locomotives thrown clear onto the sand on either side.
Current can be strong and descent and ascent are normally made on a fixed line. Many boats moor on the wreck at the same time and mooring lines have caused documented damage to the structure.
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Rosalie Moller
Strait of Gubal · Boat · Wreck · 30–50 m
A 108 metre steam collier built in 1910, loaded with Welsh coal, bombed and sunk in the Strait of Gubal in October 1941, two nights after the Thistlegorm. She stands upright and largely intact on a sand bottom with the seabed at about 50 metres, the main deck around 30 to 35 metres and the masts reaching about 18 metres.
A deep dive with a short working time, often with reduced visibility from suspended silt. Surface conditions in this exposed stretch of the strait frequently prevent the boat from reaching the site.
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Giannis D (Abu Nuhas)
Strait of Gubal · Boat · Wreck · 13–24 m
A 100 metre Greek-registered general cargo ship carrying timber, which ran onto the north side of the Abu Nuhas reef on 19 April 1983. Bow and stern remain recognisable while the midships section has collapsed into wreckage. The stern lies tilted to port with the engine room accessible at about 13 metres and the mast rising to about 4 metres.
The reef lies on the north side of Shadwan Island and current across it can be strong with a choppy surface. Moorings are on the sheltered south side, so divers cross the reef top to reach the wrecks.
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Carnatic (Abu Nuhas)
Strait of Gubal · Boat · Wreck · 12–27 m
A 90 metre British steam and sail cargo vessel bound for India with cotton, wine and specie, which struck the Abu Nuhas reef on 12 September 1869 and broke apart about 36 hours later. She lies on her port side with the wooden decking gone, so the iron frames of the hull stand exposed and the full length of the ship can be followed from about 12 to 27 metres.
Broken timbers and glass remain inside the hull. The same reef current and surface chop apply as at the other Abu Nuhas wrecks.
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Chrisoula K and Kimon M (Abu Nuhas)
Strait of Gubal · Boat · Wreck · 3–32 m
Two cargo ships on the same reef face. The Chrisoula K, 98 metres, loaded with floor tiles and wrecked on 31 August 1981, sits more or less upright with the bow in a few metres of water and the stern at about 26 metres, and is slowly separating. The Kimon M, 120 metres, loaded with lentils and wrecked on 12 December 1978, has since been pushed onto its starboard side with the bow at about 15 metres and the stern at about 32 metres. Both are broken open along the holds.
The Kimon M is the deepest of the four Abu Nuhas wrecks. The identity of the hull sold as the Chrisoula K has been disputed for years and some records assign it to a different ship.
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SS Dunraven
Ras Mohammed National Park · Boat · Wreck · 18–30 m
An 81.6 metre British steam and sail cargo ship carrying spices, cotton and textiles from Bombay, which struck the reef south of Beacon Rock in April 1876 through a navigational error, capsized as she slid off and sank. She lies upside down on a sloping reef with the keel at about 18 metres and the stern at about 28 to 30 metres, the hull largely broken with three large openings giving access to the boilers and internal framing.
Inside Ras Mohammed National Park, where a per-diver park fee applies. Normally combined with a second dive on Beacon Rock.
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Shark and Yolanda Reef
Ras Mohammed National Park · Boat · Mixed · 12–30 m
Two reef pinnacles rising from a deep sand floor at the tip of the Sinai peninsula, joined by a shallow saddle and surrounded by a plateau at roughly 12 to 20 metres. The eastern face of Shark Reef is a vertical wall falling well past 40 metres. Around Yolanda Reef lies the cargo of the Cypriot freighter Yolanda, which grounded on 1 April 1980 and spilled bathroom fittings, baths and lengths of pipe across the shallow reef; the hull itself slid off in a storm in March 1987 and now rests below 145 metres, out of reach.
Normally dived as a one-way drift from Shark Reef to Yolanda Reef. Current is usually strong and can turn downward at the corner. Inside Ras Mohammed National Park with a per-diver fee and fixed moorings only.
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Jackson Reef
Straits of Tiran · Boat · Coral · 5–30 m
The northernmost of the four reefs in the strait, a roughly oval reef whose southern side falls as a wall to about 40 metres onto a sand floor, with a saddle running west toward Woodhouse Reef and open water off the northern edge. The grounded Cypriot freighter Lara, 137 metres, which struck the reef in 1981, lies broken on the northern reef top with the salvaged remainder scattered below 48 metres.
Current at the southwest corner can be very strong. The deep Lara wreckage is beyond recreational limits. Egyptian and Saudi patrol boats operate in the strait, so boats must stay on the marked moorings.
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Woodhouse Reef
Straits of Tiran · Boat · Wall · 5–30 m
A long narrow reef running northeast to southwest, with a wall on the eastern side and a cleft at about 30 metres that runs parallel to the reef axis before opening onto a sand ledge. The ledge widens northward and rises to about 14 metres at the saddle that joins Woodhouse to Jackson Reef.
There are no fixed moorings, so the site is dived as a one-way drift from south to north with the boat following the surface marker. Water crossing the saddle can be turbulent in a choppy sea.
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Thomas Reef
Straits of Tiran · Boat · Wall · 5–30 m
The smallest of the four reefs, with a southeastern wall dropping to a broad ledge at about 25 metres and a deep cleft opening off the eastern side at about 35 metres, spanned by three rock arches formed where blocks have fallen across it. The northern wall carries projecting spurs and the western wall is cut with crevices and small caverns.
Strong current is usual and the site is dived as a drift. Counter-currents occur at the northern end. The floor of the cleft continues past 90 metres, so the route along it must be depth-controlled.
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Gordon Reef
Straits of Tiran · Boat · Coral · 5–25 m
The southernmost and shallowest of the four reefs, with a mooring on a broad plateau between about 10 and 25 metres from which drop-offs fan out, and a bowl-shaped depression in the sand on the southwest side. The Panamanian freighter Loullia, which ran aground on 29 September 1981, still stands on the northern reef top, and drums from her cargo lie corroded and overgrown at about 15 metres on the eastern side.
Current occasionally sweeps across the plateau and the reef top around the Loullia carries loose metal debris. About 75 minutes by boat from Sharm el Sheikh.
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Ras Umm Sid
Sharm el Sheikh · Shore · Wall · 5–30 m
A headland below the Ras Umm Sid lighthouse where the reef falls as a wall from the surface to about 30 metres, with a plateau roughly 50 metres wide running out from the wall base and a scatter of pinnacles standing on it between about 14 and 28 metres.
Entered from steps at the shore, though it is also run as a boat drift when the current sets round the point where two flows meet. Day-boat traffic is heavy in this stretch of coast.
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The Canyon
Dahab · Shore · Rock · 12–30 m
A narrow closed fissure in the fossil reef plate, roofed over except for a series of openings, entered from a mouth in the reef top at about 12 to 20 metres. The chamber floor lies at about 30 metres and the fissure narrows as it runs seaward, with a small exit through the outer wall at about 52 to 55 metres.
Shore entry across a shallow lagoon and coral plate. The seaward part of the fissure is beyond recreational limits, and the former exit through the Fishbowl formation has been closed since the structure partly collapsed.
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The Blue Hole
Dahab · Shore · Rock · 5–30 m
A near-circular sinkhole about 100 metres deep cut into the fringing reef immediately off the shore, separated from the open sea by a shallow rim known as the Saddle at about 6 metres. Through the outer wall runs a tunnel called the Arch, 26 metres long, with its ceiling at about 55 to 56 metres and its seaward floor near 120 metres, opening onto a drop-off that continues past 1,000 metres.
The ordinary dive stays inside the hole, or crosses the Saddle at 6 metres and returns along the outside wall. The Arch is a technical dive at 56 metres and has a long record of fatalities; Egyptian authorities station an officer at the entry point to check that divers use a certified guide.
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Big Brother Island
Offshore, Brothers Islands · Boat · Mixed · 10–40 m
An island about 480 metres long carrying a 32 metre stone lighthouse, rising from a seabed of roughly 800 metres, with a narrow fringing reef whose walls fall almost vertically on every side and a plateau extending northwest. Two ships lie on it: the Numidia, a British cargo steamer of about 138 metres carrying rails and rolling stock, which ran onto the north point on 20 July 1901 and now hangs down the wall from about 10 metres to beyond 80 metres; and the Aida, a 75 metre supply and transport vessel driven onto the northwest wall in a storm on 15 September 1957, whose hull runs from about 30 metres to past 60 metres.
Reached only by liveaboard, 60 to 70 km offshore. A marine park permit is required, operators enforce a minimum of about 50 logged dives, night diving is prohibited, and both wrecks continue below recreational depth.
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Little Brother Island
Offshore, Brothers Islands · Boat · Wall · 10–40 m
A smaller island about 1 km south of Big Brother, shaped like a raindrop on a northwest to southeast axis, where the reef at the northern point slopes down to a plateau at about 40 metres and the eastern and western sides fall as steep walls into open water.
Current normally runs north to south along both walls, so dives are made as drifts with the boat following. The same marine park permit and logged-dive minimum apply as at Big Brother.
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Daedalus Reef (Abu Kizan)
Offshore, Marsa Alam · Boat · Wall · 10–40 m
An isolated oval reef platform roughly 1,075 metres long and 300 metres wide, rising from a seabed of about 550 metres and carrying a 30 metre banded stone lighthouse built in 1931 on the site of an 1863 iron tower. The edges drop away in sheer walls and steep slopes. The northern tip is the most exposed; the southern side has a broader sheltered plateau.
About 90 km offshore and reached only by liveaboard, inside the offshore marine park with permit fees. Current at the northern tip can be strong and there are no shore facilities of any kind.
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Elphinstone Reef (Sha'ab Abu Hamra)
Offshore, Marsa Alam · Boat · Wall · 5–40 m
A narrow reef over 400 metres long running north to south about 25 km north of Marsa Alam, with a plateau roughly 100 metres wide at each end lying between about 20 and 40 metres, and eastern and western walls that drop vertically past 100 metres. Cave openings cut the western side of the southern plateau at about 30 to 35 metres and lead into a passage with an arch roughly 10 metres high, below recreational depth.
Dived as drifts along the walls with the boat following. Current is often strong and can set downward off the plateau ends. The arch on the south is deeper than recreational limits allow.
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Rocky Island
Offshore, Deep South · Boat · Wall · 5–30 m
A small uninhabited triangular island just over 500 metres long and 300 metres wide, 60 to 70 km offshore near the Sudanese border, with a shallow plateau extending roughly 35 metres from the shoreline before the reef falls steeply on all three sides. The northeast and southeast faces are straight and the western face curves.
Current normally runs north to south or the reverse and can be strong. The northern shore takes most of the wind and swell, and boats generally moor overnight at Zabargad Island about 6 km to the northwest because there is no shelter here.
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Zabargad Island
Offshore, Deep South · Boat · Mixed · 5–35 m
A mountainous island 3.2 km long rising over 230 metres, about 70 km offshore, historically worked for olivine and today the largest landmass in the southern marine park. The southern fringing reef is a wall from the surface to about 15 metres, below which a pale sand slope runs from 15 to 35 metres with isolated coral pinnacles standing on it. A Soviet-built survey vessel lies on its side at about 24 metres in the sheltered bay with its mast breaking the surface.
Currents are mild along the southern coast but strong on the northern walls. The bay is the usual overnight anchorage for boats working Rocky Island. The wreck is named as the Neptunia by some operators and the Khanka by others.
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Fury Shoals
Fury Shoals · Boat · Coral · 5–30 m
A network of more than twenty separate reefs, patch reefs and sand-floored lagoons spread across roughly 30 km off Hamata, about 40 km from the coast. The reef plate is porous and eroded into shallow caverns, vertical slots and short swim-through passages, with dense clusters of pinnacles between the reefs and sheltered lagoons used as anchorages. Named parts include Sha'ab Claudia with a shallow cave system at 12 to 16 metres, Malahi at up to 22 metres, and Abu Galawa Kebir where a small tug lies between 5 and 18 metres.
The lagoons are protected from open-sea swell and current is usually slight, which makes this the standard bad-weather alternative to the exposed offshore reefs.
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St John's Reef
Offshore, Foul Bay · Boat · Coral · 5–40 m
A group of about twenty separate reefs spread over roughly 290 square kilometres on the Tropic of Cancer in Foul Bay, some 210 km southeast of Marsa Alam and close to the Sudanese border. The group includes fully submerged pinnacles rising from deep water such as Habili Ali and Habili Gaffar, a reef over 800 metres long cut by deep fissures and tunnels at Gota Kebir, a steep-walled smaller reef with a 10 metre cavern at Gota Soghayr, and a shallow cave system in the reef plate at Umm Kharerim.
Current on the exposed submerged pinnacles can be strong and surface conditions choppy. Reached only by liveaboard on a 14 hour passage, and moorings are limited so most dives are drifts.
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Sha'ab Samadai (Dolphin House)
Marsa Alam · Boat · Coral · 5–25 m
A horseshoe-shaped reef about 15 km southeast of Marsa Alam enclosing a shallow sand-floored lagoon, with pinnacles inside the horseshoe that rise to just above the surface. Outside the arms the reef slopes away to about 25 to 30 metres and is cut with caverns and short passages.
Declared a protected area in 2004 and managed under a three-zone system: the innermost part of the lagoon is closed to all entry, one zone is limited to guided surface swimming, and only the outer zone is open to diving. A per-person fee and a daily cap on boats apply.
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Abu Dabbab
Marsa Alam · Shore · White sand · 3–18 m
A U-shaped bay about 35 km north of Marsa Alam with a wide floor of pale sand between two fringing reefs that close in on the northern and southern flanks. Inside the bay the sand runs from about 3 to 18 metres and the outer reef at the mouth drops to about 30 to 40 metres.
Entry is on foot from the beach. The flanking reefs shelter the bay from swell and current, and access to the managed beach carries a small fee under a published code of conduct.
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Marsa Mubarak
Marsa Alam · Boat · White sand · 2–26 m
A natural bay north of Port Ghalib with a broad flat sand floor, scattered coral blocks and low pinnacles near the mooring, and continuous reef running along the northern and southern arms of the bay.
There is normally no current and the bay is shallow and sheltered enough for the least experienced divers. Usually dived from a boat on the mooring inside the bay, though some centres run it as a shore dive.
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Sataya (Dolphin Reef)
Fury Shoals · Boat · Coral · 4–30 m
A large horseshoe-shaped reef at the southeastern edge of the Fury Shoals system, enclosing a wide sand-floored lagoon used as an anchorage. The outer sides carry pinnacles, canyons, swim-throughs and small caves, with most of the reef structure between 4 and 20 metres and the outer edges falling to about 40 metres.
Conditions inside the horseshoe are calm with little current, though current can be strong on the outer edges. The lagoon is one of the few overnight shelters in this part of the coast.
Site names are as the operators and guides here use them. Descriptions
are drafted and need correcting by someone who dives them. Tell us what is wrong and it
will be corrected.
