Egypt

Overview of Egypt

Egypt is a transcontinental country joining the northeast corner of Africa with the southwest corner of Asia, with the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the east. Egypt is perhaps best known for its incredible history as the land of the Pharaohs and as a cradle of civilisation. This rich cultural heritage makes Egypt a fascinating travel destination, even before we consider the many excellent diving opportunities found here.

Egypt has an unusually hot, dry, sunny climate, with most of the land surface consisting of desert.  The coast’s stunning combination of sunshine and warm blue waters full of life has attracted divers since the 1950s and it continues to be regarded as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world.

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Dive Highlights

Dahab’s famous Blue Hole, a 100m deep sinkhole with a huge drop and excellent visibility, is filled with colourful corals and rich marine life. It is a magnet for both freedivers and technical divers as it provides perfect conditions for them.

Sharm El Sheikh is a perfect launch point to access three of the northern Red Sea gems. To the north are the Straits of Tiran, a series of four major reef outcrops rising from the depths to provide pristine habitats for all marine life, including regular sightings of pelagic animals. Each island offers something different, making for at least four fabulous dives.

To the south of Sharm lies the world-famous Ras Mohamed National Park, encompassing the meeting point of the Gulfs of Aqaba and Suez at the unmissable Shark Reef dive site. Not for the faint of heart, the currents here can be strong and unpredictable, but for those suitably experienced, Shark Reef can be an exhilarating ride—drifting around the 500m-plus drop-off accompanied by large shoals of jacks and tuna among the myriad of reef dwellers.

The Gulf of Suez is a treasure trove for wreck divers. The area is littered with trade shipping misfortunes and war casualties, the most famous of which is the SS Thistlegorm. This WWII British shipwreck has an incredible history, giving an eerie snapshot of wartime. The superstructure, lying in 30m of water, attracts a wealth of life and is an impressive sight. The massive explosion that sank her in 1941 destroyed much of the midship section. The cargo holds are filled with an assortment of trucks, munitions, motorbikes, and tanks. The wreck is accessible by day boats from Sharm and the Hurghada region and is a regular stop on northern liveaboard safaris.

The northern area accessible from the African coast is a large expanse of sea and has far too many great sites to name just one or two highlights. However, there is always excitement when it comes to diving and snorkelling with dolphins. If that’s for you, then Shab El Erg is a must. Known locally as Dolphin House, the resident pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins welcomes divers every day.

Moving down the coast to the Safaga region brings us to one of the best boat diving locations in the southern Red Sea. The area is filled with offshore ergs offering over 25 different boat diving sites covering all levels of experience. Closer to shore, the reefs provide ideal novice and training sites, while further out you’ll find highlight sites such as Panorama Reef, with its spectacular drop-offs and pelagic activity, or the tragic resting place of the Salem Express wreck to the south. The Salem Express, when given the respect it deserves, is a superb wreck dive. This fully intact ferry lies on its side in 32m of water at its deepest point. The whole wreck is visible, allowing divers to take in the enormity of the vessel.

El Quseir is the next destination heading south and marks the beginning of the dominance of shore diving. As the area is lightly dived, with little to no hard boat diving, the sites are immaculate and brimming with life. Every site has its own special feature that makes it outstanding. Saleem, Makluf, and Serib Kebir are all unmissable.

Although there are no hard boats, the RIB diving is excellent, providing access to reef areas not reachable from shore. For the adventurous, the caverns at the Boneyard are a must, while the nursery site of El Mina is a fish spotter’s paradise.

Forty miles offshore lies one of the Red Sea’s true highlights, only accessible by liveaboard: The Brothers, a pair of islands rising out of the depths to create a pelagic magnet. The steeply sloping reef walls, covered in swaying, colourful soft corals, form a stunning backdrop to the busy reef life. Although Big Brother is only a narrow obstacle in the width of the Red Sea, it is the final resting place of both the Aida and Numidia wrecks, which ran aground and now provide excellent wreck dives for suitably equipped and qualified divers. Then there are the pelagic shark encounters—Oceanic whitetips, silkies, hammerheads, and even the elusive thresher sharks are all regular visitors.

Port Ghaleb, as the name suggests, is the main port of the Marsa Alam region in the southern Red Sea. Most southern liveaboards depart from here, along with a small armada of daily boats serving hard boat divers. The highlight of the region is undoubtedly Elphinstone, famed for its Oceanic whitetips and occasional hammerheads. Elphinstone also offers terrific wall dives, with drifts taking you past masses of soft corals and clouds of anthias, always with the chance of a sharky silhouette emerging from the deep blue. A lesser-known draw to the region is the rare sighting of dugongs grazing on seagrass at the local shore sites.

In the south of the Marsa Alam region lies the horseshoe-shaped Samadai—otherwise known as Dolphin House. Unlike Shab El Erg, this lagoon is home to hundreds of spinner dolphins that spend their days resting inside the reef.

The last region for shore-based hotels in the deep south is Hamata, which provides daily boat diving access to the Fury Shoals, a group of over twenty bank reefs spread over an area of 115 square miles. The variety of diving options is extensive, with several highlight dives. Claudia is known for its swim-through caverns surrounded by rolling hard corals; Maksour, on the outer edge, offers superb drop-offs and extensive coral plateaus; and Sataya is renowned for hosting one of the most famous dolphin populations in the Red Sea. Beyond Hamata lies strictly liveaboard territory: the Deep South, home to the most remote and challenging sites, offering rich rewards to those who venture there.

Daedalus Reef is an isolated offshore reef and marine park located about 60 miles south of Marsa Alam. It is one of the most famous and spectacular dive sites in the Deep South, known for its pristine coral walls, strong currents, and frequent encounters with large pelagic marine life, especially hammerhead sharks.

Zabargad Island is often overlooked in favour of Rocky Island, just 3 miles further south, but both are exceptional sites. Rocky Island is famed for its sheer walls and pelagic encounters, while Zabargad offers endless pristine fringing reef, abundant turtles, reef fish, and resident dolphins.

At the southern end of Egyptian waters lies the St Johns region, covering an area of around 110 square miles and offering a wide variety of diving. Highlights include Habili Ali, with its sheer walls and gorgonian forests, and the small conical pinnacle Habili Gaffer, which attracts a phenomenal array of sharks, dolphins, and rays.

When To Go

The Red Sea is great diving all year round.  The winter months of January through to March are undoubtedly the low season for travel but the diving is just as good as the rest of the year especially for wreck diving. April brings the beginning of warmer weather and the warming of the sea temperatures with 24 to 25C the optimum water temperature for the fish to begin their spawning season. The summer months of July and August can be particularly hot on land so the best place to be is in the water, the option of unlimited diving then becomes a good choice. As the summer heat begin to decline in September, the conditions enter the perfect stage, cooler air and warmer water. These conditions can generally be relied on well into November and December.