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| Bells
Blue Hole: One of the premier dives sites here
in Dahab is the Bells, a spectacular wall dive
of amazing beauty. The Bells is a large vein
of rock has eroded out leaving a deep gash in
the reef that drops to 45 metres formed where
a deep groove cuts into the reef top just north
of the Blue Hole. The groove of the Bells breaches
the reef table and a clear blue pool is formed;
this is where the dive is started. As you drop
through this pool, you will emerge on the reef
wall at about 12 meters. |
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| Blue
Hole: Possibly the most infamous dive site in
the world after claiming the lives of many divers
in its deep waters. A steep slope is the first
thing that meets the diver on their entry, this
slope descends to almost 56m before it shows
any signs of levelling off. If you swim away
from the slope and descend on the vertical walls
to a depth of 55M you will witness the breathtaking
view of the arch and the blue water beyond. You
are required to be an extended range diver before
attempting to swim under the arch but if you
are suitably qualified it will be a dive never
to forget. |
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| The
Dahab Canyon: An essential dive for all fanatics
of caves and cavern diving. The Canyon is itself
quite a phenomenon. Up to 10 meters high and
virtually closed over at the top, it snakes its
way up from the depths, to emerge in a large
glassfish filled coral dome, the fish bowl. It
has three main openings; at about 12 meters is
the fishbowl, below that is another large bowl,
opening at about 20 meters and at greater depths
there are a number of smaller openings down to
a depth of 55m where you emerge onto the reef
wall. Descend further and you come across a cave
at 74m which for those suitably trained penetrate
the reef horizontally to 30m. Outside the cave
entrance is a large rock known as Neptune’s
chair due to its appearance as you ascend up
to it from deeper depths. Below this the reef
slopes to 104m and then drops away on a long
sandy slope into the abyss below. |
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| Coral
Gardens: The same entry point as the canyon,
be we turn south instead of north into a labyrinth
of corals known as the coral gardens. Sloping
from 20m where it drops into the abyss, up to
6m we follow a winding path throughout these
gardens. Plenty of corals, great scenery and
very few other divers! |
| Eel
Garden: A truly spectacular site for coral, this
site is very exposed and can only be dived on
calm days. Entry is via a small winding lagoon
that leads out onto a vast sand bank which is
covered in garden eels. As we cross the sand
bank the eels retreat into their holes and pop
back up again behind us. As we come back along
the reef edge you’ll see some of the brightest
and most colourful coral in Dahab. |
| El
Shahera: Huge Brain corals dominate this
shallow coral garden. For years only accessible
by camel
these collection of dive sites have only recently
been opened up by the arrival of boat diving
in Dahab. As the boat pulls up to the dive site
the beauty of these corals is clear even from
the surface. |
| Forest
Island: This small reef lies about 300 metres
from the islands and is best reached by boat.
The reef grows up from a 25 meter sea floor nearly
to the surface and is a meeting point for a lot
of the local sea life. Its remote location means
you’ll hardly ever see another group of
divers, in fact very few dive guides even know
it exists. |
| Gabr
el Bint: Named after the ancient grave of a young
girl, this dive site is well inside the Nabq
National Park and there are only two ways to
reach it – camel or boat. A wall covered
on gorgonian fans and soft corals with abundant
fish life rivals anything we’ve seen in
the Red Sea. Strong currents sometimes sweep
this site so luckily there is a protected lagoon
we can shelter in that reminds of a Japanese
Zen garden. |
| Golden
Blocks: Named after two huge pinnacles visible
at low tide, this is another dive site perfect
for beginners. A sloping sandy bottom dotted
with hard coral pinnacles, with several gullies
disappearing into the deep. As you dive take
a look out into the blue as we often see passing
eagle rays or tuna. This site also boasts Dahab’s
one and only wreck – a peddalo sunk by
some unfortunate tourists several years ago. |
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| Lighthouse: Situated at the Northern end of the bay of Dahab,
is home to the confined water training area due
to its large sandy slopes and gentle drop off.
The Lighthouse offers a number of different dives
depending on the route chosen, and the sprawling
coral gardens offer an abundance of marine life
and vividly colourful corals, extending far from
the shore. The Lighthouse is made up of a large
rocky wall that wraps around the point whilst
heading north to the Eel Garden. The wall and
the sprawling coral gardens, which extend far
from the shore, offer varying depth ranges down
to 60M plus making it suitable for all. The Lighthouse
is perfect for beginners, this easy to enter
site still has a fantastic range of coral and
fish life and also makes an ideal first technical
dive in Dahab to brush up on buoyancy and equipment
configuration. |
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| Little
Canyon (Ras Abu Helal): Ras Abu Helal translates
as 'headland of the crescent moon', and is one
of the most scenic technical dive sites in Dahab,
and the start of the first ridge features one
of the finest coral gardens in the Dahab area.
Although narrowing in places that prevent a diver
from entering, the canyon is over a kilometre
long and descends to depths beyond 60m. Ideal
conditions are necessary to make this dive due
to the entry point being over the reef plate.
The site also involves a fairly long surface
swim to ensure that you descend into the canyon
itself. Don’t let this put you off diving
Little Canyon if the conditions allow as you
will I’m sure agree with me that this dive
site is truly awesome. |
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| Mashraba: An ideal training site located Just 20 metres
from Poseidon Divers our guides know this reef
like the back of their hands. The entry is via
the beach which as you descend turns into a seagrass
bed – look out for seahorses! At the start
of the reef is Roman’s Rock a large pinnacle
which attracts plenty of life. This dive site
makes an excellent training ground for technical
diving, reaching depths of 55 metres. The waters
here offer a gentle sandy slope to depths around
60m. Don’t for one minute think that this
site is not worth diving as often large eagle
rays, dolphins and moray eels are seen here more
than any other site in Dahab. Keep a look out
in the sea grass for sea horses which although
fairly rare are encountered here at certain times
of the year. |
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| Moray
Gardens: Easy to enter even on windy days, this
site is suitable from beginners upwards, a sandy
bottom slopes down to the hard coral reef at
10 metres, the reef then undulates downwards
until it meets the drop off at around 30 metres.
We’ll usually continue southwards gradually
getting shallower and end the dive in a sheltered
lagoon perfect for safety stops. |
| Napoleon
Reef: Is now best dived from the boat. The reef
here juts right out into the lagoon and catches
some very strong currents, but with the currents
come beautiful soft corals, the colour of which
you’ll see nowhere else in Dahab. As you
drop down into deeper water this is where the
larger fish hang out gently swimming against
the current and some perfect examples of deep
water black corals. You’ll nearly always
spot napoleon fish here – hence the name! |
| Rick's
Reef: An often overlooked dive site, it
makes an excellent entry point for a slow drift
down
to towards the Canyon just down the road. A shallow
reef wall about 12 meters deep that then gently
slopes down towards the drop-off. The best dive
here is to stay shallow and dive very slowly
observing the wildlife that has moved out of
the way of the busier Canyon. |
| Shoestump: A ‘secret’ site for a long time marked
by a shoe on a pole, this dive site has an unusual
entry point – a hole in the reef table
with a 20m narrow tunnel leading out onto a fantastic
pinnacle on the reef. We then swim around the
pinnacle and head north across valleys and troughs. |
| The
Caves: Really caverns instead of caves and they
have actually eroded back underneath the shoreline
underwater. This site makes for some fantastic
photo shots and also gives you a good idea of
what it feels like to be in a cave underwater
without the risks. There is a fantastic red anemone
on the southern side of the reef. |
| The
Islands: A coral maze which truly shows
the Red Sea coral at it’s best. Three
giant pinnacles have grown together over the
ages to create a playground of valleys and
lagoons full of every reef fish you can imagine.
One of the lagoons is home to thousands of
juvenile barracuda, with trevally and large
snapper always in attendance guarding their
larder! An earthquake 10 years ago collapsed
huge sections of the reef exposing holes and
cracks that are rapidly filling up with renewed
coral growth. This dive site never disappoints
and is a dive guides favourite. |
| The
Huts: This dive site was marked by some
Bedouin huts that have long since disappeared;
entry is via a very small lagoon which leads
out to a group of beautiful brain coral pinnacles.
This site can only be dived on calmer days
so coral life is amongst the best in Dahab,
although there are fewer fish than you’d
expect at this less dived site. |
| Three
Pools: A collection of three sandy lagoons
marks the entry and exit to this dive site.
The coral gently undulates as it slopes downwards,
now and then rising up to isolated pinnacles.
Turtles are a common sight here and if you’re
very lucky a resident leopard shark. As we
head back across the sandy lagoons look out
for stonefish, sea moths and seahorses. |
| Umm
Sid: The reef here juts out quite a way and drops
down to a sandy slope covered in Garden Eels,
the best dive is to enter on the right hand side
of the reef and keep the reef to your left shoulder,
turn around on about 100 bar and on the way back
swim along the shallower section. |
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