 |
| Abu
Hashish: A shallow erg field lays on
the south side of the island where lots
of blue spotted stingrays, puffer fishes
and morays are found swimming through
a pinnacle landscape. A dramatic drift
dive can be made along the eastern wall
with the chance to see big fish out in
the blue. |
| Abu
Ramada: Really two small islands surrounded
by a single reef. Good drift dive along
the steep eastern wall, with big fan
corals, overhangs and swim throughs. |
| Carless
Reef: An offshore reef Careless has two
large ergs rising from a shallow plateau
surrounded by sheer walls rising from
the deep. The area is unprotected and
the reef can only be reached in good
weather. The current at the surface is
usually from the north but below it can
come from any direction. To the north,
the drop off is a forest of coral and
to the south the plateau slopes gently
away with small pinnacles of coral. |
| El
Aruk Gigi: A cluster of a seven ergs
laying in 10m - 15m of water. The whole
area is home to sweetlips under the ledges,
blue spotted sting rays in the sandy
patches and glassfish and anthia fish
swarm on the erg wall. One erg to note
is the split erg, which has a grotto
through it filled with glassfish, attendant
red mouth grouper and numerous lionfish. |
| Erg
Somaya: Weather permitting, it takes
a little more than an hour to reach this
site. Erg Somaya is situated on the east
side of Giftun Soraya. The tower of the
Giftun police station is on the south
and a ridge of maintains lies to the
north. The east side of the reef slopes
steeply down to depths between 15 -24
meters to a sandy seabed than drops off
to over 50 meters. Two pinnacles are
situated on the ledge, one at 10 meters
where a mooring buoy is attached and
one around 18 meters. Another pyramid
shaped pinnacle lies to the north between
12 - 20 meters. |
 |
| Fanus
West: The other end (west) of the Fanus
reef has two main ergs and several smaller
pinnacles off its western end. You can
follow the reef wall round and explore
the reef face and coral gardens which
is full of marauding jacks. Or if you
feel energetic you can swim the 50m to
the furthest erg which is well worth
a visit, explore the remaining erg and
pinnacles on the way back. Again watch
out for dolphins at anytime during the
dive as they can be frequent visitors. |
|
| Fanadir: This dive site is located just north
of Hurghada. This reef has a slight curve
in it and is marked by 4 low lying rocky
formations. There is a shallow hard coral
covered wall that gradually slopes down
to a sandy ledge at 12 meters. This sandy
edge becomes narrower as you go north
until finally dropping off at about 25
meters. This site is covered with pipefish.
Other fish life includes silversides,
occasionally small pods of tuna or jacks,
snowy moray eels. octopus and lots of
lionfish. Additionally, there have been
reports of guitar sharks, mantas and
frogfish. |
| Giftun
Drift: The Giftun Islands provide the
main dive sites for day-boats from Hurghada.
Although they endure a lot of boat and
diver traffic they still provide some
good diving, notably in the Giftun Drift,
a current between the two land masses. |
| Gota
Abu Ramada (The Aquarium): This area
is commonly known as 'the Aquarium' due
to the wealth of marine life. There is
an abundance of hard and soft coral and
schools of butterfly fish, banner fish,
snappers and goatfish are found swimming
around the mountains of coral gardens.
You will find that dives at Gota will
make you feel like you are swimming in
a marvellous natural fish tank. |
| Magawish: An area of several small reefs, rich
in life and often used for night dives. |
| Ras
Disha: The fringing reef, which surrounds
this cape, offers a good shallow dive
on the hard coral garden found north
of the lighthouse with schooling barracuda,
napoleon fish and groupers. Garden eels. |
| Shaab
Abu Nugar: This “T” shaped
reef has a shallow plateau to the west
with numerous small ergs and two small
sub reefs Gota Abu Nigar and Shab Iris.
Some parts of this reef system are positively
dull while others are stunning. If you
can dive the stem of the “T” on
the north side you will find three small
ergs and the diving there is almost virginal.
You will find broom tail wrasse here
as well as parrot fish and unicorn fish. |
| Shaab
El Erg: The most northerly site for day
boats out of Hurghada. A huge horseshoe
shaped reef offering many dive sites
on all sides. The north point can be
home to Mantas in season. The lagoon
is dotted with ergs and is renowned for
sightings of the resident dolphin community,
divers have previously spent up to 30
minutes with dolphins here. |
|
| Shaab
Ruhr Umm Gamar: Literally the reef of
Umm Gamar, this reef lies 1km south of
Umm Gamar and is the tip of an undersea
mountain. The reef wall drops to around
15m on the west side, and is peppered
with many caves and overhangs, home for
sweepers and glass fish, here the sandy
plateau slopes away gently to 30m with
the drop off beyond. On the east side
the slope is much steeper and drops quickly
to the depths, the diving here is superb
and can be most often done as a drift.
This whole area offers superb wall diving
with possibilities of encountering grey
reef sharks and good-sized groupers as
well as morays, big tuna, and blue spotted
rays. On the south east slope lies the
wreck of an Egyptian patrol boat which
is well worth a visit. |
|
| Shaab
Sabina: This reef is located about an
hour away from Hurghada. The distinctive
pointed extension on the eastern side
of Giftun Kebira makes this reef easy
to recognize. Avoid diving south of the
pointed extension, nothing is alive here.
Contrary to the southern side in the
north is a beautiful hard coral garden
that continues in a northeast direction.
Take care not to touch the plate fire
coral when observing near the reef. |
| Torfa
Fanus (East): This narrow reef creates
a huge calm lagoon, a great place to
stop for lunch and catch the sun before
the second dive of the day. The lagoon
itself and the enclosing reef wall is
relatively uninteresting and naturally
lifeless but on the seaward side the
area bursts with all manner of sea creatures.
Swim through the gap between the first
erg and the reef wall and head across
the coral garden to the second erg, home
to hordes of glass fish and the very
occasional frog fish. |
| Umm
Dom (Stoney Beach): Three different names
for the same site. A mixture of coral
garden and wall, this site lies at the
foot of cliffs on Giftun Island and should
really be done as a first dive before
the afternoon shadow reduces colour and
visibility. Having only a couple of mooring
ropes and confined maneuvering space
means that it never gets too crowded.
Highlights here are massive schools of
fusiliers, banner fish and surgeon fish. |
| Umm
Gamar: This offshore Island is surrounded
by good diving on all sides. The south
end has a shallow plateau where the moorings
are positioned, this location is the
most used. For first timers at Umm Gamar
the dive will take place from the plateau,
moving eastwards to the drop off then
north along the wall. Big groupers and
lots of sweepers live in the multiple
caves found along the eastern and western
walls and drop offs of this tiny island's
fringing reef. |
|
|
|
 |
Hurghada Dive Sites
| Daily Dives from £25
per day |
| In the 200 square miles
of sea available to our day diving boats there
are over 50 diving sites. These vary from deep
coral walls best suited to drift diving to shallow
9 metre coral heads and reefs which feature interesting
formations, a multitude of both hard and soft coral
growth and the incredible number of fish species
for which the Red Sea is famous. Just off shore
we also have the wreck of an Egyptian Mine Sweeper
lying at a depth of 30 metres. |
 |
Abu
Hashish |
|
|
Carless
Reef |
|
|
Erg
Somaya |
|
|
Fanadir |
|
|
Gota
Abu Ramada |
|
 |
(The
Aquarium) |
|
|
Shaab
Abu Nugar |
|
|
Shaab
Ruhr Umm Gamar |
|
|
Torfa
Fanus (East) |
|
|
Umm
Gamar |
|
|
|
Abu
Ramada |
|
|
El
Aruk Gigi |
|
|
Fanus
West |
|
|
Giftun
Drift |
|
|
Magawish |
|
|
Ras
Disha |
|
|
Shaab
El Erg |
|
|
Shaab
Sabina |
|
|
Umm
Dom (Stoney Beach) |
|
|
| Dives maybe
subsituted by alternate sites should conditions
prove to be unsatifactory. |
|
|
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