Shaab Saiman

Saiman Drift

Ras Abu Soma North

Ras Abu Soma South

Soma Bay Jetty

Tobia Arba

Tobia Hamra 1&2

Tobia Hamra 3&4

Tobia Kebir

Tobia El Nus

Tobia Sorayer

Gamul Sorayer 

Gamul Kebir

Panorama North Plateau

Panorama South Plateau

Middle Reef East Side

Middle Reef West Side

Shaab Qwais

Abu Kafan North Plateau

Abu Kafan South Plateau

Shaab Sheer Fanous

Shaab Sheer Al Kahfain

Shaab Sheer East Side

Shaab Sheer South Side

Salem Express

El Arish/El Tor

Shaab Claudio

Hamdulallah

Coral Garden North

Coral Garden South

Shaab Saiman

Located at the north tip of Abu Soma this dive site is extremely exposed to weather and wind. It’s often not possible to go here which makes a dive at this site even more special. There is a huge ridge of hard coral right outside main reef and in between runs a canyon from a depth of 8 metres in the middle down to 35 metres to the west.

Big groups of doublebar bream, silver sweetlips, batfish and snappers hang over the coral garden while jacks and tunas are patrolling the blue in search of pray. It’s easy to get carried away here, partly because of the stunning marine life and partly because of the topography. Before you know it you’re at 30 metres or more so keep an eye at your depth gauge as well as your SPG

The dive plan here is dictated by your certification- and experience level. However, the reef and marine life are equally exciting on shallow, easy dives as with more challenging and demanding profiles. One thing is crucial when planning this dive though and that is a thorough current check.

Ras Abu Soma North

There are two mooring lines allowing boats to tie up just out of reach for the house reef divers jumping in from the jetty in Soma Bay. This dive can be made from the boat and back but it’s better as a drift dive. When you drift you will start right on the corner that has given the site the prefix Ras.

The first few minutes you will descend along a steep slope which soon gives way to a narrow shelf at around 22 metres. This shelf gradually widens into a big plateau extending to the east of the main reef. Follow the edge of this plateau and keep an eye out for larger predators passing in the blue but also on your SPG and NDL. The depth at the edge goes down to 35 metres. Make sure you are leaving the deep part of the dive with a minimum of 120bar so you get back to the main reef in time. On your way south take your time to explore the beautiful coral blocks scattered over the sloping plateau where you can find a fantastic variety of macro life.

The foot of main reef meets the sandy shelf at around 18 metres so when you reach this point it’s a good idea to shallow out and extend your air supply and NDL. The shallow part at 5-8 metres depth is gorgeous here and makes the end of your dive memorable and invites to a well used safety stop.

Tobia Kebir

This dive site can either be made as a drift dive or stationary from the mooring and before deciding on the dive plan you should check the current. Most of the time you’d chose to go from the boat stationary on the mooring. When you descend you will find yourself over a flat sandy area with a depth of 7 to 9metres. Start by swimming out through the channel. Here the depth progressively increases and you will pass an eel garden just before turning north with the reef on your left shoulder. The main reef itself is quite beautiful with large boulders of hard coral and schools of goatfish, butterflyfish and sweetlips. At the foot of the reef you have 14 to 17metres and the bottom slopes gently to the east. If you want to explore the coral bommies out in this area it’s a good idea to stay above the 25 metres to make the navigation easier. As you reach 100bar you turn around, shallow out and swim south with the reef to your right. As you come back to the channel you have just a few minutes between you and the boat so if your air consumption allows it you can circumnavigate the southern erg before starting your safety stop next to the main

Tobia El Nus
Nus means half but it can also be used as a description for “in the middle” or “half way”. In the name Tobia El Nus it describes the location half way between Tobia Kebir and Tobia Sorayer. With the right conditions and current you can drift the whole way from the north end of Tobia Kebir to the south end of Tobia Sorayer but this middle section is also a lovely dive by itself.
There are mooring lines on the eastern erg which makes a perfect starting point. Here you will find a flat sandy bottom 12 metres under the boat where small coral blocks are inhabited by all sorts of interesting marine life. Bring a macro lens for your camera because you are likely to stumble on nudibranches, wortslugs and flatworms. Head out east and explore this area until you reach the channel leading out to the east side of the reef system. Here you should take your time examine the larger coral formations. Some of them have an almost perfect spherical shape, two are formed like ridges and one resembles a sugar-cone. The latter is also hollow and home to a vast school of glassfish and a big number of lionfish.

Weather to go north or south from here depends on the direction of the current and this is easy to distinguish by looking at anthias and other small fish. They are always facing the current. As you swim along on the outside of the reef don’t forget to keep an eye out in the blue. Large fish do pass here from time to time. Turn around on 100bar and head back to the erg with the mooring on the same side of the reef. The west side is not as pretty as the east.
 

Tobia Sorayer
This dive site is best made from the mooring and back. You will not travel far from the boat or cover a large area but you will navigate a fair distance between pinnacles and through canyons and you will definitely find a lot of interesting marine life. There might be a few boats on this site at the same time but this does not mean that you will swim in “diver soup”. There are enough different routs to choose from to separate plenty of divers out of visual distance. Personally I like to start to the west side and swim a bit off the beaten track here and wonder out over the flat sandy bottom. There I find nudibranches, wortslugs, anemones with anemonefish and shrimps and loads of other interesting macro life. Passing the two pinnacles to the west it’s a good idea to get back closer to the reef again and cross over to the northern erg. Circumnavigate this clockwise and return to the channel. Here you check your air and decide weather to go for the full circle around the east reef or take the shortcut through the channel leading back to the boat. During your safety stop you just hang around the south end of the main reef.
 

Panorama North
This dive is best made as a drift. Make sure you know what the current is doing and plan the dive accordingly. Often the current comes in fro the north east and then the dive plan looks like this. Roll in over the east end of the plateau and descend slowly along the absolutely stunningly gorgeous hard coral garden that cascades from the top of the reef to where it curves off and merges with the drop of between 14 and 20 meters. Keep an eye out in the blue since larger pelagic species like dog tooth tuna and sometimes sharks patrol this area.

Follow the edge of the plateau as it gently curves around the main reef. After a while the fully coral covered shelf is sprinkled by sand patches that increase in size before a sandy bottom takes over. About half way there is beautiful coral block and then a small “dent” in the plateau in which there is an absolutely gorgeous pinnacle to be found right next to the drop off. After this slightly deeper part of the plateau it continues on the same depth as before with another two pretty coral blocks. Here it’s probably time to start thinking about progressively shallow the dive out before the sheer wall again takes over and you will find the boat in a few minutes.
 

Panorama South
Panorama is called Um Alama by Egyptian seamen. This means mother of signals and refers to the two beacons (Fanous) on top of the reef. At the south end of this oval shaped reef you will find the classic Red Sea Plateau stretching out from a depth of 16 metres to about 35 metres where the drop off plunges into the abyss.

You can plan this dive as a drift dive. In the morning you would roll in some distance up on the east side and follow the reef with the wall on your right shoulder. This way you can get your depth in the beginning of the dive, have a look around the plateau in the middle and finish off around the shallow part on the south-west side. Here you find an anemone city with clouds of anemone fish creating a perfect backdrop for underwater photography.

The alternative is to go from the mooring, follow the edge of the plateau and continue up the east side until you reach 100bar. There is an interesting feature on this rout and that’s a canyon on the east side of the plateau with big gorgonians and colourful soft corals. On the way back you follow the main reef which has hard coral formations in mint condition. As you turn around the south-west corner you have the anemone city to your right and the boat to your left.
 

Abu Kafan North
Diving Abu Kafan north is to begin with a little bit like Elphinstone but the plateau itself has somewhat more dramatic topography with a few pinnacles and big coral blocks. The main reef drops down to about 18m and on the west side there is a tall pinnacle reaching for the surface. It’s attached to the main reef with a ridge accentuated by two tops interrupting the slope. Further out you find another smaller pinnacle covered with soft coral. Huge schools of anthias facing the current. A few fin kicks north from here, at a depth of 25 metres, three hill-shaped coral formations are situated close to each other whereof the most westerly is hollow and pack jammed with glassfish. These are protected by the red mouth grouper that’s fighting a losing battle trying to keep jacks and lionfish away from his herd. Continuing out to the north end of the plateau you’re swimming over a beautiful coral garden and arriving at the drop off you look out in the blue for schools of red snappers, jackfish and surgeonfish. These, together with the anthias close to the reef indicate the split point of the current and the area to look for larger pelagic predators.

You should turn around with at least 100bar in your tank, the reason for that being that it’s not only an ascent but also a fair distance swim back to the reef. During a morning dive you follow the east side of the plateau and reef, in the afternoon the west, so that you have the sunlight on the wall.
 

Abu Kafan South
When you dive the south plateau you chose strategy depending on the current. A day with strong current from the north you drop in half way up the wall (east or west depending on time of day/sunlight) and glide back along the reef. As you come up to the plateau you make your decision how far out to go after assessing the current.

If there is no or just a light current this is also a wicked dive made from a stationary boat. You are likely to be moored up right over the spot where the west side of the plateau gives way to the wall or slightly north thereof.

You start your dive on the edge of the plateau on your left shoulder at a depth of about 25 metres and swim over a beautiful drop-off covered with soft coral and gorgonians. Keep an eye out into the blue for big predators. You pass a massive pinnacle right on the rim of the plateau and after a few more minutes an enormous table coral just below the drop. Next feature is a ridge shaped coral formation and before you know it you are at the south tip of the plateau at 35 metres. From here you work yourself progressively shallower by following the profile of the reef, passing some gorgeous coral blocks draped with shoals of sweepers, anthias, pullers, damsel and chromis.

You swim back between the massive pinnacle and the main reef at 22 metres and directly ascend to 17 metres where you find a very photogenic overhang/cave. At this point it’s probably time to think about the safety stop which is made along the top of the reef.
 

Shaab Sheer East & Al Kahfain
This is a slightly crescent shaped reef stretching on an east-west axis where dives are made on both ends. To the north of the reef the wreck after Al Kahfain, a 115m long 6000 ton Ro-Ro car- and passenger ferry, built by Camell Laird in 1967 at Birkenhead for the Belfast Steamship Co Ltd. Her final voyage started Nov 22nd 2005 when Al Kahfain left Hurghada heading for Jeddah. At Shedwan Island a fire started in the engine room and spread up through the superstructure. The crew abandoned ship and was picked up by passing vessels. One crewman was injured but the total number of crew; 58, survived.

There was an attempt to tow Al Kahfain to safety but she capsized and drifted all the way to Shaab Sheer where she sank and is now resting on her starboard side on a narrow shelf at a depth of 25 metres, accumulating to the increasing list of large ferry wrecks in the area.

You need good conditions to dive the Al Kahfain. The site is exposed to wind and waves that sometimes make it impossible to get the Zodiac all the way to the wreck. On a good day it’s an easy dive though, and you are likely to make it all the way back to the mooring on the south side. Roll in at the bow section of the wreck and you descend above the keel as the wreck is resting more or less upside down. However, the hull has split along the waterline and the portside is bent out in a bizarre angle. It is possible to penetrate all along the wreck but the superstructure is collapsing and the walls crinkle, which is not giving a perfectly stable impression. The funnel is submerged in the bottom and davits are scattered all over the seabed. Just before you reach the stern with the huge “backdoor”, the hull has split in two leaving a gap between the stern and the rest of the wreck. This area is unstable and you can hear metal squeaking as the two parts of the wreck grind against each other. Stay way cleat of narrow passages and sharp edges! When you’re done with your wreck exploration, you continue east with the reef on your right shoulder. As you arrive at the corner of the reef you find yourself swimming over a stunning coral garden that cascades down from the shallows to the seabed at around 16 metres. Huge dome corals form a slant that you follow around to the south side. Here you check your air and chose to either take the short cut through the lovely channel or the slightly longer stretch around the pinnacles.
 

Salem Express
Built and launched as Fred Scamaroni in France 1966. Sold to El Salaam tour line and renamed Salem Express. The captain of Salem Express was well known for his skills and experience. He was also one of the few who confidently navigated the “shortcut” passing the Hyndman Reef into Safaga harbour saving almost an hour of travelling time. This stormy December night he was thinking of the passengers well being as the rough weather had made many of them seasick. On December 15th 1991 she hit the Hyndman reef ripping a massive hole in the hull. Officially 960 returning pilgrims were onboard but claims have been made that up to 1.600 people was actually onboard, 180 survived. This was by far the worst disaster in Egyptian maritime history.

The dive
Resting on her starboard side in 30 metres of water Salem Express is an eerie dive. Begin at the deepest point; the stern where you find the two intact large screws and the rudders. Swimming along the bottom you pass life boats still at the davits. Next the huge funnels with the emblem “S”. Coming up towards the bow you find the bow door slightly open and the damage from the collision with the reef is overwhelming.

Many dive guides refuse to dive Salem Express all together. This is a maritime grave and should be treated as such. Remember that most likely, on the dive boat that took you to the site, every single member of crew has a family member inside the wreck. Dive her with respect!
 

Coral Garden South Reef

In a bay just south of Safaga the small resort of Coral Garden has one of the better house reefs in the area. Like so many of the bays along the coast we find one coral barrier to the north and one to the south. In the middle a patch of sea grass gives shelter to some species and is the feeding ground to others.