11 days: Daedalus - Rocky - Zabargad - Elba Reef - St. Johns - Satayah - Brothers - Safaga

11 days: Daedalus - Rocky - Zabargad - Elba Reef - St. Johns - Satayah - Brothers - Safaga

Itinerary Highlights

Dive sites in this itinerary

  • Sataya (Dolphine reef)

    Sataya – Fury Shoal – South: South of Marsa Alam, in the area of Wadi Gimal there is Shaab Sharm. A huge reef with colorful overgrown drop offs on the north and north-west side and a gorgoniawall between 17m and 22m in the east direction. The plateau on the east side, starting from 18m to 32m depth, with its coral block formations is the home of a lot of marine life. Doctor fishes, different kinds of reef fishes, napoleons and small critters – very often you see a turtle eating and resting. The plateau continues small along the south side of the main reef. Dolphins, sharks and mantas patrol along the reef in the blue. Shilineat in Wadi Gimal is the aquarium. Along the beautiful hard coral garden on the west side and in the high amount of blocks in the sandy area beside the reef you can rummage for camouflage artists and small critters. In maximum 16m and with the white sand and the sunlight it is amazing and full of small fishes and species. Very often there are turtles or dolphins around.

  • Brother Islands

    The Brother Islands one of the best diving spots in the world. The Islands – the Big Brother and the Little Brother – are two small exposed promontories that just come out of the water in the middle of the sea at around 60km from the Egyptian coast line. The Little Brother has a very high concentration of life in a much reduced area. The walls are covered literally with sponges, anemones and all sorts of hard and soft corals in an astonishing variety of colors and shapes. Of course you will find here plenty of fish. It is not unusual to see sharks: hammerheads, thresher sharks, grey reef sharks, silvertip and whitetip reef sharks. About one km north of the Little Brother lays the Big Brother. Situated, in the middle of the island, is a lighthouse. When it is not too windy, you can proceed to dive the Wreck NUMIDIA which lies upon the reef on the northern side of the island between 5m and 80m. This 150m long ship sunk in 1901 and is now completely covered with both hard and soft corals and gorgonias. At the NW side of the island you will find the other Wreck: the AIDA. This 82m long steam ship sunk 1957. The remaining pieces of the Wreck are scattered all over the reef and just the back side of the hull can be found between 34m and 60m. It is nicely overgrown and worth to visit. Because of strong current and may be high waves it is not easy to dive at the Brother’s. This safari is only for experienced divers.

  • Daedalus Reef

    The Daedalus Reef is a huge reef formation that lies at about 180km south of Brother Islands. The reef is surrounded by a sheer wall all around, featuring a plateau on its southern side that goes from 28m beside the reef to 40m on the edge of the drop-off. If the weather is good, try to get as far north as possible and drift along one of the sides of the reef. Reef and hammerhead sharks are often spotted here. Underwater marine life is here more abundant than anywhere else, with schools of surgeons, fusiliers, carangids.

  • Elphinstone

    This long finger like reef runs from north to south in the open Red Sea. Steep walls drop to the depths on the reef’s east and west sides, while the north and south ends of the reefs are marked by submerged plateau. Sharks often swim by the spot to feed on the abundant reef fish population.

  • St Johns

    This vast reef system lies furthest to the south on the Egyptian side, 10 miles from the Sudanese border. There are dozens of excellent dives. Its reefs rise up from a gigantic underwater plateau hidden in the inky blue water.

  • Zabargad

    The island of Zabargad has been known since the time of the pharaohs for the presence of the ancient mines from which olivine was extracted, a green stone similar to the emerald. In Zabargad you will dive along the south wall characterized by a multitude of very scenic passages.

  • Rocky Island

    The site features several submerged rocks surrounded by sandy areas with a nice swim- through at around 20 m deep. There is beautiful staghorn and hard coral. You can often find a leopard shark and a whitetip reef shark resting on the sand. Turtles and pelagis fishes like the Giant Trevally are common too. The maximum depth is around 39 meters deep but most of the dive is done around 15 meters. The current can be quite strong and this dive spot is better suited to open water advanced divers.

  • Salem Express

    In the night of December 14, 1991, while on route to the Egyptian port of Safaga, the Salem Express ran aground on Shaab Sheer reef during a storm and struck a leak. The ship had large open decks and sank in minutes. The passengers, mostly pilgrims returning from their Hajj to Mecca, were caught sleeping. It is still unclear why the captain deviated from the safe shipping route. <br/>The Salem Express is now about 1.5 boat hours southeast of Safaga at a depth of between 11 m and 32 m on the starboard side. The Wreck can be dived from the outside. Since not all bodies could be recovered from inside the ship, the Salem Express was officially declared as a grave. In the meantime, the tailgate has been opened to dive in, but the cabins are still not allowed to be entered. <br/>

  • Elba Reef

    Elba Reef is located at the Halaib Triangle on the Egyptian and Sudanese border with very nice plateaus on its North and South side. It is a triangle- shaped reef. The Plateau in the North is long and starts at around 20 m and ends at around 45 m depth. At the edge of the plateau plenty of huge coral fans can be found. One of the main attractions, at the edge of a deep drop-off at the South plateau, is the large wreck of “SS Isola di Levanzo” that sank in the early 1900's. She is a rarely visited beautiful Wreck which is surrounded by scattered sherry bottles all over the sea bottom. The propeller of the ship lies at 18 m and the entire upper or stern section can be penetrated. Further inshore, the reef is relatively shallow but well grown with a variety of corals all around the reef. Fish life is interesting as from reef species to sharks everything can be spotted.

  • safaga-egypt

    The most famous dive sites in Safaga: Abu Kufan legendary for hammerhead sightings in late spring and manta rays in wintertime. This 300 m long and narrow reef offers a plateau in both north and south tips. Panorama Reef: one of the largest reefs in Safaga, featuring numerous grottos and overhangs, where gorgonians and soft corals thrive with the frequent nurturing currents. Due to the size of the barrier, there are at least three different dives to be done here: the south plateau and the east and the west drop- offs Tobia Arbaa: Named the "seven pillars" after the small pinnacles rising from a sandy bottom. One of the best dives in Safaga, despite the shallow bottom, sometimes cause of not perfect visibility. Soft corals cover all the seven ergs, glass fish, gorgonians, giant puffer fish, octopus, blue spotted rays, morays, lion fish, sergeant majors, nudibranchs and many more.

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