ABU DABBAB (Fairy shore)


Abu Dabbab – About half way between Port Ghalib and Marsa Alam and 4 km off the Egyptian shoreline, lies Abu Dabbab, 6 different reefs lying just below the water’s surface. Each of the reefs represents one of the 6 “Father’s stepping stones”, as the name translates into English. You will not be able to cover all 6 reefs in one dive. The most popular and more enjoyable sites are the 2 most eastern of the group of 3 reefs at Abu Dabbab North, known as Ithnain and Thalata.

The site(s) does not reach a great depth (18-20m maximum) and can therefore be enjoyed by divers of all levels. Abu Dabbab requires drift diving and the choice of jumping in to the north or south of the site is done after the direction of the current has been checked by the divemasters. Usually the current runs from south to north and can be strong on certain days. The current is not caused by the tides, but due to the thermoclines generated by hot water meeting cold water.

Once in the water the first impression, as wit most Red Sea dive sites, is always of having been dropped in an aquarium, with such good visibility of not less than 20-25m. While descending, the view from above the reef is amazing and gives a good idea of the geological elements the site is made of – a bottom of white sand, with patches of hard coral gardens scattered all over the place, with the 2 pinnacles opposing each other and about 40m apart.

These 2 bommies are really important for the dive as they offer shelter from any current. It is essential to proceed at a slow pace, allowing time for the eyes to focus on all the small fish hanging around the hard corals. Oman and Red Sea anthias are often seen in aggregations over the rugged rocky bottoms. Colourful butterflyfish, such as the masked butterflyfish or the orangeface butterflyfish, and chequerboard wrasse are just a few of the hundreds of fish adding colour to the dive site. As the bottom is shallow, it is easy to see blue-spotted stingrays hiding from predators and scuba divers, using the acropora coral branches as shelter.

As you proceed into shallower water and half way into the channel at a depth of 13m lays the remains of a dive boat once known as the Heaven I, which sank in 2003. The story, probably embellished by rival companies, is that a German group emerged from a dive to see their liveaboard in flames with the crew abandoning ship. The liveaboard sank and is now a dive attraction itself, visited by Red Sea liveaboards, although possibly not those of the Heaven fleet. Nowadays there is not much left except the steel hull now encrusted with coral and 2 engines still visible and in a good condition.

Back in the shallows on the south side of Ithnain reef, the smaller and more northerly of the 2 reefs, there are an interesting series of caverns and swim-throughs to explore. The entrance is at 4m and inside the concavity of the reef wall. The larger Thalata reef also has some tunnels on its south side but these are narrower and wide branching and therefore only suitable for advanced divers.

ST. JOHN’S


St. John’s Reef lies on the Tropic of Cancer in Foul Bay, directly south of the Peninsula Banas, near Hamata and close to the Sudanese border. They cover an area of sea of roughly 290 km and offer a great diversity of Red Sea diving environments.

The highlights of diving the Red Sea’s Deep South include some terrific coral walls and gardens, including a mix of both soft and hard coral formations – probably the best in the Red Sea, plenty of tunnels, caverns, overhangs, swim-throughs and caves, great visibility – ideal photographic opportunities. Reef fish life is abundant and the deep walls and brisk currents at some of the sites attract grey reef, hammerhead and thresher sharks, and other predator fish such as mackerel, barracuda and jacks.

FAMOUS

DIVE SIDES

Habili Ali

is a small oval shaped submerged reef and is the easternmost dive site in the St. John’s reef system. You’ll likely cover half of the entire reef wall on one dive, exactly which section will depend on the current and sun direction. Reef predators such as jacks and grey reef sharks are commonly seen when scuba diving here as the current is often strong. Pods of bottlenose dolphins can be seen at any moment as they hunt in search of food. Hammerhead sharks and manta rays are also encountered less frequently. Best time for an oceanic white tip encounter at Habili Ali is in May and June.

Magnificent coral formations are abundant on the reef walls and ridges run down off the western and eastern sides; black snapper, triggerfish and surgeonfish are plentiful. The deeper sections host some huge gorgonians and sea whips. There are many crags in the wall, some opening to caverns, which make interesting features to explore for groupers and cardinalfish. The shallow reef flat is deep enough to allow you to drift slowly across admiring the underwater scenery as you complete your safety stop. Habili Ali can be a challenging dive but it is an undoubted highlight of diving this part of the Red Sea.

Gota Kebira

is a larger reef, being over 800m long, and has several different drift dives to try out. The northern section has teo plateaus that are ideal for whitetip reef sharks and bluespotted stingrays. The current often splits here, making it ideal for shark encounters. The eastern and western sides have deep sloping reefs of predominant brown soft corals; the eastern side is normally dived in the morning and the western side in the afternoon.

In the southeast corner the wall is broken by deep fissures that you can enter and tunnels to dive in. Elsewhere in the south, there is a sloping plateau that unicornfish and rabbitfish make home. The shallows here have many colourful magnificent anemones and green turtles often feed and rest here.

Gota Soghayr

is a small steep walled reef, with gorgonians and sea whips dominating the deep, and plentiful juvenile fish and soft corals carpeting the shallows. Often Napoleonfish drift around at the edge of vision, and groups of bumphead parrotfish maraud across the flats in search of food. The southern side is the best area to explore in the latter part of the dive as there are many overhangs to explore and a cavern that you can enter in the shallows at a depth of 10m.

Habili Gaffar

is a smaller reef flat, perhaps 30m across at the surface, with a ledge running around it at 20-35m deep before the reef plunges in to the depths of the Red Sea. Its small size means you can circumnavigate the entire reef two or three times during a dive or zizag up one side, depending on the strength of the current. The strong currents attract snapper, barracuda, tuna and reef sharks on the northern side where a small protusion forms at 40m.

The shallower sections of the reef are dominated by pink clasping soft corals and fairy basslets. Schools of bigmouth mackerel race across the reef top in search of food. Lionfish slowly stalk in the shallows, waiting for their opportunity to strike on unsuspecting prey.

Dangerous Reef

is the most southerly of the St. John’s reefs, but seems oddly named since it is one of the few dive sites in the Southern Red Sea that offer a reasonably shallow flat bottom. This makes it good for an overnight anchorage and night diving, where you can find squid, Spanish dancers, and hunting moray eels. The topography here makes for great swim-throughs. There are many breaks in the reef shallows that allow easy and safe penetration.

Abu Basala

is one of the larger St. John’s reefs and you could make 3 or 4 different dives here. This sickle-shaped reef is unusual for the deep south Red Sea diving since it does not have steep walls. Instead the reef edges offer mazes of columns, gullies, cracks, outcrops, balustrades and folds that run down the wall to the sandy bottom a mere 15-20m below. This reef offers relaxing dives and a break for divers a little tired from deep drift diving.


GENERAL DETAILS

  • Reef basics: turrets and walls
  • Depth: 5 – >40m
  • Visibility: 20 – 35m
  • Currents: can be strong
  • Surface conditions: can be choppy
  • Water temperature: 23 – 30°C
  • Experience level: intermediate – advanced
  • Number of dive sites: ~20
  • Diving season: all year round
  • Distance: 210 km south southeast of Marsa Alam (14 hrs)

 

HAMATA


All dives are located North of Ras Banass, located off shore on the front of the mountains of Hamata, Lahami and close by Ras Bannas. From the marina of Hamata, they are in between 3 nautical miles till 23 nautical miles (east, south east and south).

Scuba diving in Hamata is one of the absolute best in the Red Sea because of many reasons:

  • Less numbers of boats and divers compared to the crowded northern part of the Red Sea.
  • It is closer to the south, giving it a warmer temperature, which makes it from time to time as a good site to host the migrations of many types of schools of fishes.
HIGHLIGHTS
  • Great chances to spot dolphins while diving!
  • Wrecks from World War II
  • Drop off and pinnacles dive sites
  • Drift dives as well as caverns
  • Coral gardens

 

FAMOUS

DIVE SITES

Satayah (dolphin reef)

a very large horse shoe reef. The distance from the east to the west side is more than 3km. The depth in the inner part ranges from 3m to 15m. It is a very common to spot a pod of spinner dolphins underwater so keep an eye out

Claudia (cavern)

a cave full of many canyons. Average depth inside 5-12m

Abu Galawa (wreck)

an interesting World War II wreck.

Maksour (drop off)

here you can find sharks, similar site as the famous Elphinstone Reef

DOLPHIN

DOLPHIN

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TURTLE

TURTLE

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GREY REEF SHARK

GREY REEF SHARK

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NAPOLEON

NAPOLEON

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GIANT TREVALLY

GIANT TREVALLY

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FUSILIER SCHOOLS

FUSILIER SCHOOLS

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and much more

and much more

defferent amazing fishes & corals