Eel Garden - Eel Garden

Eel Garden (German: Eel garden, Arabic:بستان سمك الأنقليس‎, Bustān Samak al-Anqalīs, „Eel garden") is a Diving area between the Bureika / Bareika Bay and the southern tip of Cape Raʾs Muḥammad im egyptianRaʾs Muḥammad National Park. The garden is south of the Jackfish Alley and north of Shark Observatory. The only sight, which is interesting from a zoological point of view, is the colony of red sea tube eels. The dive site is rarely visited.

background

The Eel Garden got its name after the colony of red sea tube eels found here (Gorgasia sillneri). The scaleless eels live in the sandy subsoil. They can be up to 80 centimeters, but usually only about 45 centimeters long. They live in self-dug caves, the walls of which they stick with a secretion from a tail gland. They feed on plankton. They stay in their caves all the time; they raise the shorter upper half out of the sand for food intake. In the event of danger, the eels hide in the sand again.

The fact that these eels can be found here in such large numbers is due to a whim of nature. The entire Cape Muḥammad falls as a steep reef to a depth of about 70 meters. At this point, however, there is a small section in which the receding rocks make space for a small beach, Aqaba Beach. The sand of the beach constantly trickles through a grotto into the sea, so that a slope in the shape of an inverted V was piled up. This slope extends from about 5 to 30 meters deep and forms the habitat of the Red Sea Tube Eels.

getting there

Divers usually travel on a day trip boat from the jetty jetty) in the south of the Naʿama Bay from Sharm esch-Sheikh or from the jetty in Old Sharm. The goal is also within the so-called north route Strait of Gūbāl driven by safari boats.

There are no anchorages for the ships.

This dive site can also be reached from land via a sand runway. There is a parking lot near the beach. Under no circumstances should you drive to the beach. This diving area is also suitable for snorkelers.

Tourist Attractions

Due to the lack of anchorages, the dive can only be carried out as a drift dive. The current runs from north to south. There are only a few hard corals and a few table corals on the reef walls.

The aim is anyway the sandy slope in the form of an inverted V that extends from 5 to 30 meters deep. The dive begins north of this slope. The extensive colony of Red Sea Tube Eels is located on the slope.

In addition to tube eels, red-tooth triggerfish (Odonus niger), Butterfly fish, Prussian fish, Mackerel, fusiliers, blue spotted rays (Taeniura lymma) and bow-forehead trembling or torpedo rays (Torpedo panthera) observe.

Kitchen and accommodation

Meals are provided on the day boats. Accommodation can be found in Sharm esch-Sheikh or Dahab.

trips

Visiting the reef can be combined with other reefs in the Raʾs Muḥammad National Park or other local diving areas of Sharm esch-Sheikh connect.

literature

• Siliotti, Alberto: Sinai Diving Guide: Part 1; German edition. Verona: Geodia, 2005, ISBN 978-88-87177-66-4 . Dive site 29.