Diving in Egypt - Tauchen in Ägypten

Egypt is bordered by two seas, in which one can find attractive diving grounds: in the east is that Red Sea and in the north that Mediterranean Sea.

Diving areas by location

Sinai

Ṭābā and Taba Heights: The Canyon, Ben Coral, Pharaoh Island, Fjord Bay, The Sun Pool, Maxwell’s Reef, Raʾs Amīra, The Aquarium, Angel Net, Marsā el-Muqābil, Napoleon Reef, Devils Head

Nuweiba: Sinker, Abu Loulou, MFO pipeline

Dahab: Raʾs Abū Gallūm, Blue Hole (Bells); Rick’s Reef, Canyon (Fish Bowl), Raʾs Abū Hilāl (Abu Talha), Eel Gardens, Lighthouse, Islands, Napoleon Reef, Seven Pinnacles, Moray Garden (Golden Blocks), Three Pools (South Oasis), Caves, Gabr el-Bint; El-Shugurat

Sharm esch-Sheikh: Million Hope; Raʾs Gamīla, Raʾs Naṣrānī, Raʾs Bob, White Knight, Shark’s Bay, Gardens Bay (Far Garden, Middle Garden, Near Garden), Naʿama Bay, Tower Bay (Tower, Pinky Wall), Amphoras, Turtle Bay, Paradise, Ras Umm Sid, Ras Katy

Strait of Tīrān: Jackson Reef, Woodhouse Reef, Thomas Reef, Gordon Reef, Laguna reef

Raʾs Muḥammad National Park: Shāʿāb Canoe, Raʾs el-Ghazlānī, Raʾs Zaʿtar, Raʾs Castle, Jackfish Alley (Fisherman’s Bank), Eel Garden, Shark Observatory, Anemone City, Shark Reef and Jolanda Reef, Old Quay

Strait of Gūbāl, El Gouna: Alternatives including Stingray Station and Lonely Mushroom; Shaāb Maḥmūd: Beacon Rock (S / S Dunraven), Small Crack, Big Crack; Shaāb ʿAlī: Shag rock (S / S Kingston), S / S Thistlegorm, S / S Carina; Shaʿāb Danab; Shaāb Abū en-Nuḥās (Giannis D., Carnatic, Marcus, Kimon M.) including Schaʿāb Umm ʿUsk, Siyūl Kabīra, Siyūl Saghīra, Yellowfish Reefs; Gubal Barge / Bluff Point, S / S Ulysses, Rosalie Moller, Big Gubal Island, Schadwan Island, Schaʿāb el-ʿIrg

Red Sea

Hurghada: Wrecks Schaʿāb Ruhr Umm Gamar / Colona IV, El Mina, Excalibur; Carless Reef, Schaʿāb el-Fanadir, Schaʿāb Sabina, Small Giftun Island, Abu Ramada, Gota Abu Ramada; Abu Dischet, Abu Hashish

Safāgā: Wrecks Al Kahfain, MS Hatour, Salem Express; Sharm en-Naqa, Shaʿāb Saiman, Raʾs Umm Hesiwa; Abu Soma, Tubya Hamra, Tubya Kabir, Tubya Schiwayya, Arba Erg, Gamul Kabir, Gamul Schiwayya; Arpha Bank, Fellow Rocks, Schaʿāb Shir, Schaʿāb Bagul; Panorama Reef, Middle Reef, Umm Halhal, Abu Kafan, Schaʿāb Claude, Schaʿāb Hamdulillah

Marsā ʿAlam: Elphinstone Reef, Raʾs Schuna, Marsa Egla, Abu Dabbab, Marsa Abu Dabbab, Schaʿāb Marsa ʿAlam, Schaʿāb Samadai = Dolphin House, Schabrūr Lahami, Dahra Island, Shiriniat Island

Ḥamāṭa: Fury Shoal: Abu Galawa Small, wreck of the Tien Hsing, Abu Galawa Kebir, Shāʿāb Maksūr, Shaāb Claudio, Schaʿāb Heaven, Fury Shoal Garden, Malahi, Dolphin Reef = Schaʿāb Satayah

Berenike: Mikauwa Island, Zabargad Island (St. John's Island, St. John's Island), Rocky Island; St. John's Reefs: ʿUrabi, St. John’s Cave, St. John’s Woods, Habili St. John’s Woods, Little Reef, Gota Shiwayya, Gota Kebir, Habili Jaffar, The Nursery, Schaʿāb Dangerous

Mediterranean Sea

Abū Qīr: Napoleon's sunk fleet

El-ʿAlamein

Alexandria: East harbor / Cleopatra's palace, lighthouse; i.a. HMS Osmanieh, S / S Aragon, HMS Clan Macindoe 1, HMS Garfield, HMS Polaria, HMS Attack

Marsā Maṭrūḥ

Es-Sallūm: HMS Bartham

Safari routes

Gulf of Aqaba - Ras Mohammed - Strait of Gūbāl
Brothers Route (Hurghada, Brothers Islands, Abu Kefan, Panorama Reef, el-Quṣeir)
Southern routes, partly as far as the Sudan, i.a. with the Daedalus Reef, Fury Shoal and the St. John's Reefs.

literature

Siliotti, Alberto: Sinai Diving Guide: Part 1; German edition. Verona: Geodia, 2005, ISBN 978-88-87177-66-4 . (old title of the 2001 edition: Sharm el-Sheikh Diving Guide; German edition)
Sabry, Ashraf: Gray Shadows: Egypt during World War I; 1: Alexandria Wrecks. Alexandria: Self-published, 2008, ISBN 978-977-17-5395-7 .
Stoll, Claus-Peter; Kefrig, Udo; Kirschner, Manuela; Bergbauer, Matthias: Diving guide wrecks in the Red Sea: Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan. Stuttgart: cosmos, 2010, ISBN 978-3-440-11968-6 .
Krejca, Martin; Minihuber, Hubert: Diver’s Atlas Southern Red Sea: Dive site descriptions for liveaboards and day trips. Vienna: Seainsight, 2011, ISBN 978-3-9503160-0-1 .

background

Divers near the S / S Dunraven, Gulf of Suez

In the 1980s, the coasts were far from tourist interest; for most tourists, the focus was on culture in the Nile Valley. In Sharm esch-Sheikh At that time there was only one hotel and 30 bungalows. The first tourists to discover these seaside locations were divers. Only later came the mass tourists who only came to swim. Meanwhile, the divers are looking for new destinations - far away from mass tourism.

Impressions

Masked butterflyfish

The underwater world of the Red Sea is still one of the most enchanting in the world. Here you can watch fish, snails, corals and sometimes whales.

Corals on the frames of Kingston

Several wrecks are also accessible to scuba divers at shallow depths.

Remains of the ancient lighthouse in the Alexandria Underwater Museum

The Mediterranean offers a completely different underwater world. Next to the remains of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria there are several wrecks mainly from the First and Second World Wars.

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