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The Brother Islands, Red Sea, Egypt
The Brother Islands are located 65 miles southeast of Safaga and 32 miles northeast of El Quesir in the middle of the Red Sea. The two little islands are named 'El Akhawein' in Egyptian, which means the Brothers.
These "islands" are the exposed tips of two massive reef pillars that rise from the sea. They are the only significant reefs in the area, and as such act as a magnet for any pelagic and reef fishes. Washed as they are by the full force of open-sea currents, they support an incredible dense and diverse coral population, with almost overwhelming beautiful soft coral growth on all sides. Big Brother, the larger of the two, lies about 1 km north of its sibling. It is easily identified by its Victorian stone lighthouse, a legacy of the British rule.
A narrow reef table around the island’s shore gives way almost immediately to a sheer vertical wall, dropping well past the limits of sport diving. Absolutely fantastic coral growth begins at the surface and continues unabated into the depths.
The fish life here is more than impressive, ranging from the tiniest anthias in the shallows to the most impressive sharks in the depths offshore. With the exception of the northeast side, a fringing reef plunges away on all sides, with sheer walls covered in gorgeous soft and hard corals and beautiful sea fans.
There are fish everywhere, although the millions of little orange anthias seem to dominate the surrounding scenes as they dance in and out of the corals in orchestrated unison!
Little Brother
Little Brother is - in contrary to Big Brother - totally uninhabited. It is one third of its bigger brother. There is no vegetation and the only rulers are the birds. The dullness from above the water is in total contrast with the beauty under water. Little Brother is surrounded by steep walls with black coral, big gorgonias and lots of hard and soft coral can be seen here.
Number One
Number One is a luxury liveaboard and the property of German dive pioneer in Hurghada; Rudi Kneip. His boat is cruising the Red Sea for many years now. Number one makes weekly trips to the Brother all year round and the boat can be chartered for longer trips as well.
This ship leaves from the harbor of Hurghada and offers room to 20 passengers. There are 10 spacious cabins, with each a double bed and a smaller bunk bed up top. Each cabin has its own private shower and a little refrigerator and comes with telephone. Three showers are located on the upper deck. The boat has air-conditioning all around which is necessary in the heat of the Red Sea climate. The lounge is has comfortable chairs, a bar and TV.
Dive sites:
Big Brother
Big Brother is 400 m by 90 m and is surrounded by a supreme reef which drops off to big depths. Currents can be strong all around the Brother Islands. This has one big advantage: it will attract big fish!
The diving is done by zodiacs or from the rear of the boat. There are only a few place to anchor on both Brother Islands. .
Little Brother
Little Brother is - in contrary to Big Brother - totally uninhabited. It is only one third of its bigger brother. There is no vegetation and the only rulers are the birds. The dullness from above the water is in total contrast with the beauty under water. Little Brother is surrounded by steep walls, which lead to great depths. Black coral, big gorgonias and lots of hard and soft coral can be seen here. Little Brother has only just a few places to anchor.
Wrecks
'AIDA'
On the northwest side of Big Brother a wreck can be found at reasonable depth. The bow is in 30 m of water and the rear of the ship starts at 40 m. The name of the wreck is 'Aida', a 75 meter long passenger ship, which was used by the Army as a supply ship. During a storm in 1957 the boat sunk but luckily all 157 passengers were rescued. The ship is standing alongside a steep coral wall and is covered with colorful soft corals. The wreck starts at 26 m and ends at 60 m.
'NUMIDIA' the railway wreck
Less than 100 m north to 'the Aida' there is a second and much older wreck in shallower water. This wreck is called 'the railway wreck' or 'the Numidia'. It was an English ship transporting material for railways. The ship sank around 1900 and is completely covered with soft corals in all colors. The bow, marked by a collection of strange wheels is starting 9 m. The rest of the wreck is at 15 m and goes on to 40 m, where the hull has been broken. The rear of the boat and the propellor can be found around 80 m. The current can be very strong. This seems to be one of the nicest wrecks in the Red Sea.
When the weather is bad the waves will be big and the wind will be strong. Diving on the Brothers can then be limited to one day only, because it is difficult to anchor.
 Fly into the international airport of Hurghada. There are charter flights from many major cities in Europe. Otherwise you can fly into Cairo first and take Egyptian Air to Hurghada or even the bus if you prefer
Make your way to Safaga by bus or taxi where the boat will be waiting for you. It's a long, 160 km crossing to get to the Brothers. This journey can only be recommended during calm weather and will be canceled if the sea is too rough
Best time would be the summer months as the water is warmer. But the Red Sea can be dived all year round, you just have to put on a thicker suit or a dry-suit.
More on Diving in the Red Sea
Find out about the Coral Queen in the Red Sea
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More on the Brothers
Reopening of the Brother Islands
From April 1996 to December 1998 the Brother Islands were closed by the Egyptian Government. Nobody knows the exact reason for closing these these sites.
In May 1998, the Brothers were theoretically reopened again. But the Egyptian Government made it so complicated it was impossible to reach the Brothers (you have to go in convoy of 4-6 boats with a so called park-ranger, who didn't exist).
But in December 1998 the first Brother diving trips were made regularly again.
It is very important to choose a reliable operator as a lot of travel agents promise to go to the Brothers but only a few boats have the license and the equipment to make a save trip to these remote islands. There have been occasions were operators tell you the weather is not good enough call off the trip when the true reason - of not having the right permits - is kept quiet. Just a few boats have a license to reach the Brothers (and the other Marine Park Islands). These license are given by the Egyptian Government and an organization called HEPCA.
The Marine Park Islands, including the Brothers, ( the others are: Daedalus Reef, Rocky Island and Zabargad) can be reached by a few boats only.
The boats who may visit these islands legally can be seen by clicking here!
From Safaga the trip to the Brother Islands will take 7 to 8 hours. Most of the time the boats - with the license - will cross over in the night reaching the Brothers in the early morning of the following day.
The history of the Big Brother
The lighthouse on Big Brother has its own history. Built by the English it was used for the first time on June 4th, 1883. The tower is 24 meters high and this was a big accomplishment according to the 'Illustrated London News'. Lighted by petroleum, the torch can reach up to 12 seamiles (20k) away.
The turning of the torch was done by a contra-weight made by the Change Brothers out of Birmingham/ England.
The material for building the lighthouse came directly from the island itself. People were forced to dig the coral stone from the north side of the island. You can still see this area. The 'slavepath' is the only path still existing; going from the place where the coral stone was digged to the lighthouse.
Up till today the lighthouse is still in use. The old Fresnel-lenses however have been replaced by modern technology.
The little concrete houses give shelter to the soldiers, who live here for 3 to 4 months at the time. I you're lucky you can visit the island. From the lighthouse you will have a marvelous look out over the Red Sea and Little Brother lying 1,6 kilometer up north.
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