The southern Egypt, from Marsa Toronbi to Zabargad and Rocky Island, provides a remote dive paradise with variations that are well known all over the world. These southern areas provide great opportunities to see schools of barracudas, sharks, manta rays, moray eels, whales, surgeon fish and much more.

Fury Shoal is also home to many first class reefs. One is Shab Mahsur with caves, dropoffs and grande canals. An other is Shab Sataya where you can find Scott’s Wreck. A beautiful, storybook wreck encrusted with an amazingly colourful variety of sponges and corals. Sitting with her bow up on the reef resting just below the surface it provides a great opportunity for all types of photography from macro to wide angel. Here you also can find Dolphin Reef, named after the Rocky Islands. Here you can find every from a 1000 meter (3.250 ft) sheer dropoff to coral reefs, the wreck of a Russian cargo ship and exotic deep sea life.

If there’s something you’ve always wanted to see you’ve got a good chance of finding it here. Zabargad is certainly one of the most spectacular dive sites in the Red Sea. The only wish you are likely to have after being here, is to return to this divers paradise.

Best Diving Destinations in Southern Red Sea

Safaga

The Safaga area is filled with beautiful coral reefs and walls. It´s home to dive sites like Shab Sheer and Middle Reef. The colourful cascades compete for your attention with sharks, sea turtles and other wonders.You may find yourself swimming among wild dolphins. On Panorama Reef and Abu Kafan you might even see a hammerhead.

Elphinstone Reef

Mythic dive site of the south. Sheer walls plunge deep into the blue, richly decorated with soft corals, sponges, gorgonias and fans. Pelargics often swim by the spot to feed on the abundant reef fish population. The northern plateau is home to schooling hammerheads with frequent sightings of oceanic wite tip sharks.

Shaab Marsa Alam

Large reef in front of the last southern civilian town on the Egyptian coastline. Corals gardens formed near huge coral blocks ‘porites’ and shoals of banners, goatfish, snappers and jacks.

Shaab Samadai

A horseshoe shaped reef creates a shallow turquoise water lagoon where a large herd of spinner dolphins live pernamently. Several dives are found on its outer walls. The western tip provides a large group of pinnacles rising to the surface from a carpet of seagrass, populated by schools of reef fish.

Daedalus Reef

A huge round reef with a lighthouse more than 40 miles away from the coast, features an excellent opportunity for spotting big pelargics all around its steep walls with an extreme variety of fish and coral. Strong currents possible.

Shaab Sharm

Big reef with big walls, hammerhead and grey reef sharks in summer, malabar grouper, baracudas, and schooling reef fish the rest of the year. Currents, soft corals and giant fans.

Abu Galawa

On ‘Fury Shoal’ group, this reef has a good hard coral garden on the north side, and a wreck of an old tug boat fully covered with corals leaning on a pinnacle on the south side.

Shaab Mansour

Good dives on both north and south plateaus, with strong currents which favour the growth of all types of coral, inclucing black, soft and fans. Sharks, napolean and tuna fish.

Sataya

Also named ‘Dolphin Reef’, huge barrier reef that offers a sheltered inner lagoon and shear walls on the outside schooling hammerhead, large tuna fish and jacks.

Zabargat

Enormous mountain coming out of the water surrounded by a lagoon and circling reef. A couple of wrecks and some decent diving with a great variety of both corals and reef fish.

Rocky Island

Tiny rock emerging a few feet out of the water, it offers one of the most incredible underwater scenarios of the whole Red Sea. Steep walls falling into the deep blue, currents, soft corals and a great abundance of pelargics and all kinds of fish.

When to Visit Southern Red Sea

Air temperatures in winter range from 60°-75°F. The water can drop down into the upper 60°F, with the coolest temperatures occurring in February. Summer land temperatures slide right up past 100°F, with the water temperature rising into the low 80°F (take a wetsuit anyway). The hottest month is August. If you are going to do any land exploration (and how do you visit the Red Sea without at least a peek at the pyramids), the tradeoff for warm water is hot weather. The manta season is from March – June.