Dive sites

A shallow seagrass bay north of Marsa Alam, the coast’s most reliable place to see dugongs and green turtles — and one of its easiest shore dives.

Hurghada’s house reefs: a cluster of sheltered sites in a protected area, where most of the coast’s divers make their first Red Sea dive.

A horseshoe reef north of Hurghada with a resident pod of spinner dolphins — the coast’s most likely dolphin encounter, and an easy dive in its own right.

Two pinnacles north-east of Giftun with a dramatic drop-off, long known for moray eels and for currents that decide the dive plan.

A shallow reef at the mouth of the Gulf of Suez that has claimed at least four ships — the Giannis D, Carnatic, Chrisoula K and Kimon M — all divable in a day.

A large reef off Safaga with sheer walls on three sides and some of the healthiest soft coral in the northern Red Sea. The best day-boat dive on this stretch of coast.

A ferry that sank near Safaga in December 1991 with the loss of several hundred lives. It is divable, it is a grave, and whether to dive it at all is a question worth answering before you book.

A scattered complex of reefs near Egypt’s southern border — caves, coral gardens and the best-preserved hard coral in the country.

The Red Sea’s most famous offshore reef: a narrow wall running north to south off Marsa Alam, known for oceanic whitetips and hammerheads — and for currents that make it an advanced dive.

A British armed merchant ship sunk by air attack in 1941, still holding its wartime cargo of motorcycles, trucks and rifles. Widely considered one of the best wreck dives in the world.

Two isolated islands far offshore in the Marine Park, with sheer walls, two wrecks and the most consistent big-animal diving in Egypt.

An isolated reef in open ocean with a lighthouse on it, sheer walls on every side, and the most reliable hammerhead diving in Egypt.

Two remote islands near the Sudanese border — Zabargad an ancient peridot mine with a wreck, Rocky Island a small, current-swept reef with big animals.