Elphinstone Reef

Also known as Sha’ab Abu Hamra

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.

Depth

10–40m along the walls; the plateaus sit at roughly 20m north and 40m+ south

Access

Day boat from Marsa Alam or Port Ghalib, roughly 30–45 minutes offshore, sea state permitting

Best season

October to December for oceanic whitetips; the reef dives year-round but winter brings the biggest swell days

Level

Advanced

Conditions

• Open ocean with no shelter — the dive is called off when the swell is up, and that happens often
• Currents commonly moderate to strong, frequently with down-currents at the corners
• Drift dives from a zodiac or negative entries are the norm, not the exception
• Visibility typically 20–30m

What you are likely to see

• Oceanic whitetip sharks, most reliably in late autumn
• Scalloped hammerheads, usually deeper and early in the day
• Grey reef and silvertip sharks
• Large schooling fish along both plateaus; healthy soft coral on the walls

What to watch out for

• This is not a site to log your first drift dive on. Centres asking for 50+ logged dives and current experience are not gatekeeping, they are reading the site correctly.
• Oceanic whitetips are curious and will approach. Egyptian operators run specific protocols around them; follow the briefing exactly rather than improvising.
• The southern plateau is deep. It is easy to run a decompression obligation you did not plan for.

This is planning information, not a dive briefing or a substitute for one. Conditions change; your guide on the day is the authority. Diving emergency numbers and the coast’s recompression chambers are on our emergency contacts page.