Dahab Dive Sites

Lighthouse Reef

This site is at the central point of Dahab, just offshore from the lighthouse. This site gives an ideal way of familiarising people with the Red Sea conditions. Access is straightforward. The underwater terrain is quite varied consisting of reef, isolated boulders and slopes down to 35m although most of the area is at 25m. It features a sloping reef extending north around a land point. Around this point there is a superb reef that reaches from 4m down to 20m. There are lots of fish and other things to see. Highly recommended. We did a few night dives here.

This site presents many different sorts of dives. You can do a nice shallow dive at 12m by following the reef edge. You should try to get past the land point to see an excellent reef that contains much life. Alternatively, you can go deeper and examine the boulders at 30m or more. There is much to see on them.

The Islands

The Islands are a number of shallow reefs and coral pinnacles with deeper sandy gulleys between them. They lie just south of Dahab in a fairly sheltered location. This is an excellent site – although no more than 18m deep. The intricate seascape is densely covered with pristine coral. There is an enormous amount of colour and life present. Snappers, surgeon and unicorn fish together with sea bream, emperors, triggerfish, birdnose wrasse are common. Lionfish abound as do lots of small coral fish. The site fairly buzzes with life. Because of the intricate nature of the terrain - narrow gulleys with extensive reefs between - it's rather like diving a maze.

One highlight is a large sand bottomed gulley where large shoals of young barracuda circle, attended by other curious fish. It's a good experience to hover in the water and let them circle you close by. Rather larger barracuda can be seen, but there're not quite so inviting to swim with.

You do need to plan for your exit point as it is quite easy to get a little confused as to where you are. Access means a little walk over a shallow reef ending up with an optional entry via a small cave.

The Eel Garden

Entry to this site is through a small lagoon which descends from the reeftop to an exit point on the reef at about 7m.

The Eel garden is a patch of white sloping sand in which hundreds of sand eels protrude out of their burrows. There're a funny lot. As you swim near to them they of course retreat down their burrows. If you approach them from the top of the reef rather than midwater then they seem less perturbed by your presence.  All around there is a rich variety of table corals and luxuriant coral reefs which can take a lot of exploring. There are many different species of fish on the reefs, and the area is just buzzing with life. South of the sand the reef continues with lots of fine coral growth. There are many small grey morays, lionfish, damsels, basslets, parrots, grouper, lyretail cod and gobies to see.

The Eel Garden is just north of Dahab, and requires a walk of 100m over shallow reef before it is possible to enter the water via a small lagoon. Depth is up to 25m. An excellent dive.

The Canyon

This is a famous Dahab dive site. Located about 6 km north of Dahab this site lies beside the desert. It takes its name from a long, narrow and very beautiful canyon which runs North to South from the shallow reef just offshore to depths of around 50m on the reef slope further out.  Entry is easily made via a lagoon which brings you out to a gently sloping bed of coral and sand and around 15m. As you go further from the shore the slope turns steeper and turns into a drop off that goes well beyond 65m. The canyon is a cleft in the slope that eventually goes down to the drop off at about 50m. We entered via an opening at about 20m and as we swam down to 30m found ourselves in a rather nice tunnel. Then we finned back through the canyon eventually exiting at 12m via the "fishbowl" – so called because of the swirling shoals of glassfish that fill it up. Outside the canyon, the reef has good coral cover but within there is little if any coral growth.

This site is very spectacular and colourful.

The entry lagoon can present quite strong currents when you're trying to finish the dive. It is wise to take account of the conditions and plan accordingly when returning.

The Bells / Blue Hole

Another famous Dahab dive site. The Bells is an open chimney built into a most impressive drop off that goes shooting down into the abyss. The chimney breaks through the reef table giving an ideal clear blue pool to enter into. The water is very clear and the views are stunning. The bottom of the chimney is around 30m and divers can then swim alongside the drop off gradually ascending as they move along. There's lots to see on the wall which overhangs quite nicely. You hit the reef table at around 6m and then suddenly you're over the deep and infamous Blue Hole – an impressive although strangely lifeless looking place after the richness of the Bells. The Bells is slightly awkward to get to via truck and also requires a good walk with gear on before you get to the site. About 8 km north of Dahab.

Read Claire's report on the Bells.

Abu Halal

Abu Halal ('Headland of the Crescent Moon') consists of a number of large circular lagoons up to 25m deep separated by gently sloping coral reefs and pinnacles. There is a great deal of life present in this quite extensive site. The coral gardens are really quite exceptional, with lots of different species of coral and fish to look at. Schools of sergeant major fish swam past us. We also dived with a couple of turtles which just emerged from the coral tops for us. The water is beautifully clear. Slightly further out on the gentle drop off there is a spacious canyon at around 35m. Entry is close to the shore near a sign that says 'zone de plongee'. Abu Halal is about 4 km north of Dahab.

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