Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam, the Red Sea

Dive Site: Shiriniat Island
Location: North of Marsa Alam
Description: Reef System
Depth: 3 – 30 metres + (10 – 100 feet)
Visibility: 20 metres (65 feet)

Boats normally moor on the south side of Shiriniat Reef. Both sides of the reef, south and north, have a depth to the seafloor of around 16m. Dive options are either an “out and back” dive from your dive vessel or a zodiac / RIB trip to the north side. The latter is a good option, although current sometimes sweeps from the north northwest and breaks coming in an easterly direction along the north side. This can mean a swim against the current until you get to the west corner, however current is not normally strong.

The north side is quite literally an aquarium with colourful coral and prolific marine life. The main reef has lots of alcoves making it easy to shelter from any oncoming current as you make your way west with the reef on your left shoulder. There are numerous large coral encrusted formations which stretch away from the reef, all densely covered in damselfish, butterflyfish and a myriad of small fishlife. Red-fang triggerfish and titan triggerfish chomp on the reef with their powerful beaks. Large coral groupers slink under the acropora table coral and yellow jacks come in very close to inspect passing divers. Orange fire coral festoons the reef and coral outcrops; raspberry hard coral abounds. The opportunity for macro photography is excellent and as you round the west tip onto the south side the coral and fish life remains in the same volume and quality. This allows a diver to complete the whole dive, including safety stops, on this picturesque reef.

Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam, the Red Sea

Dive Site: Ras Shona
Location: North of Marsa Alam
Description: Reef
Depth: 22 – 25 metres (72 – 82 feet)
Visibility: 10 metres (30 feet)

Ras Shona is part of the main coastal reef south of Marsa Galib and north of Marsa Alam. Boats normally moor to the south of Ras Shona’s outcrop, however a good option if the current is running (normally north to south) is to get dropped to the north by zodiac or RIB and make a “one way” dive back to you moored dive vessel. Visibility can be poor here (10 metres) compared to the usual Red Sea standards, however there is still plenty to see. The reef wall drops down to around 22 – 25m and the southern area in particular is covered with dense fire coral. Blue spotted rays frequent the sandy seabed. Whilst not as prolific as the offshore reefs there is some respectable hard coral and whip coral here as well as plenty of masked butterflyfish, Red Sea bannerfish and large shoals of snapper which frequent the reef. This site is ideal for all levels of diver and is often used as a “check dive” area for southern safari’s leaving from Marsa Alam or Marsa Galib.

Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam, the Red Sea

Dive Site: Marsa Abu Dabab
Location: North of Marsa Alam
Description: Reef System
Depth: 3 – 30 metres + (10 – 100 feet)
Visibility: 20 metres (65 feet)

Wading in from the beach there is no surf as the bay is quite sheltered. It takes about 75m before you can get any real depth to dive. Drop down to about 5m and head east until you come across the seagrass and a sandy drop off. Hang around here looking for Dougal the Dugong and a couple of huge turtles. Then head left or right until you hit the fringing reef. Big stuff has been seen here including white tips and oceanics. Guitar sharks can also been see sometimes in the seagrass area. The sandy bottom and seagrass can be a bit boring but if you want to see a dugong in the Red Sea this is the best place.

Nice easy shore dive, very shallow, saw guitar sharks and very large remora covered turtles. Didn’t see “Dennis” but he had been spotted earlier that day! Plenty of animal life (porcupine pufferfish, trunkfish, blue spotted rays, garden eels etc) as mentioned in other post. I recommend this as an easy shore dive for any level. Good for photos and videos as the turtles let you get close up.

Marsa means “open bay” and most often refers to a bay which is part of a gulf. A Marsa is usually quite a small bay and one that is not enclosed (an enclosed bay area is referred to as a Sharm). Marsa Abu Dabab is a bay which gets its name from the nearby dive sites of Abu Dabab.

Marsa Abu Dabab is a semi-circular bay which is part of the main coastline north of Marsa Alam and south of Marsa Galib. Little more than a sandy slope with seagrass patches there is no coral reef in the bay and visibility is regularly as little as 5m in the shallows. So what’s the attraction? Well apart from the resident Dugong, there are large green sea turtles that munch on the seagrass and a very good chance of guitar sharks, who also favour the shallow seagrass area. This dive is often done as the final dive on a south safari and there is little point venturing deeper than 15m allowing divers to spend plenty of time in the shallow water looking for one or more of the main 3 attractions here.

A good dive plan is to start at the south entrance to the bay and get all the divers in the group to form a line. Placing the deepest diver in around 15m and spacing divers 3 or 4 metres apart will mean that in a group of 6 to 8 divers those in the shallows will be in just 3 metres of water. Once in position the line simple moves around the perimeter of the bay area in a sweeping formation. Those in the deeper water should remember to swim very slowly as the line is moving like the hand on a clock, so those in the shallows have further to swim. Using this plan greatly enhances the chances of seeing either the green turtles or guitar sharks, which tend to be in the shallows. Once divers spot something the others can be signaled down the line. As mentioned the visibility is usually poor here due to the sand being picked up by any swell. Keep an eye out for silver jacks (either lone or in pairs) close to the seagrass. These scavengers have a tendency to follow and pester guitar sharks, scavenging food from them, so if you spot the silver jacks it’s usually a good indication there is a guitar shark below them. If you find the large green turtles feeding on the grass they will usually be accompanied by large remora fish. These fish cling to the shells of the turtles and are a pelagic marine fish in their own right. The relationship is symbiotic – the remora acts as a cleaner removing parasites from the turtles and in return obtaining a meal

Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam, the Red Sea

Dive Site: Dahra Island
Location: North of Marsa Alam
Description: Reef
Depth: 12 – 14 metres (40 – 46 feet)
Visibility: 10 metres (30 feet)

Favoured as a night dive, Dahra is a small elongated reef located a short distance to the north west of Shiriniat Island. It provides shelter for an overnight mooring over a reasonably flat seabed at 14m under the boat and 12m at the base of the reef. Boats will moor on the south side and here is located the wreckage of an old liveaboard (I have no idea of the name, date of sinking, or circumstance of its demise – so any information would be gratefully received). Diving is normally made directly from the boat by heading north to the reef wall and then following this with your left shoulder to the reef in an easterly direction. There are also some small coral encrusted boulders away from the main reef worth investigation. The south and southeast corner has little in the way of coral growth, however don’t be disappointed. Night dives here can be great. Think “slow” and “small”.

There is a very good chance of Spanish dancers – . Essentially the largest of the nudibranch family these hexabranchus sanguineus take their more common name of Spanish Dancer from the similarity to the dress (the “bata de cola” traditional Gypsy dress) worn by Spanish Flamenco dancers. When these creatures lift from the seabed and “dance” their way through the water they swirl and twist like the material of the dress. Octopus are also quite common here and again I have seen them in pairs, so take your time to investigate even the most barren of areas of this reef. Current is not normally a consideration on the south side, when night diving out and back from the dive boat. However as you approach the south east corner current does have a tendency to pick up slightly and head east away from the boats. It can be almost imperceptible at first so it is worth bearing this in mind and if you feel the current starting then simply reverse course and spend some more time higher up the reef on your return to the boat.

Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam, the Red Sea

Dive Site: Abu Dabab
Location: North of Marsa Alam
Description: Offshore reef system
Depth: 15 – 25 metres (50 – 80 feet)
Visibility: 20 – 30 metres (65 – 100 feet)

Abu Dabab is six reefs and roughly translated this set of reefs is known as “Fathers Steps” or “Fathers Stepping Stones”. According to Egyptian boat captains, in ancient Egypt when earthquakes shook the ground it was said that the Gods were using the “stepping stones” to cross the water. The ground shaking was the Gods standing on each of the six stepping stones before setting foot on the mainland. Whatever the origin of the name, the site itself is a set of reasonably shallow reefs (15m to the seafloor in most places, or up to 25m on the outside of some of the reefs). It is not possible to do all six reefs in a single dive (the reefs are quite large). Boats often moor in a sheltered area between Abu Dabab II and III where the surrounding reef pieces form a semi-enclosed area.

In 15m of water that the wreckage of a famous Red Sea liveaboard – Heaven One – can be found. Never heard of it? Check page 7 of the Red Sea Reef Guide by Helmut Debelius for a picture of this vessel in its former glory. A victim of fire, this vessel reportedly sunk in 2004. The latest story goes that a German dive group were actually diving when the fire broke out and returned to a burning boat with crew abandoning ship. The truth has undergone some embellishment. Although fire damaged, with a broken bow and effectively little more than a hull, she is well worth a visit as you swim between Abu Dabab II and III. The engines are clearly visible and almost intact and in the forward section are many recognizable parts such as lamp fittings and the proverbial kitchen sink. The props are still in place and large coral grouper can often be found skulking under the keel, which is still moving in the current. The reefs themselves are also very colorful with coral gardens and all manner of marine life. Blue spotted rays favor the sand areas whilst large napoleon wrasse cruise the upper reefs. Pods of dolphins have been known to spend up to 10 minutes with divers!

Middle Garden Abu Dabab is part of the Abu Dabab offshore reef system. Great coral gardens all over this site. Also some caves with can be explored. Great red anemones with anemonefishes, giant puffer, Arabian boxfish, blackspotted sweetlips, batfish…one of the best sites in the area.

Erg Abu Dabab is also part of the Abu Dabab reef system. You can dive the outside wall and the pinnacles at the south of this reef. Due to the fact that this reef is situated offshore the visibility is great. The pinnacles south of the reef. When you entered the water you could hear dolphins in the distance.You can see a great barracuda cruising by, varicose wartslug (a nudibranch), very nice anemones with anemonefishes, several moongroupers.