PLANET DIVERS: Dive Sites around Dahab, Sinai

DIVE SITES - DAHAB Site ratings from * to *****.
1. RAS MAMLAKH ***** A rocky cape with many coral covered rock formations and small canyons. One enters through a sandy lagoon where it is quite common to see big rays. This site is rarely visited by divers and as such enjoys a greater number of larger fish like Barracuda, Grouper and large Napoleon fish. Further south there is an extensive and dangerous underwater cave system.
2. RAS ABU GALLUM ***** Reached only by camel, Ras Abu Gallum is a sandy cape with two Bedouin villages and many dive sites. As a protected area, one can easily relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet. It is possible to stay overnight and partake in some genuine Bedouin hospitality.
3. THE BELLS ***** A beautiful array of soft corals growing under overhangs and in caverns in the crystal clear water. A short walk past the famous "Blue Hole" rewards every diver with an exciting and easy entrance through a small arched fissure to this enjoyable dive site.
4. BLUE HOLE ***** This notorious site is essentially a one hundred meter cylindrical abyss only five meters offshore. Its gigantic arch at 70 meters opens through the outer coral wall and into the open sea.
5. RICK'S REEF *** This site is normally the start of the drift dive south towards the Canyon. Rick's Reef itself is composed of a small wall dropping roughly 5 meters to a rocky slope out of which mostly hard coral grows. Similar fauna to the Canyon's coral garden.
6. CANYON ***** A personal favorite of many of Dahab's Divemasters, the Canyon is an underwater crevasse that begins at around 15 meters in a coral dome inhabited by hundreds (1001) glass fish and extends downward through closed and open sections to approximately 50 meters.
7. ABU TALHA **** An exceptional collection of coral pinnacles leads divers from the coral wall to a large sheltered bend inhabited by many fish living among the table corals that grow in abundance here.
8. ABU HELAL LITTLE CANYON A rocky peninsula and three coral islands protect the inner lagoon from strong currents and provide an excellent starting place from which to explore the area, spy on the local barracuda and even venture further out to the kilometer long "Little Canyon".
9. EEL GARDEN **** Hauntingly beautiful sandy slope where burrowing eels emerge to sway rhythmically in the current among a background of vibrant shallow coral and sea life.
10. LIGHTHOUSE *** Overtrafficked and underrated, this Dahab favorite often surprises even local veterans with graceful turtles, large Napoleon fish, and elusive groupers among its coral pinnacles and farther "beyond the saddle" stretches.
11. MASHRABA REEF *** Similar bottom arrangement to The Lighthouse, Mashraba is good for beginners, refresher dives, and night dives. A sandy slope leads divers to the large pinnacle, Roman's Rock, and farther down to a small arch at 36 meters.
12. ISLANDS ***** An underwater Garden of Eden, two sizable coral islands grow from an unequaled myriad of corals among a dense assortment of such an overflow of sea life that one can find barracuda, clown fish, groupers, Moray Eels, Blue Spotted Rays and much more in the same labyrinth passageways.
13. FOURTH ISLAND **** Another underwater island only 250 meters from "The Islands," this island stretches for more then 300 meters at a depth of 8 to 25 meters. With a lesser traffic flow than the nearby "Islands", Fourth Island benefits from a larger population of fish. One can reach this site by brisk swim from the shore or easily by small boat.
14. NAPOLEON REEF **** Napoleon himself never dived here, but this is the home of many of the fish that share his name. Most often done as a drift dive from a boat, the current carries you along a sandy ridge with many hard and soft corals. Fish abound, Eagle Rays make their quick appearances, Scorpion fish lurk and returning to the boat will go far far better than Waterloo.
15. SOUTHERN OASIS *** Though not a mirage this dive site will leave you thirsty for more. Best done as a drift dive towards Three Pools, many interesting spots along the way wait for the observant diver. This particular drift dive can be started at another entry point, such as Shark's Cave which oddly enough has neither sharks nor a cave, to provide a greater variety.
16. THREE POOLS **** After an easy entrance through three sandy patches sunk into the coral, one finds a gently sloping expanse of hard coral stretching away into the blue. Fan corals rise up gracefully further down the slope below 20 meters. With little current and little obstruction it's easy to explore the coralscape and gaze at the inhabitants to your heart's content, or at least until your DM heads you back to the exit.
17. THE CAVES*** With no real coral platforms the two large caverns lie just beneath the rocky shore. Both feature black and other soft coral growing in the caverns, even hanging from the ceiling. A variety of fish swim among the corals, some even performing occasional acrobatics by swimming upside down along the ceiling - tipping is not necessary and feeding forbidden either way.
18. UM SID *** Weave your way among huge coral pinnacles and rocks towards the deep blue where it just might be possible to spy the ghostly shadow of a shark.
19. SHAHERA *** Don't be dismayed by the smelly, grunting camels departing from this site on safari south to Gabr el Bint, there'll be more when you exit. Drop over the coral wall and head roughly 50 meters across the flat sandy bottom to a wide coral barrier composed of hard corals with many of the "cabbage" corals seen to the right.
20. FAN FOREST ***** Enjoy a swim over a large open canyon before getting to the heart of this fantastic site. Literally hundreds of fan coral wave in the current along a falling slope for as far as the eye can see. Large black coral provide relief in a collection of big yellow fans surpassing even that of Ras Mohammed.
21. GABR EL BINT ***** Pass by the hard coral wall and large rocks, taking in along the way many kinds of beautiful coral. At the halfway point cross up and over the wall's ridge framing a sheltered lagoon. The ridge itself is composed of hard and then soft coral, many of which it is hard to find elsewhere in Dahab. Turtles often join the crocodile fish and schools of fish that roam the lagoon . On the way to the exit a diver with sharp eyes has a chance of spotting a shark or some of the large grouper that live in the area.
22. "SHAT DABOUR" ****
23. END OF THE ROAD ****
24. RAS TANTOUR ****

PLANET DIVERS Tel.: +20 69 3641090, 3641325, +20 122681879, dahab@planetdivers.com

DIVE SITES - DAHAB