iDive Sites

Shore diving is the typical diving activity in Dahab, this is due to the unique nature of the Sinai peninsula. The shore leads directly to a deep abyss and to find a depth of 70 meters and more from the shore is a common thing, for example, the blue hole falls directly to a depth of 130 meters, but don’t worry about it as those are extreme diving conditions, and these dive sites are done within the recreation diving limits and under the highest safety precautions from i Dive. The corals in this region are growing since thousands of years around the shore line, and all through the years they built what is called a fringing reef. Directly from the shore you can dive in the most beautiful coral gardens, even if you decide to enter the water from any spot around Dahab, you can expect to dive directly in a coral garden, This makes choosing a dive site not so easy, but definitely eases the diving.

Certainly there are hot spots which we recommend. You can find a description here.

Ras Abu Galum

The first dive spot to the north is the national park of Abu Galum, and to go there we offer a great combination of came and diving safari, it is a must for everyone who wants to feel the thrill of combining a desert safari with diving. Ras Abu Galum north is a wonderful coral garden where the main attraction is the small creatures, there you can find big coral blocks with a lot of nudibranches, scorpion fish as well as stone fish. There is also a big chance to spot sea turtles, Spanish dancers as well as common sea dragons. Click here to go back to the map.

The dive in Abu Galum south is done alongside the famous wall, which dives directly to a depth of more than 80m, hard corals dominate the wall, but different corals are often seen there, such as colorful soft corals, hanging and black corals. On the other side of the dive site there is a flat area where a lot of green anemones and in the blue between we often spot more big fish, but the wall itself is inhabited by millions of small reef fish. Predator fish can spotted often in the late afternoon diving through groups of smaller fish to insure their dinner. Click here to go back to the map.

The Bells

The dive site itself represents a chimney in the heart of the reef, and it is done mostly in combine with the nearby “Blue Hole”. Ascending through the chimney head first to the depth of 30 m is a real thrill, after exiting the chimney we dive to the south with the reef on the right shoulder while ascending slowly and steadily in the direction of the Blue Hole, the glorious wall falls directly into the blue while covered with colonies of brown star corals, fan corals, soft and black corals as well as anemones. After 40 minutes we arrive to the coral covered saddle at the depth of 7m, which is the entrance to the Blue Hole. Click here to go back to the map.

Blue Hole

The Blue Hole is one of the most famous diving spots in the red sea; to drive to the northern dive spot is an adventure possible only with an off-road car. In the Blue Hole you can see a lot of free divers, but also there can be found small dolphin families as well as sea turtles. The forming of this 60×80 meters hole with a depth of over than 100 meter is until today, a mystery. Click here to go back to the map.

Anne el Camilla

In another dive center, this place can have another name, but with us, Hans calls it “Anne the beautiful”, this place is really one of the best diving spots around Dahab, and if you have seen the “buddy breathing with a turtle” video on our facebook page, that was filmed there.

The site has great drop-offs on north and south sides, a wonderful intact coral garden and plenty of fish. Many big species are seen often there, like the mentioned turtle, like sting rays and barracudas. The spot is found to the north of Rick´s reef, shortly before the Blue Hole, but is not fully discovered yet. We rarely meet any other divers on this spot, and we hope this is the ways it stays. Click here to go back to the map.

Rick´s Reef

Rick´s Reef is found directly next to The Canyon, and some management of air consumption, a 50 minute drift dive to The Canyon can be done. This dive is a shallow dive, not deeper than 18 meters, and it combines elements of sandy slopes, corals and fish, for example red lion fish, morays, blue point or sting rays, and, with some luck, turtles can be found here also. Click here to go back to the map.

Der Canyon

The entrance to this site is a 3-4 meter sandy lagoon, then crossing a reef wall and dropping to 10 to 15 meters depth, The Canyon is a crack in the beautiful coral garden, which looks like an open clam, a geographical phenomena and a high light as well. At the depth of 20 meters this crack opens and sinks deep.

Inside we dive on the 28m sandy bottom, and enjoy the light effect caused by the sun rays. The Canyon itself drops deeper to 50 meters with its straight tight walls. Swarms of glass fish fill the „fish bowl“and circle the divers. It is better to dive The Canyon on the late morning, so you can see the curtain of air bubbles coming out from the chasm. Click here to go back to the map.

Abu Talha

The Abu Talha dive spot is not often dived, and it is rarely to see other divers there. After starting the dive in a shallow sandy Lagoon, the dives takes us above a colorful saddle out into the open sea, where you can witness the splendor of corals and fish diversity all along the reef edge. Table corals and soft corals are dominating the site as groupers and trigger fish accompany the diver, and if you are lucky, then you can see sting rays or mantas. Click here to go back to the map.

Abu Helal

Ras Abu Helal means “the head of the crescent moon” which describes the crescent shaped reef at the south of Abu Talha. Both Abu Helal and Abu Talha can be done only in high tide and perfect weather conditions; this is why those spots are less popular than other places which make the corals here in a perfect condition. The reef surrounds a 10m deep sandy lagoon, outside of the lagoon is a sloppy bay and the north part is an expanded ridge.

The combination of soft and hard corals, with the diversity of marine life here is breathtaking.

The most common species here are groupers, trigger fish, big puffer fish, unicorn fish, hog fish and red lion fish. Sea turtles are always seen in this site. Click here to go back to the map.

Eel Garden

The dive site got its name from the thousands of sand eels rising from the sandy bottom. Sand eels are shy creatures that live in tunnel systems in the sandy sea bottom. The eel garden is around 50 meters away from the light house and the center of Dahab so it reached within a few minutes with a pick up. The dive starts with diving through a small canyon with sandy bottom, bordered with wonderful coral walls. Outside the canyon, the dive continues above a sandy slope, which is the habitat of uncountable sand eels.

The way back is done alongside a shallow reef wall, which makes the day of any diver with its colorful corals. Sting rays and mantas are seen here many times. Click here to go back to the map.

Lighthouse

This dive site is in the center of Dahab, and can be done in any weather conditions without problems. The Light House is the central point in Dahab, and it offers great diving as well as perfect teaching setup. The classic route (A) starts with huge coral blocks rising from the sandy bottom till the depth of 30 meters, then the bottom rises to the depth of 8-12 meters following the small cave covered reef wall.

The alternative route (B) is interesting for photographers and nature interested divers, a sandy slope covered with sea grass. During this dive you should take your time to identify the different fauna, and maybe you spot an octopus, puffer fish and many baby fish kinds. Click here to go back to the map.

Islands

Is one of the best dive spots around Dahab and is reachable within 10 minutes. The beginning of the dive is a line of three coral-formed pools with sandy bottoms, after crossing the pools the dive is continued through a labyrinth of hard corals exiting from the north, the dive continues alongside two big coral islands with a maximum depth of 16 meters. By the outer side of the islands, we can make a small but nice drift dive along the current. There are always a group of small barracudas and napoleon fish in between the two islands. The exit point is a small 2 meter deep tunnel where you can find a couple of lion fish relaxing inside.

This dive is special because of the day long sun shine and reflection of light, so when divers talk about “diver´s heaven” this is it. Click here to go back to the map.

Napoleon Reef

The napoleon reef is a perfect place for snorkelers as well as divers, the name comes from the majestic napoleon fish which are often seen in this site, but this quite dive spot also offers a lot of table corals and many huge puffer fish hiding under the table corals.

The site is at the end of the lagoona so you can enjoy the great view after you dive or a small run in the sand. Click here to go back to the map.

Golden Blocks

The golden blocks are two lively coral blocks where countless number of golden Anthias took as their home. The dive is done above two canyons, where a big and wonderful Gargonia has grown. A drift dive above scattered coral blocks and sea grass areas is done often with the Moray Garden as the exit point. Click here to go back to the map.

Moray Garden

Moray garden is one of the most multifaceted dive spots in the south of Dahab, the entrance is an easy shallow sandy slope, and the dive itself can be done with many ways. At the shore there are many Bedouin restaurants where food and drinks are served and where you can relax between the dives. Click here to go back to the map.

Um Sid

This spot is about 30 minutes drive from Dahab, so there are not a lot of divers there, the site is famous with its big Gargonia and its amazing coral blocks, with some luck you can see a long nose hawk fish on the Gargonia, and on the sandy bottom behind there are many sand eels. On and between the blocks many well camouflaged scorpion fish are hiding, as well as many groupers patrolling the reef wall. The site is also famous for its strong current. Click here to go back to the map.

Caves

This is the furthest dive done by car so it is the site with the least divers, from here you can only go with camels further. Directly at the entrance of the site there are 2 caves going to the depth of 12 meters and 4-5 meters overhang. From those two caves came the name of the dive site. Click here to go back to the map.

Gabr el Bint

Gabr el Bint is an amazing dive spot with many big and wonderful fan corals. Gabr el Bint means “grave of the girl” and the story behind the name is more like the Bedouin Romeo and Juliette. many years ago there were a Bedouin boy and girl in love, the wealthy family of the boy were against this relation as well as the big social difference, the loving pair didn´t care about all the warnings and one day the boy kept searching for beloved till someone told him that she was found dead on the a Wadi around 30 km south of Dahab, the boy was grieved by the loss of his love that he took his own life on the same spot.

You can hear this sad story in many different forms all around Dahab. The elders in Dahab still remember the story and even telling a sadder but interesting one.

The dive spot can only be reached with a boat or by camels or on foot (not our recommendation) the boat starts from the small harbor in Dahab and it takes around 50 minutes, other way is to drive by car to the south dive spot Um Sid and from there with camels, the camel ride takes around one and a half hours.

Gabr el Bint is for sure one of the best and most thrilling dive spots around Dahab, here you can find many schools of large fish like napoleons and milk fish and sea turtles, and maybe as well mantas and dolphins. Click here to go back to the map.