Dahab, a traditional Bedouin town in Egypt, is located about 90 km north of Sharm El Sheikh Airport and stretches along 52 km of the Gulf of Aqaba coastline. Diving vacations in Dahab don’t just offer the chance to explore below the surface, they invite you to live in a vibrant village with families, kids, goats, camels and a wide range of international travelers who have also decided to make the village their home. It offers a wide range of activities and a vibrant atmosphere, as well as dive sites for all levels - including the world-famous Blue Hole.
Dahab is reckoned to have some of the healthiest, most vibrant and most resilient coral reefs in the Middle East. Which means its incredibly important to keep them so, with climate change, pollution and inconsiderate dive operators all posing threats. Traveling with a responsible operator ensures that not only are you kept safe and well-trained, but that protecting the reefs and their inhabitants is the absolute priority.
While most dive sites in Dahab are accessed by jeep, some exceptional locations in the south - such as Gabr El Bint, Shugurat, and Shaab Said - can be reached by boat.
Dahab ’s dive spots are stunning and varied. So you know what to expect, and to help you choose which you would like to see, we have compiled a brief description of each of the major sites.
Here’s a look at some of the best diving sites Dahab has to offer:
Read also: Learn to Freedive in Dahab
1. The Blue Hole
Monty Halls' Dive Mysteries: The Curse of The Blue Hole | History Documentary | Reel Truth History
Some divers come to Dahab for one reason; to dive the Blue Hole. A short 30 minutes 4×4 journey to the north of Dahab, this is one of the most recognised dive sites in the Red Sea, famous for its beauty but infamous for the number of fatalities it has claimed, as divers have attempted to swim the exit at 50+ metres. Situated directly on land’s edge, the Blue Hole is suitable for both snorkelling and scuba with 150m diameter descending 110m.
The Blue Hole is a blue hole, with a maximum depth within the hole of just over 100 m (328 feet). There is a shallow opening to the sea around 6 m (20 feet) deep, known as "the saddle", and a 26 m (85 feet) long tunnel, known as "the Arch", whose ceiling is at a depth of 55 m (181 feet) and whose bottom falls away as it reaches the seaward side to about 120 m (394 feet). On the seaward side the floor drops steeply to over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). Since 1982 the Blue Hole has become very busy and is dived almost every day by recreational divers. You might hear a parrot fish crunching his corral lunch or watch schools of masked puffer fish glide by like underwater zeppelins.
You need not be concerned; we will guide you competently within safe parameters.
Local dive centres take appropriately qualified divers to 30 m (AOW level or CMAS**) at the El Bells or Bells to Blue Hole sites. The Bells entry is from the shore further along from the Blue Hole.
Read also: The Joys of Living in Dahab
The ceiling of the Arch is 55 m (170 ft) deep, which requires suitable training and equipment as 40 metres is generally considered the limit for recreational diving. The Arch presents little problem for suitably equipped and competent technical divers.
The main challenge is gas management because any delays or errors at this depth, plus the time to negotiate the horizontal section, will need more than a single tank of breathing gas to do safely. Accessibility of the site and the clear, warm waters of the Red Sea makes the dive look more benign than it is.
The entry to the Arch is not easy to find because of the indirect line between the Blue Hole and open water. Time taken to pass through the Arch may be underestimated.
The tunnel appears shorter than it actually is because of the clarity of the water, the light at the outside end and the lack of reference points; divers report that the tunnel appears to be less than 10 m long but has been measured as 26 m.
Depth and the time taken to find and navigate the tunnel inevitably makes this a decompression dive requiring decompression stops on ascent in order to avoid decompression sickness (DCS). The likelihood of nitrogen narcosis causing confusion leading to poor judgement in an already demanding situation is significant at this depth.
Read also: Your Dahab Vacation
A notable death was that of Yuri Lipski, a 22-year-old Russian diving instructor, on 28 April 2000 at a depth of 115 metres after an uncontrolled descent. Lipski carried a video camera, which filmed his death. This has made it one of the most well-known diving deaths in the world.
2. The Bells
El BellsA spectacular dive situated just north of the famous Blue Hole, which is reachable from Dahab in 30 minutes . The descent is vertical through an ancient volcanic fissure with a cavity that widens and narrows giving it the shape of bells.
At 26 m at the bottom of the Bells is a mini arch that should not be confused with the arch in the Blue Hole itself. The dive is then a wall dive that finishes by crossing the Blue Hole saddle at a depth of 7 m.
The chimney opens and closes giving tempting glimpses of the big blue beyond, eventually opening out at 30m from a sheer rock wall. The clarity and colour of the water are always exhilarating. From here you lazily drift south along the rock face ascending gradually to exit at the Blue Hole enjoying the numerous flora and fauna throughout the dive.
3. The Canyon
The Canyon or “Canyon” dive site might just be one of Dahab’s most famous and popular sites. Located only 1.5km south of the Blue Hole and reachable within 20 minutes from Dahab, Canyon has a simple beach access with only a few meters of reef before you are there.
CanyonSituated south of Blue Hole, Canyon was formed by ancient seismic activity that caused a huge rift in the reef table. From outside it can be intriguing and from inside youll see a ceiling of beautiful blue hues decorated in fishes enjoying a curtain of bubbles.
The site itself opens in a north south direction on a reef slope that descends to 54m. Entry is made through its largest point where you descend 28m to the canyon floor to look upwards to watch other divers cruising silhouetted against pristine blue sea- a great photo opportunity! Turning northwards you ascend 10 m to reach a small cave at about 17m where you exit into the big blue.
For shallow divers theres a drift dive past the Canyon, via a beautiful coral garden, alongside Red Sea walkman, Red Sea anemone and everyones favourite, Nemo!
4. Lighthouse Reef
LighthouseThe most frequently visited site in all of Dahab due to the positioning and the fact that it is a great site for beginners as well as more experienced divers.
LighthouseThe Lighthouse dive site is renowned not only because its right in the main bay but because it really is the perfect Dahab dive spot, a sheltered location with easy in and out options.
Entry point is from the beach on to an easy sandy slope. The western route has a sandy bottom with many hard coral towers while the Classic route winds in and out of the towers and reaches a depth of 30 metres.
Most PADI Open water courses start here, on sandy slopes with great visibility, clear blue waters and many fish types including Lionfish, Unicorn fish and a resident Hawksbill Turtle called George. Photographers may get the opportunity to take a good shot of an octopus, seahorses, turtles or a puffer fish.
5. Eel Garden
Eel GardenYes, a garden of eels - a population of hundreds of Red Sea Garden Eels to be exact.
Situated just five minutes from Dahab, the fantastical Eel Garden is named after a Medusas nest of sand eels that populate sandy slopes and swaying fields of sea grass. They burrow into the white sandy slope, swaying half their bodies in the water to look like living plant stalks.
Approach too close or too quickly and the garden disappears as the eels retreat into their holes. Ascending towards the entrance area you will see pretty coral gardens with their populations of resident fish including grey morays hiding in their crevices. Eel Garden is just on the northern edge of Dahab so is popular for day and night dives.
6. The Islands
IslandsThese two huge coral formations feature well over 100 different types of coral and several of the Red Seas largest coral colonies as well as parrotfish, triggers, barracuda, trevallies and even blue spotted stingrays.
The IslandsA really fun site with lots of swim throughs and spectacular coral reef. Once entering through a narrow coral channel you pass through a series of sandy bottom hard coral pools, then you reach some really beautiful swim throughs at a depth of about 7 to 10 meters; maximum depth is about 22m.
You get to hang out with a school of resident juvenile barracuda, follow lion fish along the coral ond spot the occasional large puffer fish. It is truly a great dive so make sure you check it out.
7. Gabr El Bint (Grave of the Girl)
Gabr El BintThanks to its remote location, Gabr El Bint is one of the coastlines rarely dived sites and can only be accessed via an hour-long boat safari.
Gabr El Bint (Grave of the Girl)This site is absolutely stunning. The boat ride to get there takes approximately 1 hour. Being part of the protected area of Nabq the site has not been affected by tourism. It is situated 7.5km south of the caves and is accessible on foot, by camel or boat from Dahab. With the impressive surrounding mountains and the pretty much intact coral reef the site is truly one to experience.
However, once youre immersed theres a real treat in store with an extensive garden of Gorgonian fans from a depth of 20 metres and a series of shelters and sand valleys to be found either side of the hard coral buttress above.
8. Golden Blocks
Located in the Southern Oasis, two hard coral towers of golden colour give the site its name. Descend over a sandy slope, diving above an extensive area of sea grass on the right at a depth of 16 -20 metres you will then reach the golden block towers marked by a big gorgonian at 18 metres.
9. Ras Abu Galum
Ras Abu GalumA protected area situated 8 km north of the Blue Hole, suitable for both snorkelling and scuba.
The high mountains, sand dunes, and raised fossil reefs of Ras Abu Galum National Park are virtually untouched and present an authentic insight into Bedouin culture. As you can only access this area via a camel trek or boat ride its incredibly remote and provides shallow, deep, wall and drift dives amongst a profusion of brightly coloured fish and corals.
One of the attractions of this site is the journey to get there, either by camel or foot along the rugged coastline or by 4×4 through rocky Sinai mountains - all of which take approximately 1.5 hours. The sites here have fantastic underwater landscapes of hard and soft corals and plentiful fish that include snapper, butterfly fish, angelfish and glass fish.
10. Thistlegorm
It is a one day boattrip to Ras Mohamed and Thistlegorm. Sunk in 1941 the Thistlegorm was “lost” until 1955 when she was rediscovered by Jacques Cousteau on one of his early explorations of the Red Sea. She was then “lost” again and only discovered again in 1992 to become the diving attraction she is today.
The wreck is normally explored over two dives. The first is around the outside of the wreck where you will see the mighty flanks of the 126 meter ship. The stern was blown off the main body of the wreck and sits at a 45% angle, looking up you can see the unmistakable shape of the ship’s, ultimately useless, guns. The current normally runs bow to stern and large groupers are often to be found near the prop. Venturing over the debris of the impact area look out for the two upturned Bren-gun carriers and lots of Wellington boots. Up to the deck area we find many fish, locomotive rolling stock and the Thistlegorm’s huge winches which dive boats use for tying on to.
On the second dive we explore the inside of the wreck, your guide will take you through the holds to see the Thistlegorm’s cargo of BSA motorcycles, trucks, munitions and assorted spare parts.
Dahab Dive Sites Overview
| Dive Site | Description | Suitability |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Hole | Famous for its depth and challenging arch. | Experienced divers |
| The Bells | Vertical descent through a volcanic fissure. | Advanced divers |
| The Canyon | A crevice in the reef with stunning views. | All levels |
| Lighthouse Reef | Easy sandy slope, great for beginners. | All levels |
| Eel Garden | A garden of Red Sea Garden Eels. | All levels |
| The Islands | Swim-throughs and diverse coral formations. | All levels |
| Gabr El Bint | Remote site with pristine coral reefs. | All levels |
| Golden Blocks | Coral towers marked by a gorgonian. | All levels |
| Ras Abu Galum | Protected area with diverse marine life. | All levels |
| Thistlegorm | WWII wreck with cargo of vehicles and supplies. | Experienced divers |
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