Dahab · Egypt · Muck & macro · Reef
Bannerfish Bay
A small reef filled to the brim with schooling bannerfish
Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase · CC BY 2.0
Bannerfish Bay is a shore dive just right of the Lighthouse in Dahab, where a gentle seagrass slope ends at a small reef packed with schooling bannerfish. The seagrass is the draw: seahorses, frogfish, ghost pipefish and nudibranchs hide in it, and a resident turtle often grazes there.
Where it is and how deep
28.4982° N, 34.5184° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
From the Lighthouse entry the route turns left and follows a gradual slope down to about 12 m. The slope crosses a seagrass area scattered with car tyres and a small car wreck, where seahorses, frogfish, nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, moray eels, stonefish and scorpionfish hide among the blades.
The resident turtle is often seen feeding on the seagrass. A little further on, past the end of the meadow, a small reef sits filled with schooling bannerfish, the fish that gave the bay its name.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Nudibranchs
- Frogfish
- Macro critters
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Dahab: Conditions stay calm and shore-diveable year-round; visibility peaks in spring and autumn shoulder months.
Know before you go
- Stonefish and scorpionfish lie hidden in the seagrass, so fins and hands stay off the bottom.
Dive videos
Diving Sinai Divers Backpackers´ House Reef - Bannerfish Bay (Dahab, Egypt) 2014 HD · Livingdreams.tv | Tom Vierus on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How is Bannerfish Bay entered?+
From the shore, through the same entry as the Lighthouse; the route turns left down a gradual slope to about 12 m.
Sources
- Dahab dive sites — Sinai Divers
- Bannerfish Bay — ScubaGo
Photo credits
- A dense school of dark eel catfish with white stripes swarming low over green seagrass against blue water by Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Dahab
Lagoon
A cave-like canyon with swim-throughs beyond the shallow lagoon
A 26-metre tunnel at 55 metres links the sinkhole to open water
Coral garden
Shared entrance with the Canyon, then a slow run south
Garden eels standing in the sand a few fin-kicks from the entry
Sand slope
A single large block at 14 metres, loaded with small life
Drift
A canyon from 20 to 50 metres and a forest of giant gorgonians
Reef
A town house reef: seagrass, then coral blocks to 22 metres
Wall
No road in — a 50-minute boat ride to a fan-coral drop-off
Similar dives elsewhere
Green turtles grazing the seagrass above a reef of cleaning stations
Muck slope and coral bommies ten metres apart
Harlequin shrimp and flamboyant cuttlefish on black sand
Small wrecks, sea-pen sand and frogfish five minutes off the beach