El Quseir · Egypt · Coral garden · Reef

El Makluf

Hole-in-the-roof entry to coral blocks rising from 10 to 40 m to the surface

Area photo: Michele Gardini · CC BY-SA 3.0

El Makluf is a reef of several coral blocks that rise from 10 to 40 m to just below the surface, entered through a hole in the reef roof and a canyon. To the south there is a coral garden with many table corals. Snapper, scorpionfish, turtles, crocodile fish, barracuda, eagle rays, moray eels, clownfish and lionfish are listed for the site.

Where it is and how deep

Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

26.2029° N, 34.2163° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The entry is the memorable part: you drop through a hole in the reef roof and follow a canyon out through the reef, rather than walking off a beach into open water. Beyond the canyon the site is built from several coral blocks that grow from bases at 10 m to 40 m up to just below the surface, so you can take the dive as deep as your plan allows and still have coral all the way back up. Set your maximum before you go through the hole.

Head south for the coral garden, which the listing describes as very beautiful, with many table corals. The fish list is a typical fringing-reef mix: snapper, scorpionfish, crocodile fish, moray eels, clownfish and lionfish on and around the blocks, with turtles, barracuda and eagle rays as the larger sightings. Since the blocks reach just below the surface, the block tops are where to spend the last part of the dive before you head for the exit.

Marine life and season

Sea turtles
Barracuda
Eagle rays

Month-by-month season rating for El Makluf
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Fair	Fair	Good	Prime	Prime	Good	Good	Good	Prime	Prime	Good	Fair

Season follows El Quseir: Sheltered shore dives, so the winter wind that disrupts boat schedules from October to April matters less; water falls to 23 °C by February and peaks near 30 °C in late summer.

Know before you go

The coral blocks rise from as deep as 40 m; agree a maximum depth before dropping through the reef roof and keep to it, since there is coral to follow all the way down and depth creeps easily.

Questions divers ask

How deep is El Makluf?+

The coral blocks rise from 10 to 40 m up to just below the surface, so the dive can be anything from a shallow tour of the block tops to a 40 m visit to their bases.