Hamata & Wadi Lahami

Diving here is resort work. Three bases sit on the strip south of the marina - Extra Divers inside Lahami Bay Beach Resort, ORCA at Wadi Lahmy Azur about ten minutes from Hamata, and Red Sea Diving Safari's tent-and-chalet village 10 km south of Hamata village - and the day boats leave from a private jetty or the marina at Hamata rather than a public harbour. The run out is 3 to 23 nautical miles, 10 to 90 minutes for the forty-odd sites in range, so a day is usually two dives offshore. Zodiac and speedboat dives start off the beach, and the house reefs are walked into, which leaves an afternoon dive easy to fit in without booking anything.

The reefs are fringing coral along the shore and detached shoals offshore, cut into lagoons, coral gardens and drop-offs, with normal depths of 10 to 25 m. Sha'ab Claudio's two caves lie in shallow water with holes in the roof letting light through; Abu Galawa Kebir wraps a shallow lagoon and holds a wreck on its south reef; Sha'ab Maksur stands on two plateaus fully covered in soft and fan coral. Whitetip and grey reef sharks work the outer reefs, with barracuda, giant trevally and dogtooth tuna in the blue, while the seagrass at the house reefs draws turtles and rays.

It suits divers willing to trade a long road transfer for reefs that see few boats, and who are content with one resort's schedule for a week. The training-depth house reefs make it workable for a new diver, once a mandatory check dive is done. The harder sites are the reason to come: Sha'ab Maksur is reserved for experienced divers on account of current and depth, and Erg Abu Diab falls from the surface to 75 m. Anyone whose trip hinges on the classic Red Sea wrecks should head north to Abu Nuhas and Gubal instead.