Hamata & Wadi Lahami · Egypt · Reef · Lagoon · Wall
Sha'ab Sataya (Dolphin House)
The Fury Shoals' longest reef, with a resident spinner-dolphin pod
Area photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 2.0
Sha'ab Sataya is the longest reef in the Fury Shoals, about 5 km long, and its outer walls fall to 150 m. Divers know it as Dolphin House, because a pod of spinner dolphins lives in the lagoon on its eastern side. The dive itself is usually run at the south end, where a shallow hard-coral garden gives out onto a plateau and a drop-off.
Also known as Sataya Reef, Dolphin Reef, Sataya Reef West, Sataya Reef South.
Where it is and how deep
24.1581° N, 35.6804° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The reef runs about 5 km, so any one dive covers a fraction of it. The south end is the usual choice: the best hard-coral garden on the reef, according to the operators who run it, over a shallow plateau that ends in a drop-off. You work the coral in the shallows first, then follow the edge of the plateau out to the point where it falls away.
The dolphins are the reason the reef is known, and they are not part of that dive. The pod stays in the lagoon on the east side, and the encounter there is sold as a snorkel rather than a scuba dive. Underwater you are more likely to meet turtles, moray eels, octopus and squid, and reef fish across the coral, with reef sharks an occasional visitor along the outer edge.
Marine life and season
- Dolphins
- Sea turtles
- Reef sharks
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Hamata & Wadi Lahami: May to October is the calm window, with much less wind; diving runs all year, but sea state is wind-driven and can reroute a day.
Know before you go
- The outer walls fall to 150 m with nothing beneath you: agree a maximum depth before you drop in, and stay over the plateau rather than drifting out along the edge.
Questions divers ask
Can you scuba dive with the dolphins at Sha'ab Sataya?+
The pod lives in the lagoon on the eastern side of the reef, and the encounter there is sold as a snorkelling trip rather than a scuba dive. The scuba diving is on the reef itself: the south end has a shallow hard-coral garden over a plateau that ends in a drop-off.
Sources
- Sataya Reef West - Scubago — Scubago
- Dolphin House Sataya Reef North - Scubago — Scubago
- Sataya Reef South - Scubago — Scubago
- Fury Shoal - Wikivoyage (German) — Wikivoyage
- Sha'ab Sataya (Dolphin reef) - Wannadive.net — Wannadive.net
More dive sites in Hamata & Wadi Lahami
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Coral blocks and small caves over sand at 18 m
Coral garden
A west side packed with hard- and soft-coral blocks
Similar dives elsewhere
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Black coral below 20 m on a slope you walk into from the beach
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