Hurghada & El Gouna · Egypt · Reef · Drift · Pinnacle
Banana Reef
An anemone city where hundreds of anemonefish guard their young
Photo: user:vberger · Public domain
Banana Reef is a sheltered, crescent-shaped reef off Hurghada with coral gardens and pinnacles. Divers come for its anemone city, and the current can run considerably strong, so a drift is the natural way to dive it.
Also known as Banana.
Where it is and how deep
27.2211° N, 33.9509° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Boats moor on the south side. The coral gardens slope away to the northwest and gradually turn into a sandy patch at around 20 m, while pinnacles reach for the surface from depths of around 14 to 17 m. In anemone city, hundreds and hundreds of anemonefish guard their juveniles, with bannerfish and feather-tailed rays around the reef.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Stingrays
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Hurghada & El Gouna: Diving runs all year; the seas settle from March to November and are calmest in summer, while February brings the coolest water.
Know before you go
- Current can be considerably strong and cuts the visibility, even in shallow water.
Dive videos
Drift Dive Banana Reef - Mohamed Kamhawi - PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer · Coach Kamhawi on YouTube
Sources
- Banana Reef - Egypt Divers — Egypt Divers
- Best Hurghada Dive Sites — Diving Around Hurghada
- Banana Reef - DivePlannerPro — DivePlannerPro
Photo credits
- From the bow of a boat, two men look toward a reef line with breaking surf and a distant island by user:vberger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Hurghada & El Gouna
A table-coral channel from the lagoon out to a pelagic drop-off
A calm lagoon of pinnacles sheltered when the outer reef is pounded
Pinnacle
Two pinnacles on a 16-metre plateau, with a wall dropping to 60 metres
An 1869 P&O steamer rotted back to her iron ribs at 24 m
One big pinnacle full of glassfish and moray eels
A wall, a 20 m-wide plateau, then a drop-off past 70 m
A minesweeper on her port side, 25 minutes from the marina
Wall
A small canyon at the foot of the drop-off, 40 m down
Similar dives elsewhere
Two enormous caves filled with shoaling glassfish
Shallow reef to 15-20 m with pinnacles off the southeast
The freighter Loullia aground on the reef since 1981
Freediving lines to 40 m and a scrap-metal elephant on the sand