Hurghada & El Gouna, the area around El Fanadir, North

Hurghada & El Gouna · Egypt · Wall · Pinnacle

El Fanadir, North

One big pinnacle full of glassfish and moray eels

Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0

The northern site on the Fanadir reefs, an hour by boat south of El Gouna. A reef wall runs down to about 12 metres, where a plateau roughly 20 metres wide carries the dive out to the lip of a drop-off that falls past 70 metres. One large pinnacle on the plateau is full of glassfish and moray eels, and it is the feature divers come away talking about.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of El Fanadir, North: typical dive to 12 m (to 40 ft), deepest point 70 m (230 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit12 m70 m maxtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 80 m (262 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

27.2953° N, 33.8321° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The reef wall drops to about 12 metres, and the plateau at its foot, some 20 metres wide, is where the dive is worth spending time. One large pinnacle stands on it, full of glassfish, with moray eels tucked into the same structure. Circling that block slowly, then working along the plateau to the lip, gives you most of what the site holds without ever needing to go deep.

Below the plateau the wall drops off to more than 70 metres, which makes the lip a viewing line rather than a route. If you want the deeper part of the face, take it early and come back up onto the plateau, then finish shallow over the reef top. The boat run is an hour south of El Gouna, and the southern end of the same reef system is listed as a site of its own.

Marine life and season

  • Reef fish swarms
Month-by-month season rating for El Fanadir, North
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FairFairGoodPrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodPrimePrimeGoodFair

Season follows Hurghada & El Gouna: Diveable year-round; spring and autumn bring the calmest seas for the Abu Nuhas crossing.

Know before you go

  • The wall below the plateau falls past 70 metres. Agree a maximum depth on the boat rather than deciding it while looking down the face.

Sources

  1. El Fanadir, North dive site — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)
  2. Fanadir — Wikipedia

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El Fanadir, South

A wall, a 20 m-wide plateau, then a drop-off past 70 m

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Giannis D

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