Hurghada & El Gouna · Egypt · Wall · Reef
El Sakhwa
A small canyon at the foot of the drop-off, 40 m down
Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
A reef about an hour by boat south of El Gouna, with the mooring lines set inside a small bay. From the bay a wall runs outward to reef blocks in the shallows, and beyond them the reef drops off to 40 metres, where a small canyon cuts into it. The bay end and the deep outer edge make this a site with two quite different halves.
Where it is and how deep
27.3343° N, 33.7919° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You go in on the mooring lines inside the small bay. From there a wall leads outward, away from the bay, and you follow it until the reef opens into blocks sitting in the shallows. That stretch is the easy navigation on this dive: the wall on one shoulder, the bay behind you, the shallow blocks ahead as the marker that you have reached the outer reef.
Past the blocks the reef drops off to 40 metres, and a small canyon cuts into it down there. If the canyon is the point of the dive, take it first and take it briefly, then work back up onto the shallow blocks and follow the wall in towards the bay for the ascent. Anyone not diving to 40 metres still gets a full dive out of the wall and the shallow reef without going over the edge.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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
- The drop-off and canyon are at 40 metres, the recreational limit. Decide the depth and time there before descending rather than at the edge.
Sources
- El Sakhwa dive site — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)
More dive sites in Hurghada & El Gouna
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Reef
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Pinnacle
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