Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib · Egypt · Wall · Drift
Habiba Wall
Starts at a 27 m pinnacle by the drop-off, then drifts shallow
Area photo: David Sanford · CC BY-SA 3.0
Habiba Wall is a wall and drift dive that opens at a large coral pinnacle standing in 27 m close to the drop-off, then continues along a coral wall in 15 to 20 m with a scatter of smaller pinnacles. The site as a whole is dived between 2 and 30 m, so the deepest part of the plan comes first and the rest of it runs shallower.
Where it is and how deep
25.2538° N, 34.7925° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive opens on the biggest pinnacle, which stands in 27 m close to the drop-off. Descend onto it directly rather than drifting down, since this is the deepest part of the plan and the stage of the dive where minutes cost the most. Circle it, get what you came for, and then move off before your no-decompression time starts dictating everything that follows. The site is dived between 2 and 30 m, so watch the edge of the drop-off if you work around the base of the pinnacle.
From the pinnacle the dive becomes a drift along the coral wall in 15 to 20 m, with plenty of smaller coral pinnacles along the face and coral gardens of soft, hard and brain corals with colourful fish over them. The shape of it is easy: let the current do the work, stay off the coral, and let the profile stair-step shallower as you go. Because the deep part came first and the shallow wall follows, the ascent tends to arrange itself, and the last stretch over the top of the reef makes an unhurried safety stop.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib: Dugongs and dolphins are resident year-round; spring and autumn bring the calmest seas for Elphinstone.
Sources
- Habiba Wall — Scubago
More dive sites in Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib
Reef
Shallow reef to 15-20 m with pinnacles off the southeast
Two of the seven dugongs known on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
Coral garden
Coral garden to 25 m, a quarter of an hour south of the marina
Best chances of oceanic whitetips run from October to December.
Reef
A horseshoe of reef enclosing a pool of coral gardens
Reef
Canyons cut into a reef table at only 8-10 m
Two resident dugongs grazing a shallow seagrass meadow.
Walk-in bay entry onto north and south reefs
Similar dives elsewhere
Scalloped hammerheads off the back of the reef in late summer
Cousteau's diving-saucer hangar still on the sand at 13 m
A freighter's bathroom cargo scattered across the reef at 25 m
A chimney through the reef onto a wall with no bottom in range