Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib · Egypt · Reef · Cave & cavern
Long Canyon
Canyons cut into a reef table at only 8-10 m
Area photo: David Sanford · CC BY-SA 3.0
Long Canyon is a wide reef table cut by a system of canyons at 8 to 10 m, dived for the canyons themselves rather than for anything out in the blue. It is a popular site on this coast, and the shallow depth means the exploration of its twists and turns is limited by patience and gas rather than by no-decompression time.
Where it is and how deep
25.3473° N, 34.7768° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The site is a big, wide reef table with many canyons cut inside it, all in relatively shallow water of 8 to 10 m. That depth is the point: with the whole dive in the top 10 m, gas lasts, no-decompression time is not a factor, and you can spend the time following the canyon system instead of watching a computer. The dive is spent inside the reef table rather than along its outer face, so expect to lose sight of open water for stretches at a time.
Inside, the canyon offers a long run of twists and turns to explore, and sun beams come down through the sockets in the coral reef overhead. Take it slowly. Working a canyon system cleanly is a matter of fin technique, and a diver kicking hard will silt or scrape what is easy to pass at a crawl. Work the system in one direction, keep the diver behind you in sight at the turns, and come out over the top of the reef table for the ascent.
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
- Long Canyon — 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
Wall
Starts at a 27 m pinnacle by the drop-off, then drifts shallow
Two resident dugongs grazing a shallow seagrass meadow.
Walk-in bay entry onto north and south reefs
Similar dives elsewhere
A coral arch in 6 m of water, entered off the beach
Two caves at 3 m, a 5 m platform, and sand at 36 m off one beach
Short caverns at 7 m under an overnight mooring
Swim-throughs and pinnacles from 10 metres, diveable year-round.