Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib · Egypt · Reef · Lagoon · Coral garden · Wall
Sha'ab Samadai (Dolphin House)
A resting pod of 60 to 80 spinner dolphins in the lagoon.
Area photo: David Sanford · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sha'ab Samadai is a horseshoe-shaped reef south of Marsa Alam, known as Dolphin House for the 60 to 80 spinner dolphins that rest inside its lagoon through the day. The lagoon shallows sit at about 5 metres; outside it the reef walls, coral pinnacles and a canyon drop past 30 metres. Access is zoned and capped, and the dolphins' resting area is closed to visitors.
Also known as Dolphin House, Samadai Reef.
Where it is and how deep
24.9861° N, 34.9991° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Diving happens on the outer reef, outside the sheltered lagoon. Ground falls from about 5 metres inside the horseshoe to over 30 metres on the outside, and the dive works the reef walls and coral pinnacles along that edge, with the canyon through the outer reef as the feature most boats aim for. Swim-throughs cut the coral gardens inside the horseshoe, and barracuda, groupers, stingrays and turtles are among the regulars on the reef.
The outer reef reaches 40 metres, so the deep leg is done first and the shallows kept for the back half of the dive. The dolphins are not part of it: the inner lagoon where they rest and nurse their young is closed to swimmers and divers alike, and people meet them only from the snorkelling zone beside it, wearing life jackets. Divers stay outside both, which keeps the encounter a surface one and the dive a reef dive.
Background
Samadai is managed in three zones under marine-park rules. The inner section of the lagoon is reserved for the dolphins and no swimmers or divers are permitted there. The area adjacent to it takes snorkellers wearing life jackets. The outer reef, with its walls, coral pinnacles and canyon, is where scuba diving happens. The entry fee funds the arrangement: 30% goes to HEPCA's mooring and monitoring programme, 30% to Egypt's National Parks conservation fund and 40% to the local Marsa Alam municipality.
Marine life and season
- Dolphins
- Sea turtles
- Barracuda
- Groupers
- Stingrays
- Trevally & jacks
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Spinner dolphin numbers are lowest between February and April and reach their peak between May and July.
Know before you go
- The outer reef reaches 40 metres and the wall gives no bottom reference; plan the deep section first and watch no-decompression time.
Dive videos
Scuba diving Dolphin House Red Sea Egypt · Dive 965 on YouTube
Part 8 - Sha'ab Samadai (Dolphin House) Canyon dive · Diving Dutchman on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can you swim with the dolphins at Dolphin House?+
Not where they rest. The inner lagoon is closed to swimmers and divers; snorkellers in life jackets may enter the zone next to it, and scuba diving is confined to the outer reef.
When are dolphin numbers highest at Samadai?+
The pod of roughly 60 to 80 spinner dolphins is at its smallest between February and April and peaks between May and July, sometimes six to eight times the winter minimum.
Sources
- Shaab Samadai "Dolphin House" dive site — PADI
- Dolphin House (Shaab Samadai), Red Sea — Deep South Divers
More dive sites in Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib
Reef
Shallow reef to 15-20 m with pinnacles off the southeast
Two resident dugongs graze the seagrass in a bay you wade into
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
Reef
Canyons cut into a reef table at only 8-10 m
Two resident dugongs grazing a shallow seagrass meadow.
Similar dives elsewhere
Shallow coral gardens and deeper drop-offs, 30 to 45 minutes from the city
Moorings from an 8 m coral garden to a 30 m wall
The Fury Shoals' longest reef, with a resident spinner-dolphin pod
A vertical eastern edge dropping to 30 metres off Small Giftun