Hurghada's best dive sites – from dolphin-visited Dolphin House through the walls of the Giftun Islands to the El Mina wreck – all lie 10–90 minutes by boat from the harbour, so day trips cover them comfortably. Visibility is 15–30 metres, the water stays at 22–29°C all year, and from shallow coral gardens to deep walls every level finds its match.
In this list we present our 10 favourite sites through a diver's eyes: depth, difficulty level, what you'll see underwater – and for each site an insider tip that only someone who dives there every week can give you.
At the end we also explain how our boat picks the day's two dive sites every morning – because a great dive starts with being in the right place at the right time.
The 10 dive sites at a glance
- Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg) – 5–14 m, beginner-friendly – dolphins, shallow coral garden
- Giftun Islands – 5–30 m, beginner-friendly – national park, drift dives
- Small Giftun wall – 12–30+ m, advanced – steep wall, gorgonians, eagle rays
- Abu Ramada, “the Aquarium” – 5–25 m, beginner-friendly – dense fish schools, coral towers
- El Fanadir – 5–35 m, beginner-friendly – gentle wall, turtles, close to the harbour
- Umm Gamar – 12–30 m, advanced – plateau, small caves, morays
- Carless Reef – 12–40 m, advanced – open-sea coral towers, giant morays
- El Mina wreck – 25–32 m, AOWD required – warship wreck wrapped in glassfish
- Gota Abu Ramada – 3–15 m, everyone – the night-dive favourite
- Sha'ab Sabina – 5–12 m, beginners – sunlit sandy plateau, our training ground
1. Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg) – where the dolphins live
The horseshoe-shaped Sha'ab El Erg reef north of Hurghada isn't called Dolphin House for nothing: its sheltered lagoon is a resting place for bottlenose dolphins, and on good days they appear during the dive or the surface interval. Honesty matters here: dolphins are wild animals and no encounter can be guaranteed – but nowhere in Hurghada are your chances better.
The reef would be worth the trip even without dolphins: fire corals, trumpetfish and bluespotted rays live in its shallow coral garden, and the sandy lagoon is perfect terrain for calm, long dives.
- Depth: 5–14 m · Level: beginner-friendly · Boat ride: about 45–60 minutes
- What you'll see: bottlenose dolphins, bluespotted rays, fire corals, trumpetfish
- Insider tip: dolphins are most playful early in the morning – ask for the first dive here
2. Giftun Islands – coral gardens of the national park
The Giftun Islands are the protected national park on Hurghada's doorstep: around Big and Small Giftun a dozen dive sites line up, from soft-coral slopes to walls plunging into the deep. Thanks to the protection, the corals here are strikingly healthy and colourful.
Most dives here are drift dives: the boat drops you at one end of the reef and picks you up wherever the current carries you – you simply hover and watch the wall glide past. The current is usually gentle, so it's a great experience even for beginners.
- Depth: 5–30 m · Level: beginner-friendly · Boat ride: about 45 minutes
- What you'll see: healthy coral gardens, turtles, Napoleon wrasse, schools of butterflyfish
- Insider tip: ask for a drift dive – you fly along the wall with barely a fin kick
3. Small Giftun wall – the wall of gorgonians
The eastern wall of Small Giftun is one of Hurghada's most spectacular dives: the reef edge drops below 30 metres, huge sea fans – gorgonians – cover the wall, and at any moment an eagle ray or a school of tuna can drift in from the blue.
Because of the depth and current we recommend this site with an Advanced certification or as a more experienced Open Water diver – in return, this is the wall everyone will be talking about on the boat that evening.
- Depth: 12–30+ m · Level: advanced (AOWD recommended) · Boat ride: about 45–60 minutes
- What you'll see: a gorgonian-covered wall, eagle rays, barracudas, tuna in the blue
- Insider tip: turn your back to the wall now and then and watch the open water – the big encounters come from there
4. Abu Ramada – “the Aquarium”
Divers simply call the reefs around Abu Ramada island “the Aquarium” – and anyone who has dived here once never asks why. Around the coral towers, the so-called ergs, the fish schools swirl so densely that they sometimes literally block out the sun: whirling clouds of yellow fish, glassfish storms, thousands of butterflyfish.
The sites around the island are varied: the northern wall is deeper and wilder, the southern side gentle and calm – so the Aquarium can offer a memorable dive to almost every level.
- Depth: 5–25 m · Level: beginner-friendly · Boat ride: about 45 minutes
- What you'll see: dense fish schools, clouds of glassfish, morays, coral towers
- Insider tip: hover motionless near the ergs for a few minutes – the fish schools will surround you on their own
5. El Fanadir – Hurghada's house reef
El Fanadir is Hurghada's “house reef”: a long coral ridge running north to south, barely 20–30 minutes by boat from the marina. With its gentle wall and shallow plateau it's one of the most versatile sites – we bring students here too, yet the deeper stretches of the wall hold plenty for advanced divers.
On the sandy plateau, bluespotted rays rest beneath the coral heads, and the reef-top coral garden keeps the show running even through the three minutes of your safety stop. On lucky days a pod of dolphins sweeps past in the blue.
- Depth: 5–35 m · Level: beginner-friendly · Boat ride: about 20–30 minutes
- What you'll see: turtles, bluespotted rays, coral gardens, sometimes dolphins
- Insider tip: on the shallow southern plateau, peek under the coral heads – you'll almost always find a resting ray
6. Umm Gamar – plateau, little caves, crystal water
The elongated island of Umm Gamar (“Mother of the Moon”) lies a good hour to the north – and that distance filters out the crowds. The eastern wall steps down in plateaus, and at the southern tip coral-covered towers and small cave hollows await, packed with glassfish and soldierfish.
It's a favourite of more practised divers: the plateau sits at around 20 metres and the current varies, but in return the water is crystal clear, and this is one of your best chances to meet the bigger predators.
- Depth: 12–30 m · Level: advanced (or experienced OWD with a guide) · Boat ride: about 75–90 minutes
- What you'll see: small caves, glassfish schools, morays, barracudas, rarely a reef shark
- Insider tip: ask for a torch – the real life hides in the hollows of the southern towers
7. Carless Reef – realm of the giant morays
Carless Reef is a plateau rising from the open sea with two coral towers – far from shore, so it can only be reached in calm weather. Its fame was built on the giant morays that still wind around the towers today, entirely unafraid of divers.
The currents make this a true advanced dive – but when it comes together, you get Hurghada's fishiest, wildest site: fields of hard coral, migrating fish schools and the feeling of hovering in the middle of the ocean.
- Depth: 12–40 m · Level: advanced · Boat ride: about 60–75 minutes, calm weather only
- What you'll see: giant morays, coral towers, migrating fish schools, rarely sharks in the deep
- Insider tip: in the passage between the two towers you'll often see several morays swimming free – a rare sight anywhere else
8. El Mina wreck – a warship at 30 metres
The El Mina, an Egyptian navy minesweeper, has lain in front of Hurghada's harbour since 1970, on her side at 30 metres – today the city's most famous wreck dive. With her deck guns, propellers and the clouds of glassfish drifting through her, this dive is museum and aquarium in one.
The depth calls for an Advanced certification, and we only enter the wreck with proper training – but circling her outside is unforgettable in itself. She is also a historical memorial: we dive here with respect.
- Depth: 25–32 m · Level: AOWD required · Boat ride: about 10–15 minutes
- What you'll see: a warship wreck with deck guns, glassfish clouds, lionfish, crocodile fish
- Insider tip: with nitrox (€8 per tank) you get noticeably more bottom time at the wreck
9. Gota Abu Ramada – calm by day, magical by night
Gota Abu Ramada is the little sibling of the big Abu Ramada reef: a shallow, sandy-bottomed area with scattered coral blocks, where life concentrates between 3 and 15 metres. By day it's calm – ideal for long, relaxed dives and course training.
But it shows its true face at sunset: this is Hurghada's best night-dive site. In the beam of your torch appear hunting morays, sleeping parrotfish and, with decent odds, a Spanish dancer – the Red Sea most spectacular sea slug.
- Depth: 3–15 m · Level: everyone · Boat ride: about 40–45 minutes
- What you'll see: coral blocks, bluespotted rays, crocodile fish, Spanish dancers at night
- Insider tip: ask for your night dive here – after sunset the reef puts on an entirely new show
10. Sha'ab Sabina – sunlit ground for first dives
Sha'ab Sabina's shallow, sunlit sandy plateau is one of Hurghada's friendliest reefs – no coincidence that we hold a good share of our course dives and intro dives here. The 5–12 metre depth, weak current and light bouncing off the white sand make it the ideal first encounter with the Red Sea.
But don't think it's only for beginners: colonies of garden eels sway in the sand, and so much tiny life bustles between the coral patches that macro photographers feel at home within minutes.
- Depth: 5–12 m · Level: perfect even for beginners · Boat ride: about 30–40 minutes
- What you'll see: a sandy plateau, garden eels, clownfish, juvenile rays on the sand
- Insider tip: hover motionless above the garden eel colony for half a minute – slowly they all poke their heads out
How do we choose where the boat goes each day?
Our daily boat visits two dive sites between 08:00 and 16:00 – and which two is decided every morning by the captain and the lead guide, based on wind, swell and currents. The goal never changes: you get the best water available that day.
The group matters too: we factor in the divers' levels and wishes. If you're dreaming of dolphins or the wreck has your name on it, tell us in advance – we'll plan the week so it fits.
Daily diving costs €60, the 3-day package €165 and the 5-day package €250 – with the latter you can cover up to 10 different dive sites in a week. And if you still have air left after the day's two dives, a third costs just +€15. Write to us and we'll build your week from your wish list – booking is free, and you pay on site.
Frequently asked questions
The shallow, calm sandy plateaus of Sha'ab Sabina and Gota Abu Ramada are ideal for first dives, but the Dolphin House lagoon and the southern part of El Fanadir are beginner-friendly too. At every one of them a qualified guide dives with you throughout.
Your best odds are at Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg), where bottlenose dolphins regularly rest in a sheltered lagoon. They're wild animals, so there's no guarantee – but encounters are frequent on early-morning dives, and they sometimes appear at El Fanadir too.
The wreck lies at 25–32 metres, so an Advanced Open Water (AOWD) certification is required. If you only hold an OWD, you can take the AOWD with us for €290 – with one of the deep dives potentially right at the wreck.
Partly, yes: we collect everyone's wishes and plan the week around them – but the final word each morning belongs to the captain and the lead guide, because wind and swell decide where the best water will be that day. Tell us in advance what you'd like to see and we'll do our best to make it happen.
On the coastal reefs you practically never see a shark; at the offshore sites – Carless Reef, Umm Gamar – a reef shark occasionally appears in the deep. Divers count that as a prize, not a danger: sharks avoid bubble-blowing humans.
