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Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg)

A horseshoe reef with a sheltered lagoon where you can swim with wild dolphins – Hurghada's most famous dive site.

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Depth

5–16 m

Visibility

10–20 m

Current

Mild, easy drift

Level

Beginner friendly

Boat ride

~90 min by boat

Area

Northern reefs

Quick answer:Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg) is a horseshoe-shaped reef about 90 minutes by boat from Hurghada, with depths of 5–16 m – ideal for beginners and snorkelers. Wild spinner and bottlenose dolphins regularly rest in its shallow lagoon, and its southern coral garden is known as Poseidon's Garden. Dolphin encounters aren't guaranteed, but chances here are the best in the region.

Dive profile

Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg)

Your level

Reef

5–16 m

Your dive

16 m

Level needed

Never dived before

Sha'ab El Erg – known to everyone simply as Dolphin House – is a huge horseshoe-shaped coral reef north of Hurghada, towards El Gouna. Inside the horseshoe hides a shallow sandy lagoon where pods of spinner and bottlenose dolphins regularly rest and play – if swimming with wild dolphins is on your list, this is the place to come.

The dive itself is pleasantly easy: you drift along the outer edge of the reef between 5 and 16 metres over alternating sand patches and coral heads. At the southern end lies the coral garden known as Poseidon's Garden: fields of table and staghorn corals dotted with clownfish anemones and parrotfish, while the reef top shimmers with clouds of tiny reef fish.

Dolphins are wild animals, so an encounter is never guaranteed – but nowhere around Hurghada are your chances better than at Dolphin House, especially in the morning hours. And even if the pod happens to be elsewhere that day, the lagoon, the coral garden and the sunlit, easy diving are well worth the boat ride on their own.

What makes Dolphin House (Sha'ab El Erg) special?

This is the only reef near Hurghada with a resident dolphin pod – and you can meet them snorkeling in the shallow lagoon too.

Highlights

Wild spinner and bottlenose dolphins
Poseidon's Garden – a coral garden at the southern end
A shallow sheltered lagoon for snorkeling
Easy drift diving along the outer edge

Frequently asked questions

No – dolphins are wild animals, so we can never promise an encounter. However, a resident pod lives around the Sha'ab El Erg lagoon, so your chances here are the best in all of Hurghada, and in our experience they do show up on most trips.

No experience is required: with depths of 5–16 metres and mild currents, the reef suits try divers and newly certified divers alike. Every dive is accompanied by a guide.

Yes! The dolphins often rest in the shallow lagoon, where you can approach them snorkeling – always calmly and following your guide's instructions so we don't disturb the pod.

About 90 minutes from Hurghada, so it's a full-day trip: two dives or long snorkel sessions, with lunch on board.