Wadi Lahami, St Johns, Rocky Island and Zabargad

It’s no real surprise that exploration of Egypt’s southern Red Sea has increased dramatically in recent years, with pristine environments and thrilling diving conditions, huge schools of fish, thriving coral reefs, gliding pelagic sharks, and plenty of tunnels and wrecks for exploration. And lying beyond the reach of diving day trips, guests can avoid much of the hustle and bustle of Egypt’s busy resort towns – and head straight to its epic diving.

Fury Shoal is a collection of reefs 10km north of Ras Banas, that mark the start of Egypt’s southern Red Sea. The conditions here are mild with plenty of shallow, sun-drenched reefs as well as the famous steep drop-offs with stronger currents. Guests can find several small caves and swim-throughs at less than 10-metres, as well as a couple of wrecks including the Tien Hsing tugboat. Situated immediately south of Ras Banas, Foul Bay extends all the way to Egypt’s border with Sudan. Although technically encompassing St John’s Reef, Foul Bay’s main attraction is the extraordinary maze of tunnels at a dive site known as Caves, where sunlight pierces through huge cracks in the reef, inviting plenty of exploration.

Zabargad is the largest marine park in Egypt’s southern Red Sea and is often grouped with the Rocky Island Marine Park which lies just 5km southeast. Zabargad’s Turtle Bay is home to an abundance of reef fish, cuttlefish, octopus, blue spotted rays and crocodile fish, and is also a nesting ground for turtles during August. Beyond the sheltered coves, Zabargad offers thrilling walls and strong currents as well as the Khanka Wreck and sightings of oceanic whitetips, grey reef sharks, hammerheads, silvertips and manta rays. Rocky Island is surrounded by a short reef plateau, which drops away into strong currents, encouraging serious schooling action as well as feeding sharks and giant barracuda.

St John’s Reef is the southernmost of all Egyptian Red Sea dive sites and one of the marquee stops on most southern liveaboard voyages. This area boasts possibly the healthiest coral reef Egypt has to offer, stunning tunnel complexes, and an abundance of shark encounters – made all the more exhilarating with crystal-clear visibility.