Daedalus, Fury & Elphinstone
March to November | Port Ghalib to Port Ghalib
Elphinstone, Daedalus, Fury Shoals
Itinerary Highlights
- Sheer walls richly covered in colourful pink and red soft corals, elegant red gorgonians, vertical cliffs, overhangs, small caves and drop offs at Elphinstone. Likely oceanic white tip encounters.
- Mountainous Daedalus with pristine, hard coral formations and a strong chance of spotting schooling hammerheads and grey reef sharks.
- Fury Shoals, a vast reef system to explore such as Sataya’s resident spinner dolphins, famous swim-throughs and huge porites corals at Sha’ab Claude, mazes and friendly turtles, fantastic coral gardens and much more that will simply blow you away!
This trip offers you some of the best diving in the Red Sea and includes Daedalus, Fury Shoals and Elphinstone. With less distance to travel than some routes, you have more time to dive these iconic sites and there is less chance of seasickness with shorter sailings and secure moorings. Depending on prevailing weather conditions your guides will pick sites suitable for night dives outside the Marine Park.
Heading first to Fury Shoals, we may dive around the Marsa Alam area or perhaps dive Sha’ab Sharm with its wall dives and white tip reef sharks. Oceanic white tips and silky sharks can sometimes be found in the blue and turtles often visit the south side before heading further south. At Fury Shoals, we have more time to explore the vast reef system than other itineraries afford. Of course we will dive the classics such as Sha’ab Claude (a.k.a. Claudio) with its famous swim-throughs and huge porite corals, Malahi with its mazes and friendly turtles and Abu Galawa Soraya with its fantastic coral garden and a wreck of a private sailing boat smothered with glass fish. Sataya with its resident spinner dolphin population is a must for snorkelling between dives, as well as having some good underwater offerings, and on top of that we can spend time exploring less dived sites such as Sha’ab Hamam (Stairway to Heaven), Abu Galawa Kebir with the Tien Hsing wreck, Gota Sataya and if the weather is kind there are some submerged reefs that can be moored on such as Habili Sameh that will blow you away!
Daedalus Reef, part of the Red Sea offshore Marine Park, is a large, oval reef with a lighthouse and is the furthest offshore reef in the Egyptian Red Sea. Its deep walls and drop-offs offer some of the most spectacular diving. Daedalus has mountainous, pristine, hard coral formations. There is also a strong chance of spotting schooling hammerheads, especially from May to November, and grey reef sharks.
Of course no trip to the South would be complete without stopping at world famous Elphinstone, with its sheer walls covered in soft corals, and likely encounters with oceanic white tip sharks. Depending on the experience of the group and the weather, you may even get the chance to dive it at the beginning and end of your amazing trip!
*Please be aware the dive sites and areas mentioned in our itineraries are not guaranteed. They are subject to change based on weather conditions and are at the discretion of our cruise director/captain. This is to ensure we provide the best sightings and activities possible during your dive experience while also prioritising your safety.
Dive Sites
Click dive site markers for detailed descriptions.
Dive sites & areas that we may visit are subject to weather conditions.
Daedalus
Daedalus Reef is the most distant offshore reef in the Egyptian Red Sea. It is approximately 52 nautical miles east of Marsa Alam and takes about 6 hours to get to.
The island is 450 meter long and 100 meter wide, it is marked by a lighthouse which forms the only break on the horizon for many miles in any direction. It's a huge round reef that provides an excellent opportunity for spotting big pelagics including manta rays and Thresher sharks. All around its steep walls you will see a a large variety of fish and coral. There's a good chance to see schooling hammerheads on the northern point. Strong currents possible and most of the dives on Daedalus Reef are drift dives along amazing deep walls covered by superb coral. In addition to the Sharks, you can also encounter various pelagic fishes such as the Giant Trevally or the Dogtooth Tuna. The Daedalus Reef is located within a Marine Park which combined with its remote location, really is one of the most pristine dive sites in the Red Sea.
The Daedalus Reef is can only be dived from a liveaboard and you need to be an experienced diver as the reef is in open sea.
Fury Shoals
A network of hard coral formations make up the complex reef system of the Fury Shoals. Inhabited by a variety of pelagic fish, dolphins and several species of shark, Fury Shoals is a diverse coral garden and a spectacular dive site. Aside from the endless colourful sea life, the lagoon also contains the wrecks of a tugboat and a sailing ship for your exploration.
For an easy introduction to cavern diving, there is probably no finer setting than the reefs of the Fury Shoals (and the nearby St Johns). At a few special places, divers can explore capacious swim-throughs, gulleys and canyons, at the same time enjoying some of the most impressive hard coral scenery anywhere in the world.
- Abu Galawa Soraya -
The northern edge of the Fury Shoal group, this reef has a fantastic hard coral garden and the wreck of a private sailing boat on the western side, which is packed with glass fish.
- Shaab Claude -
In the centre of Fury Shoal, famous for its large labyrinths of swim throughs. Huge porite corals and a resident Napoleon. Often white tip reef sharks can be spotted as well as an anemone and clownfish settlement on a small pinnacle a little off the reef to the south.
Abu Dabab
Elphinstone
A world famous offshore reef, Elphinstone is the jewel in our crown. Sheer walls and sometimes currents at exhilarating speeds make this one for advanced divers only but it will be one you remember. Dive the east wall in the morning and the west in the afternoon to make the most of the sun, and light up the abundant soft corals. Anthias smother the walls and large gorgonian fans and black corals hide critters such as the infamous longnose hawkfish. Keep an eye out in the blue for resident schools of snapper, large barracuda and enormous Napoleon wrasse.
The north and south plateaus drop to over 40mt in depth but can be a place for very special encounters - manta rays, silvertip, tiger, grey reef and hammerhead sharks have all been seen here and cruising the shallows at the right time of year can be curious silky and oceanic whitetip sharks.
Marsa Shouna
Also named "Shouni Kebir". A favourite spot of liveaboards and daily boats alike, Shouna is one of those areas where you can have magic encounters. Sites include:
- Aquarium -
The name says it all - this is the site to come to for that fish-tank feel. Cleaning stations up and down the reef serve the resident schools of snappers, batfish, goatfish and fusiliers. Crocodilefish, lionfish and scorpionfish lay in wait for the meals to come to them and the keen eye will spot more camouflaged critters on this site than any other.
- Ras Shouna -
The corner and outside north of Shouna is unique for its sprawling sand plateau. Littered in table corals of all shapes and sizes, pick your depth on the gradual slope and see what's hiding beneath. Blue spot rays are abundant, but certain times of year bring in breeding guitar rays.
- Shaab Abu Khaled -
Named after one of our captains, this reef is characterised by steep, sloping reef tongues extending down from the reef wall, separated by sandy areas. These sandy areas reflect the sun, lighting up the colourful soft corals and giving another opportunity to see big, sleeping green turtles. Large shoals of unicornfish, fusiliers and red snappers congregate next to the reef wall, and you may even be lucky to see something a little bigger out in the blue.
- Shaab Sireer -
The 'bed reef' could be named after the lazy speed we find works best to take in the scenery. It’s actually because more often than not we encounter sleeping green turtles at about 20m. Massive male, George, and cute female, Tracy, are the most regularly spotted. Don’t the massive schools of snapper and bream cruising amongst the stunning corals above.
- Shouna Seagrass -
The fine sand of Shouna supports a lush seagrass bed that runs down the middle of the bay and around two shallow pinnacles. This is a classic dive where you won't have to go far to see large whiptail rays and green turtles. Ghost pipefish, snake eels and shrimpfish are regularly seen but one of the greatest sights is the large school of golden trevallies that hunt in the seagrass like a pack of dogs. Also, for the lucky ones, Dyson our local dugong is spotted here.
Marsa Alam Airport
Port Ghalib
Also Important
Check Dive & Depart Port Ghalib
Once onboard there will be a safety briefing, crew introduction, complete and check dive paperwork, cabin allocation and boat orientation. Our boats moor in port on arrival day departing early next morning. The first dive is a check dive near port.
Return to Port Ghalib
On the last diving day, 2 dives are available in the morning whilst observing the rule of no diving within 24 hours of reaching altitude. We return to port at approximately 1pm and moor here overnight. Evening-time pack up diving equipment, visit the marina and settle any outstanding bills ready to depart for the airport or hotel the following morning.
Itinerary Experience
Intermediate, 30 dives
We recommend that you have 30 logged dives to join this trip and you should be comfortable diving in drifts and currents as they can vary from gentle to strong. Many dives are below 18m therefore we recommend having advanced experience or taking your PADI Advanced Open Water course on board. Booking a private guide may help divers unsure of their suitability for the trip to maximise their enjoyment. Divers may find some dives challenging and may be asked by the Cruise Director to skip dives that are not suitable for their diving experience. Diving is from zodiacs to give precise entry and exit points.