Diving In Hurghada
Looking at Hurghada’s line up of luxury hotels, its hard to believe this former fishing village was once barely a speck on the map. Its now one of Egypts best loved holiday spots. With wrecks, towers and coral gardens galore, the diving is out of this world. Emporer Divers offer courses for all abilities so you can really get to grips this stretch of ocean.
Wreck of the El Minya
An Egyptian minesweeper sunk by Israeli fighters while lying at anchor in 1969, this wreck lies in 30m on a rock sea bed. The current here can be strong from the north and the visibility poor. There is a large debris field which contains a lot of LIVE munitions, worth a look, but carefully.
The wreck is only 70m long so there is plenty of time to explore everything including the blast hole on the starboard side, which can be penetrated. Penetration is not recommended elsewhere on this wreck. There is not much in the way of coral growth on the wreck but it does have its resident fish life.
The blast hole gives shelter to shoals of glassfish and a lone anemone and resident clownfish are also in this area. Above the wreck are shoals of jacks and small barracuda.
Shab El Erg
The most northerly site for day boats out of Hurghada. A huge horseshoe shaped reef offering many dive sites on all sides. The north point can be home to Mantas in season.
The lagoon is dotted with ergs and is renowned for sightings of the resident dolphin community, divers have previously spent up to 30 minutes with dolphins here.
Nearby is another little known site but well worth a visit. The whole area teems with life, unicorns, scorpion fish, groupers, morays, emperor angel fish, blue spotted rays and underneath the table corals look out for white tips resting in the sand. In the sandy channel between the main reef and the gota you will find cone shells, and flatfish.