Dahab Under The Surface

Many people spoke about Dahab and its beauty, about the simplicity of the place, its tranquility and the beauty of nature and the mountains, but little to talk about Dahab underwater. Underwater is a very different, a world that you can’t imagine it exists. Diving sites in Dahab are one of the best and most famous dive sites in the world, and I meet many of the people who told me that Dahab dive sites are the best for them.

Dahab has a variety of dive sites, Some of these dive sites are suitable for beginners, and others are suitable for advanced people, so whatever your level you’ll enjoy diving in Dahab.

First, let’s talk about the places where any beginner can dive for the first time.

The first place is the Lighthouse.

It is a lovely place for beginner divers and a suitable for snorkelers also. The coral reefs are very close to the surface; it’s about one meter or less from the surface. Lighthouse is a very calm area, no waves, not deep, flat sandy bottom, and easy entry which enables novice divers to access the dive site easily.

A second place is called “Wadi Gnai.”

Wadi Gnai is known for people who visit Dahab by “three pools,” but this name is not accurate because “Three pools” is one of the places that exist in Wadi Gnai. Wadi Gnai contains many dive sites we can access by the cars; Golden blocks, Moray garden, Three pools, Umm said, and Caves. Two places of them are suitable for snorkelers and beginner divers; these places are Three pools and Moray Garden, both of them are quite, no waves, and easy entry. Although you need to ask first about the dive site entry because there are lots of corals and rocks around the entry, and if you don’t know where is exactly the entry you may injure yourself our damaging the corals by walking on top of it.
For certified divers there are excellent dive sites in Wadi Gnai, we have Golden blocks which you can make it as a drift dive from Golden blocks to Garden, or you can fo the left side of the dive site which contains a lovely coral. Another dive site for the certified divers is Umm said, one of the best dive sites in Dahab, there you’ll find a variety of corals and many species of fish. The last place is Caves; you’ll enjoy diving in this dive site because it’s different as it contains two caves, a small cave, and a big one, also it has nice corals and fishes. For the Caves dive site you need to be sure that the tide is high to be able to access the dive site because in low tide it’s not easy to enter and exit from it.

The third place is called “Mashraba.

“ Mashraba isn’t so famous like Lighthouse and Wadi Gnai, most people don’t know this place and don’t ask to dive there, although in my point of view it’s one of the best dive sites in Dahab. Mashraba is characterized by diversity. You can find there a sandy area which contains many beautiful creatures like eels, flounders, pipefish, and Scorpion fishes, also there is a seagrass area which includes a different kind of fishes, in addition to a large coral reef which start from less than one meter going down to 15 meters. Finally, three beautiful statues are lying on the bottom at 12 meters, so beginners can see it easily.

Now let’s talk about suitable places for advanced divers.

I’ll talk about three main dive sites the advanced scuba divers can access it, and I’m you’ll enjoy dicing there. The first and most famous one is the “Blue hole.” Blue hole not only renowned in Egypt but around the world. Many people come to Dahab and asking about diving or snorkeling in the Blue hole. The blue hole is not a place for beginners, it’s not suitable for beginners snorkellers or novice scuba diver.
For snorkellers, if it’s your first time to snorkel I don’t recommend you to swim in the blue hole because it’ll be difficult for you and you won’t enjoy it. In Dahab, there are many places for beginners you can enjoy snorkel there. If it’s not your first time to snorkel and you can swim, you can go and enjoy snorkel there, and it’ll be a fantastic experience.

For divers, If you are a certified diver, you’ll have one of the best diving experience in your life. You can do two dives in the blue hole, one of the two is drift dive. The drift dive we start it from a place called El-bells it’s a small crack inside the sea. We enter from this crack, go down then take the right direction, and swim parrel along the coral reef, It’s a fantastic coral reef start from one meter or less and the depth is unknown, while swimming you’ll meet a variety of fishes, there are many antias fishes, Aneome fish-Nemo-, lionfish, Nudibranch and some maybe Giant Moray. You’ll keep swimming until the Blue hole itself, the Blue hole will be your exit, once you arrive there, you go up to 7 meters to enter the Blue hole. Once you’re inside the Blue hole you have two options; If you don’t have enough air, your choice is to go directly to the exit, make your safety stop and finish the dive. Second option if you have enough air you can keep diving in the Blue hole by making a circle inside it.
If you aren’t certified, you aren’t allowed to dive in the blue hole, an only certified scuba diver can dive there. The Blue hole is surrounded by ropes because the area around it is a coral area. So be careful if you dive or snorkel there and don’t walk on the corals and before you get into the water ask about the entry and the exit.

The second Dive site in Dahab for the advanced scuba diver is the canyon.

The canyon is one of the best places in Dahab whether for snorkeling or Scuba diving. If the weather condition is good, no wind and no waves; snorkelers and beginner divers can access it easily. For me the canyon is the best dive site in Dahab, you’ll feel so peaceful when diving there. The canyon contains many remarkable things you can enjoy, the corals, fishes, and the canyon itself, if you’re advanced diver you can go inside the canyon the entrance for the canyon is in 20 matters, the scene inside the canyon is unbelievable, you’ll feel so peaceful inside, just go down, forget everything and enjoy the beauty of nature.

The last place is the Island.

The Island is the best place in Dahab where you can find a variety of
Coral, the coral there is impressive, colorful and unique. The diversity of the corals in the Island makes it unique and attractive for scuba divers and snorkellers also. I dive with many people who dive in many places around the world, when they dive in the Island they say that the island is the best place they have ever dive before. If the weather condition is good Snorkels can swim there, although diving for beginners is difficult on the island even if the weather condition is fine as the entry not easy to access for beginners.

This is not all the diving sites in Dahab, it is only the most famous. If you have any diving experience in Dahab, please share it with us :)