Daedalus-Fury Shoals-Safaga

Daedalus-Fury Shoals-Safaga

Itinerary Highlights

  • The Daedalus Reef is a huge reef formation that lies at about 180 km south of Brother Islands. The reef is surrounded by a sheer wall all around, featuring a plateau on its southern side that goes from 28 m beside the reef to 40m on the edge of the drop-off. If the weather is good, try to get as far north as possible and drift along one of the sides of the reef. Reef and hammerhead sharks are often spotted here. Marine life is here more abundant than anywhere else, with schools of surgeons, fusiliers.
  • Fury Shoals is in southern Egyptian part of the Red Sea and a Mecca for dolphins. Here are tons of beautiful reefs with thousands of colorful fishes. The biological diversity on corals, both hard and soft, is astonishing. Diving varies from easy to quite challenging depending where one dives such as Sha'ab Maksour with drop off and drift dives, Sha'ab Claudio with caves and his local Napoleon that greets our guests most of the time. Sha'ab Sharm offers a good observation point for viewing passing sharks.
  • Photogenic wrecks can be found at Abu Galawa and not to forget the main spot at the Fury Shoal, Sataya, the dolphin reef with it's easy dives and snorkeling possibility.
  • Safaga, with its fantastic dive sites Abu Kifan and Panorama Reef, is, along with diving the Salem Express, a successful part of this safari.

Dive sites in this itinerary

  • Daedalus Reef

    Daedalus Reef is surrounded by a steep wall and features a plateau on the south side, which drops from 30 m at the wall to 40 m at the edge. The plateau is covered in colorful vegetation right down to the shallow area; turtles like to hang out there, as well as plenty of schooling fish. A closer look is worthwhile to spot snails, scorpionfish, and stonefish. It's not uncommon for a thresher shark to stop by the plateau. At the northwest tip, there's a good chance of encountering hammerhead sharks, but reef sharks of all kinds can also be observed. Drifting along the west side, you'll come across Anemon City: a colony of anemones has settled about 10 m wide and at a depth of 5 m to 30 m, forming a giant flokati carpet in the current. The fish population is impressive: schools of fusiliers, surgeonfish, and jacks, more diverse and abundant than anywhere else.

  • Abu Galawa Soraya

    A sailing yacht from the USA sank at "Abu Galawa Soraya" in 1980 and has since been colonized by very many soft and hard corals. An incredible sight in 17 meters depth on a length of 15 meters. But not only the great overgrown wreck convinces here. Needlefish, blue spotted stingrays, red sea fusiliers and free swimming giant moray eels can be spotted and admired at this dive spot with a little luck. What will please many - "Abu Galawa Soraya" is also suitable for a night dive and what better way to see the various wreck dwellers than at night! Equipped with light we can see inside the wreck also during the day the many glass fish that have made the yacht their own for a long time. Also on the sandy bottom many surprises are waiting between the coral towers and blocks.

  • Shaab Marsa Alam

    Shaab Marsa Alam is a large semi-circular reef shaped like a bean. It is surrounded by sandy bottom with isolated rock and reef formations. The north-eastern part is particularly impressive, with a unique and, above all, species-rich coral garden. It is not uncommon to see reef sharks here. If there is a current and with a bit of luck you can also see small black tip sharks or Longimanus. To the south, in the lagoon, there is a small Wreck at around 17 m depth.

  • Abu Dabbab

    A unique structure makes this reef so remarkable: there are notches and small caves, also a stunning coral garden. All kinds of emperor and banner fish are at home here, but also reef sharks. Due to its location and its maximum depth of 16m, Abu Dabab I is excellent for relaxed day and exciting night dives. In the south, almost exactly in the middle, there is a single block. There you will see bright red lionfish, as well as feather stars and at night basket stars. In addition, dolphins keep passing by in the south. In the southeast there is another collection of ergs with soft and hard corals, around which there are occasional hawksbill turtles and sharks. To the north is the famous "Heaven one". Many stories are told around this wreck. Not far away you will find anemone colonies and a cave system overgrown with ancient corals, before diving into two lagoons on the west side with mighty corals and schools of barbels and snappers. On the west side, an ancient coral formation stretches south with some boulders where reef sharks like to sleep. At the edge of the reef you can find remains of amphorae.

  • Fury Shoals

    The Fury Shoals make up several reefs along the Southwest Red Sea coast, offering amazing scuba diving opportunities with some of the most pristine reefs in Egypt. The hard and soft coral are unspoiled and are a highlight of many dive sites such as the Fury Shoal Garden. The marine life is also really great with all the usual reef fishes of the Red Sea and various species of reef Sharks (Whitetip, Grey) and even sometimes the curious Oceanic Whitetip Shark. Pelagic fishes such Barracudas, Giant Trevallies, Dogtooth Tunas are also common in the area.

  • Shaab Sheer

    The north side of "Shaab Sheer" is a bit more turbulent, but the south side is like a lagoon and is usually very well protected. We have to reckon with the strongest current on the west side, which faces the "South Safaga Channel". Most divers appreciate the area between three and 15 metres depth because of the quasi "moonscape" of the brain coral garden, nevertheless we find many different reef inhabitants at "Shaab Sheer". Picasso triggerfish, orange-striped and yellow-fringed triggerfish, parrotfish, pencil filefish and sling jaw wrasses can be found here in masses. In the area of the northern plateau and at the steep wall we can also see bream, bigeye empereor, mackerel, red and black snapper as well as schools of tuna and barracuda.

  • Panorama Reef

    The east and west sides of Panorama Reef drop off steeply, but to the north and south we find very interesting plateaus with lots of life and, how could it be otherwise, a panorama of a special kind. We see nose doctor fish, barracudas, fathead mackerels, moray eels, crocodile fish, eagle rays, napoleons and turtles. Great mountain corals, large table corals and thousands of anthias can be found on the northern plateau of Panorama Reef. The current is 95 per cent from the north, which means it's often quite "stormy" here. The southern plateau is more protected, starting at a depth of 18 metres and slowly dropping to 30 metres. Here, huge gorgonians grow above the chimney. A large anemone field is just as much a part of it as the almost obligatory sighting of stonefish.

  • Shaab Shona

    The lagoon is formed from a dried up river (wadi) and with a diameter of 150m between 5 and 45m deep. You can still see the wadi in the middle as a channel that rises to the north and south. In the north there is a plateau whose edges drop from 14 to over 40m. The north side is characterized by boulders where you can find ghost pipefish, long-jawed makerels, glassfish and crocodile fish, but of course also as many different coral species. They reach from the reef edge partly down to 20m and are covered with life.

  • Shaab Marsa Alam

    Shaab Marsa Alam is 350m to 400m long and shaped like an inverted L. In the north it starts with 50m width and expands to 80m until the beginning of the lagoon in the middle. Then it continues on the east side with a width of 10 to 20m like a barrier to the south. There are some real sights: In the lower part of the lagoon, west of the barrier, at a depth of 12 to 15m, there are two coral blocks - a large one of 1 by 20m and a smaller one of 6 by 6m. They stretch from the northeast to the southwest and are so intergrown that they look like a reef of their own. They are nicely overgrown with hard and soft corals in the upper part. There is a small cavern system to explore. In the northeast you can still find the remains of a sunken safari boat. Here you will encounter crocodile fish, moray eels and schools of snappers. To the north and west there is another beautiful coral garden. Both contain cleaning stations, are dotted with sandy areas and are home to garden eels, schools of barbels, snappers and other reef fish. You can find moray eels, octopus, snails and cheeky nemos. Both sites are easiest to access by Zodiac. The way back to the boat is doable, in any case you make it in sight of the safari boat to be picked up by the Zodiac.

  • Shaab Sharm/Gota Sharm

    Gota Sharm has a length of 250m, a width of 100m and runs in a wedge shape from west to east. There are plateaus at both ends. The rest consists of steep walls that reach more than 100m into the depth. The plateaus are 20m (close to the main reef) to 35m deep (in the outer area). The current usually comes from the northwest in the morning and from the north at noon. Despite this predictability, you should pay attention to it, because it can get very strong and you run the risk of being blown off the plateau. On the eastern plateau you can find the longnosehawkfish in a gorgonian, lionfish under table corals, barracudas, reef sharks, schooling fish and two cleaning stations: one in the middle of the plateau for young tuna, the other, by a large block on the south side, for surgeonfish. On the east plateau, the current can cause turbulence that makes diving difficult. The western plateau is narrower than the eastern one and there is also a cleaning station here. On its northern side the current usually meets Gota Sharm. So a good place for big fish like the hammerhead shark. Pretty much opposite, on the south side, manta rays have been spotted, but it is more likely to encounter reef sharks, mackerels, tuna and barracuda.

  • Abu Galawa Kebir

    At Abu Galawa Kebir there are lagoons and several side reefs that offer everything there is to see in the Red Sea. Blue staghorn corals, wonderful landscapes. Besides the "Rosalie Moller" and the "Numidia", the steam tugboat of Abu Galawa, the "Tien Hsing", is one of the most beautiful shipwrecks in the Red Sea. She was a harbor tug built in Shanghai in 1935. With a length of 36m, a beam of just over 7m and a draft of about 3m, it was a rather small ship for these purposes. On October 26, 1943, the tug sank and now lies at a depth of 12-13m in a slight angle on the west side behind the canal. The wreck is easily visible on the starboard side, but less so on the port side, so many corals grow on it! The coral garden on the west side consists of mountain corals. In the upper part, the cuts and channels are overgrown with table corals. Also here you can dive great at night.

  • Shaab Claude

    Shaab Claude is about 150m long and 60m wide with a maximum depth of 24m. Boats usually anchor in the south, because there is the cave entrance in 10m depth. Also most of the fish can be found in the southern part of the reef. Here live e.g. batfish, triggerfish, bannerfish, barbels and snappers. Also big napoleon wrasse are not rare. Often a current from the north makes diving on the west side above the coral garden difficult or impossible. After a bumpy ride by Zodiac to the channel and the anemone colonies, you will be rewarded with a nice drift dive on the east or west side.

  • Sheleniat

    The reef has a width of 150m and a length of 200m. With a depth of 16m it belongs to the very shallow dive sites. The corals here are mostly only 50cm high. The 2 to 4m high hills are the optimal area for damselfish. On the west side there are two big lagoons, which are connected inside at 6m depth. They are overgrown with stag and mountain corals. On the sandy bottom you will find gobies and crabs living there symbiotically. The north is bordered by a long block. On the west side, on the other hand, there are four coral mounds from 2 to 8m high. The east side has an elongated reef wall with single fields of mountain corals and in the outer area isolated 2m high towers. The variety of corals and fish here is indescribable! To the south are individual lagoons and ancient coral that is home to batfish, large groupers and moray eels. This is a good night mooring and night diving site. Around the hills the current often changes and forms swirls.

  • Erg Abu Diab

    This spot is typical of the biodiversity of the southern Red Sea, but also known for encounters with large sharks. Often the diver meets groups of hammerhead sharks. But also the encounter with gray sharks and thresher sharks is likely here and with good luck among them also an oceanic white tip shark.

  • Gota Eden

    A plateau with small caves, countless colorful fish, a garden of mountain, fire and staghorn corals, green sponges, gorgonians - the "Eden Reef" is a breathtaking dive spot. If you decide to dive in this paradise in the Red Sea, you will encounter a slightly horseshoe-shaped reef with a length of about 160 and a width of 90 meters. If you arrive at the end of the reef, your breath will be taken away - it goes steeply downhill for well over 100 meters.

Golden Dolphin Safari World

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