Reef

The Canyon

Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt

Best for advanced divers
Expert-level dive
Night dives possible

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Type

Reef

Max depth

55 m

Level

Expert

DepthLagoon 3m; coral garden 5-10m; canyon mouth at 18-20m, floor at 54-55m

LocationAbout 10 km north of Dahab, reached by road, with a short walk over shingle to the water.

ConditionsBest dived at high tide, when the shallow lagoon has enough water over it. Medium current and good visibility. The overhead environment and the depth of the entrance put the fissure itself beyond open water level.

Overview

The Canyon is a fault in the reef, opened by an earthquake in the Gulf of Aqaba, running north to south and dropping to 54 m. Divers inside it are under rock, and their exhaled air does not surface where they are: it works up through the fissured limestone and comes out of the seabed in streams some distance away, so the reef appears to be venting. The mouth sits at 18 to 20 m, with further openings at 30 m and at 53 to 55 m, and the chamber at the seaward end is packed tight enough with glassfish to be called the Fish Bowl.

Dive plan

The dive starts in a sandy lagoon about 3 m deep, crosses a saddle in the reef and drops into a coral garden lying between 5 and 10 m. That much is open to any diver and is a complete dive on its own. The fissure is entered at 18 to 20 m. Inside, the walls close overhead and the floor falls away, and the exits are fixed points rather than choices: 17 to 18 m, 30 m, or 53 to 55 m at the bottom. A cave has been reported beyond the deepest section at 72 to 76 m, which is outside anything this catalogue would call a dive. The Fish Bowl and the coral garden take the remaining gas on the way back.

What to see

Glassfish fill the Fish Bowl in a mass dense enough to block the light coming through the opening. The coral garden outside carries goatfish, butterflyfish, domino damsels and Red Sea anthias, with octopus in the rubble at its edges.