Reef

Canyon Garden

Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt

Snorkeller-friendly reef top
Suitable for beginners
Best for advanced divers

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Type

Reef

Max depth

28 m

Level

Advanced

Depth5-10m across the garden, 28m at the outer edge

LocationSame access as the Canyon, about 10 km north of Dahab.

ConditionsShallow, low current and best at high tide when there is water over the lagoon. Open to every level, used for training, and shallow enough to snorkel.

Overview

Canyon Garden is the shallow half of the Canyon, dived on its own. It shares a parking with the Canyon and the two entries are metres apart: the difference is that this dive never goes into the fissure. The garden lies between 5 and 10 m beyond the reef saddle, hard coral spread across sand, and it is where the divers who did go into the Canyon spend their remaining gas on the way out.

Dive plan

Entry is through the lagoon and over the saddle, the same as for the Canyon, and the dive then works the garden rather than the crack. The coral runs from 5 to 10 m over most of its area and drops to around 28 m at the outer edge, which is as deep as the site needs to go.

What to see

Butterflyfish and unicornfish work over the hard coral, Red Sea anthias hang above the heads, and octopus hold dens in the broken ground between them. The shallow depth and the sand between the coral keep the light even, which is why the garden photographs better than the fissure does.