Reef

Caves

Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt

Best for advanced divers
Expert-level dive

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Type

Reef

Max depth

80 m

Level

Expert

DepthOverhangs at 20m; cave mouth at 30m; sandy slope 30-35m; eel garden 50-70m

LocationAbout 2 km south of Three Pools, entered through a crack in the reef.

ConditionsEntry is a giant stride through a crack in the reef, so the site needs calm water and is not dived otherwise. The overhead ground at 30 m and the depth below it call for experience.

Overview

Caves has a garden eel colony at 50 to 70 m. Garden eels normally live in shallow sand where light and current suit them, and a colony that deep is unusual enough to be the most interesting thing about the site, and also the part almost nobody sees, since it lies well below recreational depth. Above it the ground is a valley between two rises with a gentle slope down its middle, two overhangs at around 20 m, and a cave mouth at 30 m on the right.

Dive plan

The slope is followed down the middle of the valley past the two overhangs at 20 m to the cave mouth at 30 m on the right, and the sandy slope below runs to 35 m. The ground opens out considerably at 50 m and the bottom carries on past 70. The recreational dive turns at the cave and works back up through the overhangs, which is where the light is worth having.

What to see

Large groupers hold the overhangs and the cave mouth, with scorpionfish on the rock around them and morays in the cracks. Anthias and bannerfish cover the shallower reef, and a red anemone on the way down is a fixed marker on the slope.