Reef

Small Giftun

Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Small Giftun is dived off the south side of the island by the police station, where a plateau at 15 to 25 m carries the moorings. At its northeast corner the plateau turns int…

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Type

Reef

Max depth

100 m

Level

All levels

Depth18-30m, with a drop-off past 100m

LocationAround 80 minutes from central Hurghada.

ConditionsExposed to weather at times, with strong current. The deep wall calls for experience.

Overview

Small Giftun is dived off the south side of the island by the police station, where a plateau at 15 to 25 m carries the moorings. At its northeast corner the plateau turns into a shelf running north, and that shelf ends at a steep wall dropping past 100 m, which is the part technical divers come for.

Dive plan

A drift is the natural choice here, though the plateau can also be reached from the mooring. Entry is beside the vertical wall, and the route follows the current due south as the wall gives way to a shelf that widens as it goes.

What to see

The photographs taken here for the catalogue are dominated by the small and the stationary: Christmas tree worms retracting into their coral heads, crown squirrelfish under overhangs, rusty parrotfish, marble shrimp and lyretail anthias. All of them belong to the plateau rather than the wall, which is where the diving time usually goes.