The warm depths of the Red Sea, filled with life, light and bright colors, never cease to amaze and delight both novice divers and extreme divers. We invite you to take a trip to its most beautiful places.
Blue Hole
The Blue Hole in Dahab (Egypt) is a round hole more than 100 meters deep, formed in a coral reef. The diameter of the Blue Hole is about 50 meters, it is located very close to the shore. The path to it, which takes no more than 30 minutes, runs along a picturesque sheer wall with faults, generously decorated with a variety of underwater plants. In the immediate vicinity of the hole’s entrance, the wall changes slope; Tunas, the main commercial fish of the Red Sea, and predatory barracudas are often found here. Inside, the Blue Hole is made up of different types of coral: some of them have tentacle-like appendages, while others form a huge, wavy covering called “elephant skin.”
From the Blue Hole you can get to the open sea in two ways: through a dense coral garden growing at a depth of 7 meters, or by swimming out of a huge arch located at a depth of 55 meters. Both routes, according to experienced divers, leave indelible impressions. Despite the fact that the road to the Blue Hole dive site is surrounded by signs with the names of divers who did not return from it, the hole remains one of the popular sites for diving competitions.
The Blue Hole is located about 15 kilometers from the quiet resort town of Dahab, you can get to it by bus, rented car or taxi.
Reef Thomas
Thomas Reef, located near the Egyptian Sharm El-Sheikh, will delight the diver not only with colorful corals, encounters with turtles, goopers and crunks. The most interesting thing begins at a level below 35 meters: here is a crack that goes to a depth of 109 meters – Thomas Canyon. Its width does not exceed 3 meters, and with depth it only becomes narrower, so for inexperienced divers such a dive is not always pleasant. The canyon has 4 arches: at a depth of 50, 65, 75 and 90 meters. Having passed through each of them and looking up from the water column, you will witness the extraordinary glow created by the sunlight concentrated on the reef break.
You can get to the reef from Sharm El-Sheikh by safari boat or daily boat.
Dakhlag Archipelago
Eritrea, even at the height of the season, is not yet teeming with divers, so the underwater world of the Red Sea off its shores is pristine flora and fauna, the most ancient reefs of the Red Sea, majestic whales and sunken ships. The Dahlag Archipelago is a national park in Eritrea, and only 4 of its 200 islands are inhabited by people rather than seabirds. Diving into the sea near the island of Dohul, which is part of the archipelago, you can observe the life of dugongs and green turtles, sharks, watch starfish and urchins. The waters off northern Dissey Island are home to gardens of hard and soft corals that are home to stingrays, barracudas, reef sharks and turtles. The shallow diving depth off the islands of the Dahlak archipelago makes it possible to dive not only during the day, but also at night. Overgrown with corals and resting not far from the main island of the archipelago, the naval base and cargo ship are another attraction of Eritrea.
Paradise Reef
Located in Eilat (Israel), Paradise Reef is one of the rare places where diving is carried out directly from the shore. In the shallow waters you can’t help but admire the 150-metre ridge of living Acropora coral, and diving a little deeper you’ll have the chance to encounter toadfish, ribbonfish and groupers living in the crinoids, hydroids and anemones that grow here. At a depth of just over 25 meters, the reef ends abruptly, revealing the seabed with its mysterious inhabitants: ghost fish, needle fish, starfish.
Reef Japanese Gardens – Aqaba, Jordan
Japanese Gardens Reef (Aqaba, Jordan) also features a comfortable dive site – you can do this right in front of the hotel. The main attraction of the reef is the black coral bushes that resemble trees, which is how the reef got its name. Corals grow at a depth of 5 to 20 meters, so a diver of any level of training can dive underwater and enjoy the contemplation of its many inhabitants – turtles, octopuses, dolphins, crabs, schools of colorful fish.
A convenient website for finding a hotel is OneTwoTrip.
