The Reef Elphinstone, a truly legendary reef, is one of the most beautiful reefs in the red sea, with its north and south plateau’s, and its walls covered in soft corals, black corals, wire corals and gogonias. Hammerheads, Oceanic White Tip Sharks and Grey Reef Sharks can also be spotted here on a regular basis.
The Daedalus Reef is a huge reef formation that lies at about 180 km south of Brother Islands. The reef is surrounded by a sheer wall all around, featuring a plateau in its southern side that goes from 30 m beside the reef to 40 m on the edge of the drop-off. If the weather is good, try to get as far north as possible and drift along one of the sides of the reef. Reef and Hammerhead Sharks are often spotted here. UW life is here more abundant than anywhere else, with schools of surgeons, fusiliers, carangids.
The Island of Zabargad is a superb dive spot. Here you can dive along walls, hover over drop offs or dive slowly in the shallow area, watching the fish and admire the coral garden. At the northside of Zabargad lies a nameless wreck. The 70-m long ship lies upside down in 24-m depths. The whole stern section is nearly intact- stairs, rail, lings, davit and the bridge.
Rocky Island is a mythical site that represents the diver’s dream. The fringing reef that circles the entire perimeter of the island drops steeply to an astonishing depth and the constant currents that flow all along the year favour the growth of all different kinds of life in a continuous struggle for a place on the reef. The walls are absolutely covered with the most beautiful soft corals ever found, as well as gorgonias, fans, sponges and black coral trees. Because of its isolated situation and the reduced dimensions of the reef wall, everything seems to concentrate on the surroundings of this small islet. Reef sharks, specially Grey and Silver Tips, you can watch in the blue and may be Manta Rays, Sailfish and dolphins.
Deep, deep in the south (in the near of Rocky Island) are the St. John’s Reefs. Here you will find exciting drop-offs. The wall of one of the reefs is overgrown with big gorgonias, the wall of the other reef is overgrown with all kinds of colourful soft corals. You will find a lot of fish and in the blue you can see with a little bit luck “big fish” like Hammerhead, Grey Reef Sharks, Silver Tip and White Tip Reef Sharks and Barracudas, Tunas and Mackerels. Sometimes even you can see Mantas and dolphins.