Southern Red Sea, Egypt
Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone
Three isolated offshore reefs rising from deep water in the southern Egyptian Red Sea, reachable only by liveaboard, dived for oceanic sharks on sheer walls and for two wrecks stacked on one island's reef slope.
- Scalloped hammerhead
- Sharks
- Walls
- Strong current
Best season
Best Apr–May
Minimum cert
Advanced + experience
Water
21–30°C
Current
strong
Season
When this place works
Sources disagree on whether this is a closure or just bad weather. Some operators list the itinerary as running year-round; others describe winter wind limiting access to the offshore sites, and the Egyptian marine park has historically…
Why dive here
What this place is known for
01sharkOceanic whitetip sharks
The animal that makes this itinerary distinct rather than just another Red Sea trip. Oceanic whitetips are a genuinely open-ocean species and Elphinstone and Daedalus are among very few places they can be dived reliably, typically hanging in the blue near the…
Seasonality — offoffoffoffshoulderpeakpeakpeakpeakpeakpeakoff
- 02wall
Offshore pinnacle walls
All three sites are isolated reefs surrounded by deep water, dived as drifts along vertical walls dense with soft coral and gorgonians. The topography, not the sharks, is what most divers describe afterwards.
03wreckLow confidenceNumidia and Aida, Big Brother
Surprise relative to the headline: this is sold as a shark itinerary and Big Brother carries two wrecks on the same reef slope. The Numidia in particular runs steeply from about 8m to past 80m, so the same wreck is a recreational dive and a technical one…
Marine life
Twelve-month species timelines
Jun-Nov at Elphinstone and Daedalus. Critically endangered globally. Unbaited, and notably curious rather than shy, which is why encounters happen in the blue rather than on the reef.
Daedalus, typically deep and on the first dive of the day.
Brothers, reported at dawn. Genus-level because sources do not specify which thresher. Encoded unreliable in all months: this is a bonus, not a product, and it is nothing like the daily reliability…
Resident on the offshore reefs; the encoded gaps reflect when boats are there rather than the animal, and are held down deliberately because access and biology are hard to separate in the sources.
Conditions
What the water is like
Water temp
21–30°C
15°C — 32°C
Visibility
20–40 m
0 m — 40 m
Current
strong
mild — strong
Thermoclines
Not typical
unlikely
Minimum certification — Advanced + experience
Operators state a minimum of 30 logged dives on top of Open Water, and that is a floor rather than a recommendation. These are isolated pinnacles in open ocean: current runs hard and unpredictably around the tips, ascents are frequently in…
Entries — boat
Recommended & required
- nitrox — recommended. Deep repetitive wall profiles across a week.
- deep — recommended. Sites regularly work past 30m, and the Numidia continues well beyond recreational limits.
Logistics
How people dive it
7 nights
scuba
The only access; all three reefs are offshore with no land base. Around 16 dives across 7 nights, three day dives daily. Night diving is…
Operators
Who to book with
Loading operators…
Sources & verification
Check the evidence.
Every destination is independently researched and major claims link back to their sources.
Know this place?
Spot something outdated, have local knowledge, or think something is missing?
Submissions are reviewed and verified before the dataset is updated.