Daedalus+St John's

Abu Dabbab is a chain of six reefs located near the coast in the Marsa Alam region. Each offers a unique underwater landscape, diverse marine life, and excellent conditions for both day and night dives. This is a common choice for a check-dive on our deep south itineraries across our fleet.

Abu Dabbab 1 & 2 – the most popular and scenic reefs, featuring coral gardens, canyons, and large coral bommies that provide shelter for moray eels, lionfish, frogfish, and octopuses.
Abu Dabbab 3 & 4 – known for their deep walls and steep drop-offs, often patrolled by whitetip reef sharks, barracudas, and tunas.
Abu Dabbab 5 & 6 – more remote sites with strong currents, making them perfect for drift dives. Divers here may encounter eagle rays, sea turtles, and even whale sharks in the right season.

With stable diving conditions, incredible visibility, and abundant marine life, Abu Dabbab is an ideal destination for both beginner and advanced divers looking to explore the rich underwater ecosystems of the Red Sea.

Malahi is a spectacular dive site in the Fury Shoals region, famous for its maze-like coral formations, swim-throughs, and caverns. This site is often described as an underwater playground, offering an exciting and dynamic dive experience. The towering coral pinnacles create a labyrinth filled with narrow passages, overhangs, and tunnels, perfect for exploration.

Sunlight filtering through the reef structures enhances the magical atmosphere, making it a fantastic location for underwater photography. The shallow depth (mostly 5-18 meters) allows for long, relaxing dives, ideal for both beginners and experienced divers. The area is teeming with marine life, including giant moray eels, lionfish, blue-spotted stingrays, nudibranchs, and schools of snappers and fusiliers. Lucky divers might even spot turtles or dolphins passing by.

Due to its sheltered nature, Malahi is a great spot for second or third dives of the day, offering a completely different experience from deep walls and drift dives. The beauty and adventure of navigating through its canyons make it one of the most memorable sites in Fury Shoals.

Shaab Claudia is one of the most famous dive sites in the Fury Shoals region, known for its breathtaking swim-throughs and cavern-like formations. This site offers an exciting combination of wide coral canyons, tunnels, and large chambers, where sunlight creates a mesmerizing play of light and shadow.

With a depth range of 5 to 20 meters, Shaab Claudia is accessible for divers of all levels, however it requires good buoyancy skills. The reef is home to giant moray eels, lionfish, blue-spotted stingrays, and schooling fusiliers, while the sandy bottom often hides stingrays and garden eels. The impressive topography, combined with the abundance of marine life, makes every dive here an unforgettable experience.

The cave-like structures are wide and safe, making them enjoyable even for divers who are new to overhead environments. Exploring these tunnels is a unique adventure that sets Shaab Claudia apart from other Fury Shoals dive sites.

Abu Galawa is a stunning reef system in the Fury Shoals region, famous for its vibrant coral formations and historic wrecks. This site offers an exciting mix of shallow coral gardens, dramatic drop-offs, and fascinating shipwrecks, making it a favorite among divers of all levels.

One of the highlights of Abu Galawa is the wreck of an old tugboat, now fully encrusted with corals and home to a variety of marine life. Divers can explore the well-preserved structure, which attracts schools of glassfish, lionfish, and moray eels. Additionally, a sunken sailing yacht rests nearby, adding another intriguing wreck to explore. The yacht's structure provides shelter for colorful reef fish, nudibranchs, and octopuses, making it a great site for macro photography.

The surrounding reef is teeming with hard and soft corals, clownfish, and blue-spotted stingrays, offering spectacular underwater scenery. With its easy conditions, rich marine life, and multiple wrecks, Abu Galawa is a must-visit site in Fury Shoals, combining wreck diving and stunning coral exploration in one unforgettable dive.

Habili Gaffar is one of the most breathtaking reefs, part of St John's reef system. This underwater pinnacle does not break the surface, making it a natural magnet for marine life.
Due to its open nature, divers can encounter large pelagic fish, tunas, barracudas, and even different shark species. The slopes of the reef are covered in lush coral gardens, creating stunning underwater landscapes.

Because of its remote location, Habili Gaffar is rarely visited by divers, allowing for pristine coral formations and exceptional visibility. This site is best suited for experienced divers ready for open-sea dives surrounded by vibrant marine life.

Habili Ali is one of the most stunning reefs of St. John’s, featuring an underwater pinnacle that doesn’t break the surface. Known for strong currents, lush coral gardens, and frequent pelagic encounters, this site is a favorite among experienced divers.

The reef is covered in dense soft and hard corals, attracting huge schools of barracuda, tuna, and trevallies. Thanks to the steady currents, divers can often spot grey reef sharks, silky sharks, and even oceanic whitetip sharks. In certain seasons, hammerhead sharks also make an appearance, adding to the thrill of diving here.

Due to its exposed location, Habili Ali offers dynamic and action-packed dives, while its remoteness ensures pristine coral formations and abundant marine life. It’s one of the top sites in St. John’s for those seeking exhilarating pelagic encounters.

St. John’s Caves is one of the most fascinating dive sites in the St. John’s reef system, offering an intricate labyrinth of caves, tunnels, and arches that create breathtaking light effects underwater.

The cave entrances are adorned with vibrant soft corals and colorful sponges, while inside, divers can encounter glassfish schools, lionfish, and other unique marine creatures. On sunny days, beams of light penetrate through cracks in the rock, forming a magical, dreamlike atmosphere.

This site is suitable for divers of all levels, featuring both shallow swim-throughs and deeper passages. However, proper buoyancy control is essential to navigate the caves safely. St. John’s Caves is a must-visit for those who love exploring hidden underwater landscapes.

Shaab Sharm is a stunning offshore reef located southeast of Marsa Alam, at Wadi Gimal national protectorate, known for its steep drop-offs, vibrant coral formations, and rich marine life. The site features impressive vertical walls covered in soft corals, gorgonians, and black corals, attracting large schools of barracudas, trevallies, and tunas. Due to strong currents, Shaab Sharm is an excellent spot for drift diving and often offers encounters with reef sharks, eagle rays, and occasionally hammerheads. The reef also has a plateau at around 20-25 meters, where divers can explore coral bommies teeming with life.

Elphinstone Reef is one of the world’s most exciting diving destinations. A few small breakers are the only visible sign that just below the sea’s surface is the summit of a subterranean mountain, rich in colorful corals and fish species, and attracting the interest of hungry barracuda, dolphins and sharks.

It is two shark species in particular that attract divers looking for that unique once in a life-time close-quarters encounter with a big sea predator. The scarily curious oceanic whitetip and the oddly shaped hammerhead.

This is one of the few places where divers can regularly come eye-to eye with these feared but fascinating animals. The whitetip is categorized as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union and the hammerhead one level worse at endangered.

However these encounters are only for highly experienced advanced divers – not primarily because of the sharks who do not actively seek out human prey, but due to strong currents, which are common here.

Sataya is a vast horseshoe-shaped reef, renowned as one of the best places to encounter dolphins. The eastern side of the reef offers an exciting dive with vibrant coral gardens, steep walls, and a rich variety of marine life. Divers can spot barracudas, turtles, and even large pelagic fish. Ocasionally, even hammerheads can pass by. The western side is famous for its massive pods of spinner dolphins. During snorkeling, you may find yourself surrounded by dozens or even hundreds of wild dolphins, observing their playful behavior in their natural habitat.

Located in the middle of the Red Sea, Daedalus Reef is a remote and breathtaking diving destination, famous for its unspoiled coral walls, strong currents, and high chance of shark encounters. This isolated marine park offers an underwater world full of thrilling drift dives, massive schools of pelagic fish, and pristine hard and soft corals.

The reef’s steep walls are covered with vibrant gorgonians, black corals, and dense soft coral gardens, creating an impressive vertical drop into the deep blue. Hammerhead sharks are frequently spotted here, especially in the early morning, along with grey reef sharks, oceanic whitetips and other shark species. Manta rays also became quite common sighting in recent years.

At the heart of the reef stands the Daedalus Lighthouse, a historic structure that has guided sailors for over a century. It offers a unique above-water experience for divers between dives.