Royal unlimited diving in Egypt with Red Sea Diving Safari

Hats off to Red Sea Diving Safari! We just experienced a completely different adventure to anything we’ve done before. We are so impressed with our trip and the diving in Egypt, that we decided to dedicate a whole post to tell you about the amazing wonders we discovered there.

Never been diving in the Red Sea

Imagine this: two hardcore European divers who have NEVER been diving in the Red Sea – that’s probably unheard of…

Well, that’s us! And if we’re going to be finally doing this, then we’ll do it right and go straight for the best. I know what you’re thinking already – that we went on one of the classic liveaboards trips. Nope! We spent 10 days diving the deep south of Egypt from three different eco dive villages, hidden just south of Marsa Alam. Red Sea Diving Safari has resorts right where all the pelagic action and the best coral reefs are. So here is what blew our minds!

A royal treatment with Red Sea Diving Safari

As much as we love sailing on boats, we also cherish the comfort of being on land. On the other hand, we like to experience as many different sites and types of diving as possible in a single trip without losing time in travel. Hard to please, but not impossible! That’s why we look for dive resorts that have more than one outlet in the same area – and so we land on Red Sea Diving Safari.

Three eco villages, located strategically at the gateways to the most amazing dive sites in the south of Egypt. The resorts themselves are a convenient hour to an hour and a half drive away from each other, making a stay in all of them super easy.

The best thing is, you can plan your days and pick your transfer times so that you dive from one place in the morning then have lunch and dive from another place in the afternoon (or however you wish to split your time). You don’t need to worry about drying your scuba gear or stuffing it wet in your suitcase. It will simply accompany you on your minivan ride and be ready for the next plunge. Or if you like traveling light, then you can simply rent equipment.

Unlimited house reef diving in Marsa Shagra and Marsa Nakari

When we go on a dive trip, we like to dive the hell out of that place and this is exactly what we did in Egypt.

A concept, which we are particularly fond of is unlimited, unguided house reef diving. This lies in the core of Red Sea Diving Safari. And this doesn’t get any better than having that at a place regularly visited by dolphins, whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, dugongs and unique species of tropical fish.

If you have never done this before, you will be fascinated! And no need to be scared of the fact that it’s unguided. After your orientation, you will be in love with the freedom it gives you. Here is how it works:

Two of the three villages of Red Sea Diving Safari have massive house reefs (I’ll tell you about the third one in a bit). In both Marsa Shagra and Marsa Nakari you can dive the house reef from shore or by Zodiac. On your first diving day, you will have two orientation dives with one of the experienced dive guides, who will give you a thorough briefing about the sites and procedures.

After that you can just grab a tank and dive as much as your NDL allows. Can you imagine, just you and your favourite dive buddy blowing bubbles and collecting happy memories? These are the moments we cherish most! 🙂

Our favourite encounters at the house reef were a white spotted eagle ray, two crocodile fish, a school of feeding mackerels, many blue-spotted ribbon-tail stingrays, the typical Red Sea clownfish, hundreds of glassfish covering small coral blocks and a bunch of green and Hawksbill turtles munching on corals. And did I mention that the visibility was exceptionally good?!

Wadi Lahami – the best kept secret of the Red Sea

The third, smallest and most southern eco dive resort of Red Sea Diving Safari is Wadi Lahami. Despite not having a house reef, from here you will reach the healthiest hard coral gardens mixed with the most colourful soft corals, which definitely compensate for the boat ride. The diving here is really superb! There are 4 scheduled dives every day. Two guided morning dives, one unguided in the afternoon and a night dive. The best thing about this remote little village is its (still) unpopularity. The reefs are untouched and you will have the dive sites to yourself. That’s definitely worth the longer drive along the picturesque Egyptian coast!

A glimpse at our 10-day itinerary

We went diving in Egypt during the month of September. For these were the optimal conditions, as the water temperature is highest and the weather is not burning hot. We flew from Europe into Hurghada. You can also get an international flight to Marsa Alam (RMF), which is the closest Egyptian airport to the Red Sea Diving Safari resorts. There is, however, no problem to have a transfer organised from and back to Hurghada Airport (HRG).

We had 10 days to dive the south of Egypt and this is how we split our time between the three villages. 3 days in Marsa Shagra – on day three we decided to leave for Marsa Nakari after lunch and immediately explore the house reef there in the afternoon. 3 days in Marsa Nakari – on the third day we left for Wadi Lahami after the double dank morning diving. We got in time for lunch in Lahami and of course for the afternoon dive 🙂 We spent another fantastic 4 days in Wadi Lahami.

Another really cool aspect of this Egyptian experience is that Red Sea Diving Safari has different types of accommodation. You can choose between a tent, a chalet and a hut, making your desert stay really unique. We tried out all of them and loved it!

The best Red Sea dive sites daily by Zodiac

Unlimited house reef diving is a bliss! Combine that with world-famous dive sites and you’ve got your perfect scuba holiday.

As I mentioned earlier, the dive villages of Red Sea Diving Safari are strategically located, so you can reach the best dive sites of the region within a maximum of 30-40 min boat ride. Here are the highlights from our trip by location.

Marsa Shagra and the longimanus

From Marsa Shagra we dove the famous Elphinstone reef twice (yes, it’s that good!). We encountered our first oceanic white tip sharks – the longimanus. Seeing these curious sharks swim between us was an absolute thriller! You can read more about the dive site itself here.

Another one of our favourite dive sites was Long Canyon (Shaab Abu Dabbab). This is a maze of swim throughs through a tall canyon, almost reaching the surface. It was absolutely magical to see how the light is reflected in the different chambers.

The beauties of Marsa Nakari

The most beautiful dive site from Marsa Nakari is Habili Nakari. This is a bunch of massive pinnacles covered from top to bottom in the most colourful soft corals with literally thousands of anthias swimming around. It is one of those dive sites where you lose track of time and want to return to. And so we did! It was marvelous 🙂

From Marsa Nakari you can also dive the famous Dolphin House and swim with the dolphins in the bay on your surface interval. The diving was great and we were lucky to see the dolphins.

Dolphins in Wadi Lahami

In Wadi Lahami we actually loved every single dive, but our absolute favourites were Claudia and Abu Galawa. Claudia is a gorgeous labyrinth. We go crazy when we get a chance to explore a dive site on our own, so here we were like two kids at a playground.

Abu Galawa is a huge off-shore reef with multiple dive sites. Here you can find a small and a big wreck, but the most impressive thing about this underwater mountain are the towering hard corals. Many different types stacked on top of each other, like in a rainforest, but with corals. It all looks very dramatic and slightly surreal because you can see the whole grandness of it with the perfect visibility.

To top it all, we had the most exceptional experience at Sataya reef, where we had the closest ever wild encounter with a pod of playful dolphins. We visited this shallow reef on one of our surface intervals and and spent half an hour snorkeling with 8 of them. A dream come true!

Good to know before planning your trip with Red Sea Diving Safari

What to expect from an eco dive resort?

Red Sea Diving Safari is the diving pioneer in south Egypt. It all started some 30 years ago with one man and his truck, who took people diving in remote areas of Egypt, south of Marsa Alam. Slowly, the idea of building a village dedicated to divers was born.

Today Red Sea Diving Safari has established itself as a leading environmental activist and a pioneer of sustainable tourism development. What we particularly like about the eco concept is their minimum-impact policy – waste management, water recycling, energy conservation and ensuring that the number of guests is within the carrying capacity of the house reef. This does not in any way mean you won’t have a comfortable and splendid stay, but that it is made easy for you make a positive environmental impact.

What is the best time to dive in the south of Egypt?

You can dive in Egypt all year round. March to May and September to November are considered the best periods for diving. During this time the water temperature, around 28°C (82°F), and the weather, around 30°C (68°F), are pleasant.

June to August are the hottest months, when the temperature in the shade gets above 40°C (100°F). The months between December and February are the coolest. The water temperature in the south typically does not fall below 22°C (72°F).

What marine life can you see in the southern Red Sea?

The Red Sea lies right at the junction of two continental plates, where rich marine ecosystems thrive and create a hotspot for pelagic animals. 10% of the marine life in the Red Sea is endemic to the region. In the south of Egypt you can spot reef sharks, oceanic white tip sharks, hammerheads, whale sharks, dugongs, spinner and bottlenose dolphins, manta rays, numerous species of stingrays, eels and splendid tropical fish.

It’s not only about the diving in Egypt

To end our royal trip we decided to get out of the water and go into the desert! There are so many amazing tours you can take – from camel rides, to visiting bedouin villages and watching the sun set over the hills. We chose to have a crazy race on quad bikes and drift in the sand dunes. If you want to try something new, go for it! It was so much fun 🙂