Daedalus

This island lies half way to Saudi Arabia. 450 m in length and 100m wide this reef is as impressive as the brothers but dived less therefore making it our pick of all southern sites. The best diving can be found on the north side of the island. The deep water and currents provide a perfect habitat for the bigger fish. Schooling hammerheads can be seen, gray reefs, threshers, schools of barracuda, jacks and tuna. Manta's can be spotted during certain times of year. There are many crack and holes in the eastern side of the reef where some of the smaller fish congregate. Stunning soft and hard coral including black coral can be found everywhere, as well as an impressive number of fish. On the west side lies an anemone city where clown fish can be seen along with beautiful blue coral.
It is also possible to find Oceanic white tips on the south side around where the boats anchor up.

Elphinstone

Elphinstone lies close to Egyptian mainland, however it has all the characteristics of an offshore marine park. Then north plateau drops down to around 50m. Strong currents can run through this dive site which bring in numbers of white tip, grey reefs, occasional hammerheads and of course most famous for the Oceanic white tip. As well as the big palegics there is plenty to see on the reef walls. Anthias, squirrel fish, masked butterfly fish, scorpion fish, cornet fish and napoleon wrasse all inhabit the reef. At the south plateau there is a deep archway at 55m. Threshers are often seen around the arch.
Elphinstone has become famous for the Oceanic white tips that are there throughout sept-april. A fantastic dive site but has a tendency to get busy from the day boats.

Rocky Island

The reef is slightly kidney shaped like at Sha'ab Sharm, but it is surrounded by a beautiful shallow reef plateau, which is home to many strange and familiar reef fish. The sheer walls are covered in soft corals, sponges and sea fans and plunge first to a shelf in 25 metres, then once more slightly less sheer to 50 metres and more. Tall dangly sea whips grow up from the deeper water and a series of fantastic overhangs and caves complete a weird and wonderful scene.

When the conditions are right it is possible to see just about anything, both underwater and on the surface. The south-east corner of the island is reckoned to be the best place for shark and pelagic action and that's where we dropped in first. The scene was fantastic, perfect for sharks and the shelf at 25 metres would have made a great place to watch the action. Sadly the temperature was a staggering 31 degrees, far too warm. The sharks were few and far between and those we did see were well below us. Still we did enjoy the amazing scenery and a glimpse of a couple of greys and hammerhead. Between dives some of our group snorkelled with a pod of passing dolphins! As they were doing so, a sailfish surfaced right beside them!

Zabargad Island

Just 2 miles from Rocky is another island that stirs the imagination.  This is Zabargad Island.  The name is an Arabic word meaning “Green Stone”.  This historically important island has an interesting heritage.  The ancient Egyptians and their Pharaohs came to this island to mine a semi-precious green stone that apparently they valued more than gold.  Later on the Romans also came to mine the very same stone and it is possible to see the remains of the mineshafts dug by these ancient civilisations.  The island itself has an other world feel to it, especially when moored on the south beside a turquoise coloured lagoon that reflects the dusty, dry, rusty coloured mountains that rise to a height of 230m from the beach.  Being a deserted island it is also one of the largest turtle hatcheries for the Green and Hawksbill Turtles that travel many kilometres to lay their eggs in the pristine white sands beside the lagoons.  At certain times of the year the newly hatched turtles can be seen swimming out from the beach and making their way into open water.

The diving around Zabargad Island is superb with coral blocks and pinnacles adorning the gently sloping sandy bottoms.  There are some spectacular table corals that sometimes get so big that the top gets to big for the base and snaps off to come to rest next to the stalk.  There is also an interesting wreck around on the north side that can be dived when the wind is correct.  This 70m un-named trawler type vessel laying in 24m of water has been the object of much discussion and debate.  What appears to be a rather large fishing boat, on closer observation, prompts some questions.  Why would a fishing boat have a large and complex battery room?  What about the mysterious large gauge umbilical lines leading up to the shore?  Could this have been some sort of “surveillance” ship, watching boats plying the popular route up and down the Red Sea during the Cold War?  As a dive site it is very interesting with some good life, especially the deck around the engine room hatches.  The boat is broken in half and besides the large hole blown in the stern section (what is this??) is more or less intact.  The mast has fallen over and is lying out horizontal, covered in hard and table corals.