Marsa Mubarak
Our nearest and largest bay which provides a huge range of dive sites suitable for all
levels of diver and snorkeller. Sites include:
Panorama - A one way dive over deep pinnacles and littered with table corals.
Hawksbill turtles and yellow tail barracuda are regular visitors.
Shaab Abu Ziyad - With an extensively lined and mapped cavern system (for the
trained only!) and a stunning hard coral garden at the start of the dive, you then
continue around large pinnacles and even a gorgeous red anemone before ending
your dive on the reef wall.
Madrassah - A favourite for photographers due to the patient fish life, this site,
named after the word 'school' due to it's versatility for training course does not
immediately 'wow' the diver like some of our others. However dive slowly and you will
find stonefish, scorpionfish, pipefish, frogfish and crocodilefish living amongst the
nooks and crannies. When you head around the corner, you are confronted with a set
of pinnacles swarming with juvenile fish and their ever present predators, and even an
anemone city. Quite often, this is the site people ask to dive again!
El Aruk Goa - These inner pinnacles are reached after heading across some
seagrass and are still protected by the north reef, so can be dived in all weather
conditions. Here large parrotfish can be seen nibbling at the coral while the residents
of the seagrass, namely green sea turtles, come to rest on their favourite coral blocks.
Seagrass - Don't expect a freshly mowed lawn, but a dive in the seagrass of
Mubarak, while sometimes appearing devoid of life (it isn't!), can bring you face to face
with huge green turtles, honeycomb and feathertail rays. Spot a cloud of sand though
and you're probably about to bump into Dyson, our resident dugong!
Farsha Sahab - So named because this enormous, immaculate hard coral garden
gives you the impression of flying over clouds. The scenery wins the day here, this is
about as good as it gets. Coral further than the eye can see, all undamaged, shows you
why the southern red sea has such a good reputation.
Habili Gudda - An advanced dive that is only reached by zodiac, these large coral
blocks are so detached from the main reef that they are almost considered off-shore.
Subjected to current and wave action, expect to find corals and creatures adapted to
such surge conditions, and visibility is usually excellent. Fish life is hugely abundant
here, and it has the potential to throw up some sightings that will be proud entries into
your logbook - think dolphins, shark, tuna and eagle rays.
Shaab Abu Mahmoud - When the south winds appear expect to get the
opportunity to dive this relatively unexplored site right on the south tip of Marsa
Mubarak. Head off to explore the coral beds away from the reef, or stick to the wall to
swim along with the huge schools of goatfish and unicornfish - either could bring you
close to the resident white-tip reef shark that calls this site home.
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