Days 2-5
Brother Islands
The northernmost part of Egypt's offshore marine park is made up of two islands 60 km away from the coast and 140 km south from Hurghada. Big Brother, the larger island (complete with a lighthouse from 1883) is 400 m long with a spectacular plateau on the south east corner which is dotted with coral mountains and famous for thresher and grey reef shark sightings. The western side of the island has two impressive wrecks which both lie almost vertical on the side of the reef.
The most spectacular wreck is the Numidia, a large cargo steamer which sank in 1901 and now lies on the tip of the island between 10 and 80 m covered in soft corals and frequented by large pelagic predators.
The smaller wreck of the Aida (sitting between 30 and 65 metres) was a lighthouse authority supply vessel which sank in bad weather in 1957.
Small Brother Island is only a little over 200 m long, but hosts an incredible concentration and variety of marine life. There is a pristine fan coral forest, a massive collection of hard and soft corals and compelling overhangs to explore. Main attraction is the abundant pelagic life; with regular seasonal sightings of hammerhead, thresher, grey reef and oceanic whitetip sharks.
Safaga
Filled with a variety of stunning drop offs, shallow coral gardens and interesting wrecks, Safaga offers something for everyone. The most famous wreck is ‘Salem Express’; a large ferry, which sank in 1991 with massive loss of life. There are also the large ferry wrecks of El Arish El Tor and Al Kafain, which both sank without any lives lost. The famous finger shaped reefs of Abu Kafan and Panorama offer stunning drop-offs with plentiful fan corals and incredible plateaus encrusted with soft and hard corals. Shallower reefs (such as Torbia Arbaa) are full of critters and make a perfect afternoon or night dive.
Elphinstone
A Red Sea legend, this finger-shaped reef, with north and south plateaus covered in hard and soft corals is both unpredictable and exciting. This is truly and awesome reef where grey reef sharks and Napoleon wrasses are regularly spotted in the summer and oceanic whitetip sharks often congregate in vast number during late autumn.
Please note we normally plan to spend a day at one of the Brothers Islands, Elphinstone and the Safaga area. Normally you will have the opportunity to make three dives per day (night dives are not permitted in the marine parks). This itinerary will only spend one day at the Brothers if sailing either to or from Port Ghalib.
