Emperor Asmaa · Egypt · 8 Days / 7 Nights
A shorter-sailing southern Red Sea route with more bottom time on the headline sites: Daedalus Reef, the Fury Shoals reef complex and world-famous Elphinstone. Less time crossing means more dives and a calmer ride, with night-dive options on secure moorings outside the Marine Park. Port Ghalib roundtrip, March to November.
Port Ghalib
Airport pickup and transfer to the boat for an 18:00 check-in. Safety briefing, paperwork, cabin allocation and boat orientation. Overnight moored in Port Ghalib for an early departure the following morning.
Marsa Alam area / Sha'ab Sharm
Check dive close to Port Ghalib, then sail south for an afternoon dive at Sha'ab Sharm. Wall dives with white-tip reef sharks, occasional oceanic whitetips and silky sharks in the blue, and turtles visiting the south side of the reef.
Dive sites: Marsa Alam house reef, Sha'ab Sharm
Fury Shoals
A full day exploring the classic Fury Shoals sites: Sha'ab Claude (a.k.a. Claudio) with its labyrinth of swim-throughs and huge porite corals, Malahi with its mazes and friendly turtles, and Abu Galawa Soraya's coral garden with the small private sailing-boat wreck packed with glassfish. Snorkel break with spinner dolphins at Sataya between dives if conditions allow.
Dive sites: Sha'ab Claude, Malahi, Abu Galawa Soraya, Sataya (snorkel)
Fury Shoals (less-dived sites)
More time in the Fury Shoals area, with options for the lesser-dived sites such as Sha'ab Hamam (Stairway to Heaven), Abu Galawa Kebir with the Tien Hsing wreck, Gota Sataya, and – weather permitting – submerged reefs like Habili Sameh. A guided night dive on a secure mooring rounds off the day.
Dive sites: Sha'ab Hamam (Stairway to Heaven), Abu Galawa Kebir / Tien Hsing wreck, Gota Sataya, Habili Sameh
Daedalus Reef
Overnight crossing to Daedalus, the most remote offshore reef in the Egyptian Red Sea, marked by its solitary lighthouse. Drift dives along the east wall and anemone city in the south-east, with the north point famous for schooling scalloped hammerheads (especially May–November) and resident grey reef sharks.
Dive sites: Daedalus North Point, Daedalus Anemone City, Daedalus East Wall
Elphinstone
Sail west to Elphinstone for the day. East wall in the morning and west wall in the afternoon for the best light on the pink and red soft corals and red gorgonians. The north and south plateaux are the place to watch for oceanic whitetip sharks, with mantas, hammerheads and rare thresher sightings also possible.
Dive sites: Elphinstone East Wall, Elphinstone West Wall, Elphinstone South Plateau
Marsa Shouna
Two morning dives in the sheltered Marsa Shouna area – Aquarium, Shaab Abu Khaled, Shouna Seagrass or the reef tongues of Shaab Sireer – respecting the 24-hour no-fly window before reaching altitude. Macro-rich diving with green turtles, blue-spotted stingrays, schooling snappers and the chance of Dyson the local dugong. Boat returns to Port Ghalib around 13:00 for an overnight mooring.
Dive sites: Marsa Shouna – Aquarium, Shouna Seagrass, Shaab Sireer
Port Ghalib
Breakfast on board, settle onboard accounts and disembark by 09:00 for the transfer to Marsa Alam airport, Hurghada, or onward to your hotel.