TRAVELSPECIAL
The cavern system at St John’ s Reef in Egypt’ s Deep South
BEST FOR Colour, variety and plenty of options
Southern Egypt
What to expect: While the entire Red Sea is eminently diveable throughout winter, it does get chillier in the north, and wind can be a problem anywhere. You’ re still talking 5mm territory in the South, defined here as the area around Marsa Alam down to the Sudan border, but those few degrees make a world of difference.
There’ s no shortage of resorts fringing the coast as you head south from Marsa Alam, and there’ s also the area around Port Galeb, jumping-off point for liveaboards heading to the Fury Shoal or the Offshore Islands. These are some of the classic liveaboard itineraries: at this time of year I’ d recommend finding a trip that takes in the Fury Shoal and the reefs of St John’ s. In my experience, the shark hotspots at Daedalus Reef and the Brother Islands to the north aren’ t as active, and both are susceptible to wind.
For those who prefer to be land-based, I recommend Red Sea Diving Safari’ s desert camps, which offer conveniently protected marsas( bays) for shore diving at your convenience. You get lovely coral [ subject to the localised bleaching we see everywhere these days ] and most of the Red Sea fish favourites, such as Klunzinger’ s wrasse, Picasso triggerfish and lyretail anthias. The three best camps are Marsa Shagra, Marsa Wadi Lahami and Marsa Nakari, each with a range of accommodation. It’ s not all tents, but the glamping options are undeniably romantic.
If you get lucky at inshore sites such as Abu Dabab, you may run into one of the critically endangered dugong sedately munching away at seagrass. You’ re virtually guaranteed an encounter with one of the big green turtles that share lawn-mowing duties with the dugong. Don’ t leave without: Your sun hat! It may be cooler, but this is still the Eastern Sahara and the sun can be brutal. When it cools down in the evenings, chunky fleeces and hot chocolate are de rigeur.
Tasselled scorpionfish
Green turtle feeding
Grazing dugong at Abu Dabab
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Curious Klunzinger’ s wrasse
Smugness rating:
Medium-to-high. It’ s probably the nearest destination to the UK offering water temperatures above 22 ° C in midwinter.