Your Guide to Diving Red Sea
including Egypt (Dahab, South Sinai, Hurghada), Israel, Jordan, Sudan

Diving Red Sea Overview

Red Sea Seasonal Dive Planner

Red Sea (Egypt): It rarely rains in the desert but when it does it floods. The Egyptian coast is not tropical, but the Red Sea is unique in that it is heated by the submarine thermal vents of the African Rift, of which it forms a part of this far north. This explains why it has the most northern coral reefs of anywhere in the world.

Sudan: The Sudanese coast has arguably the best diving in the Red Sea but the weather can be oppressively hot in the summer and the seas particularly rough and uncomfortable in winter thanks to a powerful wind (usually Force 8 or stronger) blowing off the desert. Surface water temperatures can get as high as 91°F (33°C) although it cools down to a balmy 84°F (29°C) at depth. The summer sea is calm.

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Diving Red Sea Reader Reports and Feature Articles

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Latest Reader Reports from Red Sea from the serious divers who read Undercurrent All Reader Reports from Red Sea	All 10,000+ Reports
SS Glorious Miss Nouran Report in Red Sea/Southern Region "Disapointed!" filed Sep 19, 2023 by Larry Klumb (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 2 reports)
Admittedly I recently dived Palau from the Black Pearl, so you might say I have a bias. But my Red Sea experience during August, 2023,... ... Read more
Mar Rosso Report in Red Sea/Saudi Arabia "new pastures" filed Aug 28, 2023 by Michael Joest (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 40 reports, Top Contributor )
“Visit and enjoy the Red Sea like it was 20 years ago” the ad said and each of you like me would have for sure out of curiosity looked ... ... Read more
Emperor Report in Red Sea/southern Red Sea "Great guide, nice living accommodations, excellent food, some problems" filed Aug 9, 2023 by Harvey Cohen (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 25 reports, Sr. Contributor )
I booked in advance a private guide for USD500 (which seems to be the typical Red Sea rate). This is the second time I've taken a priva... ... Read more
Grand Sea Explorer Report in Red Sea/Northern Red Sea "Lots of fish, coral, and wrecks" filed Nov 17, 2022 by Susan M Fuchs (Experience: 251-500 dives, 5 reports, Reviewer )
We were told Egypt wanted a COVID QR code to verify vaccination, but this was never asked for by the airlines, immigration or boat. Luc... ... Read more
Blue Force Report in Red Sea "Red Sea ... in August!!!!" filed Nov 6, 2022 by Ed Noga (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 10 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
This was my third trip to the Red Sea, which is pretty much a "best kept secret" for Americans, who from my experience are afraid to ... ... Read more

Complete Articles Available to Undercurrent Online Members; Some Publicly Available as Indicated

Diving Red Sea Articles - Liveaboards MY Vita 2, Red Sea, Egypt, eight wrecks and reefs in a week, 8/23 The Deadly MY Hurricane Fire, yet another liveaboard tragedy, 8/23 Carlton Queen Capsizes in the Red Sea, what happened next, 7/23 Two Liveaboards Capsize and Sink in April, 5/23 Red Sea Liveaboard Smacks into a Reef at Night , Are liveaboards getting reckless?, 2/23 Raja Ampat, St. Lucia, Rangiroa, Vancouver Island, some great diving, some questionable characters, 11/22 Scuba Scene – Another Liveaboard Burns, with conflicting perceptions of the aftermath, 6/22 Were You Booked on a Future Scuba Scene Trip?, 6/22 Blue O Two a Casualty of COVID, 1/22 South Caicos, Jupiter, St. Vincent, Cozumel , Undercurrent subscribers are traveling again, 10/21 Available to the Public Harrowing Tales from the Red Sea Aggressor I Fire, errors led to the disaster and post-disaster mismanagement, 1/20 American Diver Dies in Red Sea Aggressor I Fire, 11/19 Why Are Red Sea Sharks Biting More Often?, 1/19 MV Tempest, Red Sea, Egypt, great diving on a liveaboard we’d never recommend, 8/18 Our Picks for Top Red Sea Liveaboards, 8/18 Wooden Hulls, Tumble Dryers and Single Engines, 1/18 Fire Aboard a Red Sea Liveaboard, and a crew ill-equipped to deal with it, 6/17 Sick Divers, Macho Divemasters, travels in Egypt, Fiordland, Bonaire, the Bahamas... , 11/16 Egyptian Diving Market Sinks, 4/16 Red Sea Aggressor, Egypt, big critters will give you bang for your buck, 11/14 Fire Aboard!, how John Bantin escaped a burning Red Sea liveaboard, 8/14 Bahamas, Hawaii, the Red Sea. . ., one Micronesia resort worth visiting, another that’s not, 7/13 The Red Sea, Egypt, three great dive trips, three prices, 2/12 Andromeda, Red Sea, Sudan, Americans, you’re missing out on fantastic diving, 7/11 Curacao, Fiji, Papua, Maui . . ., dive sites where you can expect the unexpected, 4/11 Heaven Diamond, The Red Sea, Egypt, a desert oasis of world-class diving, 1/07 Three Perish in Red Sea Live-Aboard Explosion, 4/04 The Red Sea, North and South, for big fish action, avoid the day boats, 2/01 Sea Surveyor, Red Sea, 1/96 Red Sea: Poseidon's Quest, 8/95 Poseidon's Quest, 11/94 The Gazala I, Red Sea, Some Things Never Change, 1/89

Diving Red Sea Articles - Land Based Available to the Public Raja Ampat, Bonaire, Maldives, Cozumel . . ., and endless trash spilling into the water, 7/19 Bait al Aqaba Resort, Jordan, a Red Sea site worth seeking out for its wreck diving, 2/19 St. Vincent, Maldives, Roatan, Belize, destinations for everyone, 4/18 Ambergris, the Red Sea, Raja Ampat, bad briefings, free flowing regulators, overflowing toilets, 9/17 “The Most Dangerous Dive Site in the World” Claims Free Diver, 9/17 Two Deadly Dive Sites, where Americans rarely go, thankfully, 1/16 Egypt? Now? Yes!, 11/14 Eritrea, Kiribati, Sipadan . . ., why to consider Wananavu, when not to consider the Odyssey, 9/13 Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Fiji, Truk. . ., plus unexpected cold water, and a liveaboard to avoid, 8/12 Yes, But Is Egypt Safe?, 2/12 At What Cost For a Third Dive?, not so charming at Sharm El-Sheikh, 7/10 Caribbean, Hawaii, Indonesia, Red Sea…, hidden travel charges, Hawaiian fish, and a good Caribbean site, 8/09 Flashing the Marine Life, 8/09 Serious Diver Impact on the Red Sea, 1/09 Diving The Red Sea, 1/89 Fantasea, Red Sea, And Fantasy It Is, 10/85 The Red Sea, Update And Mini-Review Of The Sun Boat And La Mer Tours, 2/80 Diving the Red Sea: The Egyptian and Israeli Accords, 5/79 The Ultimate Underwater Wilderness, The Red Sea Part II, 2/79 The Red Sea; Sharm-el-Shiekh: Part I, There's no need for exaggeration, 1/79

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Red Sea
including Egypt (Dahab, South Sinai, Hurghada), Israel, Jordan, Sudan

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.

I was trying to pack light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it. This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii, it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages. $39.95.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

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You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.