We find fury Shoals reefs off Hamata. Long accessible only by diving cruise, you can now discover them during your diving stay in Hamata or Wadi Lahami.
Many reefs form the Fury Shoals Plateau. Each more beautiful than the next, they offer the best of the Red Sea: the architecture of pinnacles, caves, canyons, tunnels, or even wrecks, coral gardens, and vertiginous drop-offs.
Fury Shoals is also renowned for the abundance and variety of marine life.
It is also a magical place for snorkeling with the reef of Sataya and its long-beaked dolphins.
Diving on Fury Shoals
Guests can dive Fury Shoals by cruise ship or by the day while staying in Hamata.
We well know the Fury Shoals for its long-beaked dolphins, which attract many snorkelers, this is also a place where you will dive on one of the most beautiful wrecks in the Red Sea, the Tien Hsin.
These reefs are very protected and for the moment, much less frequented than the reefs of the North of Egypt.
Abu Galawa Soraya. The site is famous for its 17m wreck. This American sailboat sank in 1980. The hull being synthetic, there is not much coral, however, the wreck is inhabited by a myriad of “glassfish”. It divides this reef formation into 4 pieces, and in the middle is a wide strip of sand with a superb coral garden. All around, life is very abundant. There are a lot of soft corals on this site.
Abu Galawa Kebir. Next to Abu Galawa Soraya, this site is especially popular for its wreck, the Tien Hsin, a 35m Chinese vessel. It was built in 1935 and sank in 1943, on the Suez Highway in Eritrea. It is a superb wreck that lies 18m deep, part of which rises to the surface at low tide. The excellent visibility allows it to be observed over the entire length. It completely covers the metal structure with hard and soft corals.
It is probably one of the most beautiful coral gardens in the Red Sea. It is possible to enter the wreck. At its summit, you will dive into a small cave. Sharks, rays, and huge groupers inhabit the place, but also macrofauna that will delight photographers. The play of light is impressive, it is also an excellent site for night dives.
Sha’ab Mahsur
It is the furthest reef from the Fury Shoals. It is huge with at least three dive sites, and somewhat like Abu Kefan. On the northern part, there is a vast plateau that slopes gently. The South Plateau starts at 18m and ends at 38m, with 2 pinnacles. The currents being important, you will dive while drifting. Gorgonians, hard corals, and soft corals are everywhere. Sha’ab Mahsur is the meeting place for the “big”, gray sharks, hammerhead sharks, white tip sharks, turtles, dolphins, napoleons, tuna, and even sometimes whale sharks!
Sha’ab Claudio
It is the most famous reef of the Fury Shoals; it is round, surrounded by small caves, especially on the south side. The shallow caves are easily accessible and are veritable paradises for photographers. With 5 entrances and exits, you will feast on the play of light and the abundant wildlife outside, but also inside. We observe moray eels, rays, a beautiful variety of nudibranchs, and huge wrasse. On leaving the cave, you will fly over a beautiful coral garden.
It is an incredibly beautiful dive, in a superb setting of coral and a play of light.
Malahi
Must of the Fury Shoals. On the southern part of the reef, the architecture comprises huge pinnacles and canyons that form a labyrinth on a plateau. It is a veritable playground for wrasse, turtles, and reef sharks. The northern part of the reef offers a garden of hard corals, on the west they are soft corals … you will not know where to look because the landscape is so beautiful … and the icing on the cake, almost all the fauna of the Red Sea is present on this site! Another dive not to be missed, the atmosphere is magical.
Sha’ab Sataya
South of Fury Shoals, Sha’ab Sataya is the most visited site. It is a huge lagoon surrounded by an oval-shaped reef where a large colony of bottlenose dolphins’ lives. 7 coral pillars seem to guard the entrance to the lagoon. The outside of the reef, subjected to currents, offers a superb drift dive where you can observe pelagic and turtles.
Sataya and its dolphins attract many divers and snorkelers. It is a breathtaking spectacle. Sataya is Hamata’s “dolphin-reef”.