Dive guide: Nuweiba, Red Sea, Egypt

Photo: Jane Morgan Photo: Jane Morgan Photo: Jane Morgan

Nuweiba, translated from Arabic, means ‘bubbling springs’ and this oasis can be found sandwiched between Dahab and Taba. Nuweiba can be accessed from either Taba (70km to the north) or Sharm (180km to the south) followed by a road transfer of around two hours. Nuweiba town was built around the Jewish settlement of Moshav Neviot during the Israeli occupation, but is most famous for its port. Thousands of people have made their way here over the years to catch the ferry on their journeys to Mecca.

The town offers sparse amenities for tourists, although development has begun. There are a post office, supermarkets, bazaars and a couple of restaurants, including a reasonably priced Chinese restaurant, but as Nuweiba has only recently been discovered by tourists, you will not find an abundance of gift shops.

NUWEIBA DIVE SPOTS

Nuweiba offers shore diving only, but the entries and exits are incredibly easy, with nice sandy bottoms. The dive centres will take you along the coastline in 4x4 vehicles although if you opt to stay at the Coral Hilton you will find it difficult to tear yourself away from the house reef.

ABOU LOU LOU HOUSE REEF

Accessed from the Coral Hilton, Abou Lou Lou is one of the best house reefs in the world. By day and night the incredible plethora of marine life never ceases to amaze. You can spend a whole dive discovering the critters hiding under the jetty, and once the lights come on in the evening the huge numbers of lionfish start hunting the small fry. En route to the coral garden you pass over an area of seagrass that is home to crocodile snake eels, shrimp, morays and robust ghost pipe fish. The sandy area around the coral garden is also very interesting and you can find mimic octopus and by night stargazers, hermit crabs and even guitar sharks. The coral garden hosts a myriad of life too – hundreds of lionfish, coral groupers, glassfish, frogfish, octopus, yellow-mouthed morays and marble shrimp, to name just a few. Photographers can have an absolute field day the only difficulty is deciding where to point the camera.

SINKERS

The Israeli army dropped this mooring buoy into water too deep to be of any use to them, but this small error has produced a wonderful dive site today. The entry/exit point is a sandy shore just outside the Coral Hilton hotel. As you swim out across the sandy sea bed you are soon welcomed by pretty coral bommies and anthias. Heading down over coral gardens to a depth of 35m, you will find the bottom of the sinker chain. The chain itself is smothered with beautiful soft corals and there are many interesting critters hiding within these. As you slowly circle up the chain you will finally reach the buoy that is suspended at 8–12m. Glassfish have made their home inside the buoy and around the outside are schools of fusiliers and damsels.

MFO PIPELINE

MFO is an abbreviation for Multi-National Force and Observers and the pipeline is made up of two desalination pipes that were laid by the Israeli army. These pipes, which are about 5m apart, start at 5m and slope down to 12m and 20m respectively. They are now covered with both soft and hard corals. Numerous fish have been attracted here to seek shelter among them. On the pipes themselves you can find small frogfish and shrimps. A short swim north of the pipes, you can find a collection of small coral pinnacles between 14 and 20m, where fish life is also abundant.

RAS MAMLACK

A 90-minute transfer from Nuweiba this site is set in the Abu Galum National Park, the reef starts at 12m in a coral garden, after which the steep walls drop down to 70m. Pristine fan and table corals can be found here.

TOPSIDE ATTRACTIONS

Nuweiba has been blessed with beautiful soft, white, sandy beaches, so sun worshippers will be in paradise. All the usual Sinai trips to St Catherine’s Monastery and trips into the desert are available. You can also visit Jordan or Israel for the day to visit either the city of Petra or float in the Dead Sea.

NUWEIBA DIVE CENTRES

Emperor Divers
00 20 12 2340995
www.emperordivers.com

African Divers
00 20 12 3110505
www.africandiversnuweiba.co.uk

TOUR OPERATORS

Crusader Travel
020 8744 0474
www.crusadertravel.co.uk

DIVE Channel
0870 880 2848
www.divechannel.co.uk

Geo-dive 020 8755 6873
www.geo-dive.com

Goldenjoy Dive
0871 226 8701
www.goldenjoydive.com

Longwood Holidays
020 8418 2570
www.longwoodholidays.co.uk

Oonasdivers
01323 648924
www.oonasdivers.com

Peltours
0870 774 3000
www.peltours.com

Regal Dive
0870 220 1777
www.regal-diving.co.uk

Werner Lau
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.wernerlau.com