Deep South Red Sea Diving

Zabargad Island

Zabargad is the largest of Egypt's 4 Southern Red Sea marine parks and lies just 7 km north of Rocky Island in the deep south. The island has exquisite turquoise bays, sandy beaches and a 235m high hill at its centre. Zabargad means topaz in Egyptian, and you can still find evidence of an island community that mined the semi-precious stones here.

Red Sea diving is at its best on Zabargad Island's south east coast in Turtle Bay. Here you'll find a sandy slope down to 30m or so with a maze of dome coral turrets, forming refuges to reef fish such as pufferfish and sweetlips, and invertebrates such as cuttlefish and octopus. The floor is home to bluespotted stingrays and crocodilefish, and of course turtles are found here too.

Outside of the sheltered bays, Zarabargad has steep walls that offer some great Red Sea drift diving. The usual Southern Red Sea sharks can be sighted here, such as oceanic whitetips and grey reef. It's also a good place for manta encounters, where these rays come into the reef to attend cleaning stations dotted along the ledges at 15-30m.

On the northeast coast of Zabargad lies the Khanka Wreck, a 70m long Russian transport ship that sank upright in 24m of water. The bow has impact damage but the rest of the wreck is in good condition. Although there is little coral growth here yet, there are several interesting sections of the ship to explore, such as the holds, bridge and engine room, which are filled with glassfish.

Down the west coast of the island, lies the remains of the Neptuna. This was a German Red Sea diving safari boat that sank here in 1981. It has now broken apart but much of what remains is visible on the sea floor.

Zabargad Island Reef Basics: Labyrinthine corals and wrecks
Depth: 5 - >40m
Visibility: 10 - 30m
Currents: Gentle but can be strong in exposed places
Surface conditions: Calm but can be choppy
Water temperature: 23 - 30°C
Experience level: Intermediate - advanced
Number of dive sites: 6
Diving season: All year round
Distance: 230 km southeast of Marsa Alam (14 hrs)
Access: Red sea liveaboards

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