Diving photo safari from one of the few unique and untouched scuba diving places in the world – Abu Fendera. Amazing number of hard corals, a long chain of reefs, wonderful canyons and labyrinths of underwater flora and fauna with beautiful colors. All of this is much more than a big challenge for all underwater photographers.
Red Sea of Egypt should be one of the top location for every scuba diver. Underwater photographers believe that pictures taken at theese locations of Red Sea look very unreal when presented to viewers. That is why I came once more to Red Sea of Egypt with even more expectations than the first time I took a dive in the amazingly clear blue water of Red Sea. This time the trip organiser was scuba diving club “Sebastian”, and our goal was the untouched reef of Abu Fendera on the south of Egypt at the Sudan border.
Heading along the Egypt coast further south to the Sudanese border lies an unexplored region which has a few surprises in store for divers. The charts are fairly inaccurate and many non-marked reefs suddenly appear out of nowhere, making navigation particularly hazardous.
Abu Fendera lies South of St Johns and the Elba Reef can be found on the Egyptian and Sudanese border with a good plateau on its North and South side as well.
Divers visit these reefs for two reasons: either they go through here when sailing from Egypt to Sudan or they come here to find a place where there are no other boats or hoards of other divers.
A long chain of reefs, about 6 km long, with a diversity of bays, wonderful canyons and labyrinth of underwater reefs. Marvelous big and undamaged corals with fantastic colors.
Virtually guaranteed are Pristine hard coral, notably cone coral (Merulinidae) and yellow waver coral (Dendrophylliidae), Red anemones in large aggregations, tuna and bumphead parrotfish. Unlike St John’s Reef to the north, they tend to be relatively shallow, bottoming out at around 25m. Anthias are prolific on most sites, providing the stunning orange and purple contrast to the blue backdrop that has become synonymous with the Red Sea.
Our ten days trip with great scuba divers, fun time atmosphere and unbelievable photos I took have contributed to Egypt to stay on top of my list of favorite diving destinations, and for me to look forward to next trip at the Red Sea with even more enthusiasm.