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Emperor - Fury and Elphinstone

Fury Shoals Reef System - Elphinstone

Departing from Marsa Ghalib Port

Experience Level: Emperor requires that you have 30 logged dives for this itinerary.

 

This cruise starts with a very short sail to one of the sites near to Port Ghalib perfect for your first check dive before heading off to sites further afield. Here are some of the sites that could be visited during your trip:

 

Fury Shoals Reef System - The Wadi Lahami reef system offers sites such as Abu Galawa Soraya, a stunning reef with a small wreck of a 17m sailing boat sitting at 18m depth offers a lot of fish life while still remaining intact after more than 25 years. Soft and hard corals abound in sections of the reef, and there are plenty of pinnacles to explore offering dive options at depths down to 24m. Also Abu Galawa Kebir, is close to its smaller sister Abu Galawa Soraya and is famous for its tunnels and south plateau. The Tien Hsing Chinese tugboat boats some stunning soft and hard coral bouquets running its 34m length. But the wreck is not the only reason to visit, as the large reef provides plenty of opportunity for other dives along the walls, pinnacles and the tunnels are ideal for novice cave diver.

 

Sha’ab Maksour is a large and varied reef that is often compared to the Red Sea classic Elphinstone with steep drop offs and strong currents make it a dive where some diver experience is beneficial. North and South plateaus start at around 20 meters and extend to around 40 meters, although the plateau has some pinnacles on that can be enjoyed on the ascent and safety stop. On the plateaus and drifting down the east wall, you can encounter some species that make a proud entry in your log book, hammerheads, reef sharks, mantas and whale sharks have all visited Maksour!

 

Moving further south towards the Fury Shoals system, the Sha’ab Claudio captivates divers and enthrals photographers with its shallow swim-thru system perfect for leisurely exploration. With 5 entrances and exits and shallow in depth, you’re never ‘lost’ and you can just enjoy the shafts of light dancing through the caverns. Rays, nudibranchs, large napoleon wrasse and morays are all frequently spotted here you may even see a White Tip Reef shark or turtle pass by.

 

Sha’ab Sataya is situated at the very south of Fury Shoals, this huge natural lagoon is formed by a massive reef (sha’ab) rising from the depths. The fame of Sataya is rising, with steep drop offs along with pelagic sightings and protected pinnacles smothered in soft and hard corals. But the real stars can be the huge pods of spinner dolphins that frequent here, meaning Sataya has become the ‘Dolphin House’ of Hamata.

 

Elphinstone - Located approximately 30km from Port Ghalib, Elphinstone reef is 300m long with sheer walls richly covered in colourful pink and red soft corals and elegant red gorgonians descending to around 40m deep. Other areas of the reef have near vertical cliffs, overhangs, small caves and drop offs of up to 100m. Elphinstone is known to experience some strong currents attracting many diverse species such as; barracuda, angel fish, groupers, napoleons, morays, reef sharks and great shoals of dogtooth tuna and jacks. Occasional spottings include; dolphins, turtles, oceanic white tip, hammerheads sharks.

 

Please note: You are expected to be able to complete each dive with your buddy or following the guide. The guides may not enter the water and may remain onboard as surface support for some dives. As with all diving activities, the dive guide has the final decision regarding any divers competency to complete any particular dive. This is a sample itinerary and is subject to change without notice. The itinerary will depend on several factors including, but not limited to, weather, diving ability of guests & the number of other boats already present at the various dive sites.

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