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The winter extends during the months from October to march, when the temperature can fall in the night to 19ºC. In the summer, nevertheless, they easily reach 40ºC during the day and at night they remain above 25ºC. During the hottest months you produce lots of sweat, with the risk of dehydration, which is why it is necessary to consume a sufficient quantity of liquids, preferably bottled water. Also, the risk of suffering a decompression attack is considerably reduced when you are hydrated.

Shad El Erg

90 minutes to 2 hours north of Hurghada depending on the weather and where you leave from. It is vast horseshoe shaped reef with its open side facing south. At the center of the horseshoe is a shallow lagoon dotted with ergs (hence the name). It is dived in a number of places: on the north point, on the east wall, or on the south west point (illustrated) known as Gota Shab el Erg. The latter is the most popular. A shallow channel separates a large erg from the main reef. On the south and west sides is a wide sandy plateau and numerous towers and coral blocks.

Aruk Abu Nugar

Aruk Abu Nugar is located in the east-west direction in the north of Hurghada, about 2 hours far by boat, east from Umm Gamar Island. This is one dive site which is very far away in the north of Hurghada.

El Fanadir

El Fanadir is a long narrow reef just north of Hurghada. It can be dived on the south end, on the east side or in good weather, on the north end. The illustration shows the east side, which is the most popular as it is protected from the weather by a slight curve in the reef. It is marked by 4 low lying rocky islets. A shallow hard coral wall slopes (at about 60 grad) to a sandy ledge at 12 m. This sandy ledge is about 50 m wide and narrows as you head northwards. At 20 – 25 m, it drops off to greater depth.

Umm Gamar

Umm Gamar is a long thin streak of reef lying on a north south axis, 90 minutes north of Hurghada. To the north and south are small plateaus in the 20m range. On the east side a vertical wall plunges into the silent blue beneath. It is most commonly dived on the south plateau (near the moorings) and the east wall. Umm Gamar means " Mother of the Moor " possibly a reference to the crescent shaped wedge of island atop the reef.

Careless Reef

About one hour northeast of Hurghada, amid-sea reef plateau pushes up from the abyss. It is mostly in the 12-25 m range, gently sloping to 22-24 m at its edges where it drops off steeply. Standing on the plateau are two ergs, the larger to the northwest, the smaller to the southeast. They are surrounded by a forest of coral.

Fanous West

This reef comes with several names: Torfa el Fanous (meaning “reef with a beacon”, Dolphin Reef or Dolphin’s Playground. Whatever name you give it, it’s a narrow strip of reef surrounding a large lagoon to the north-west of Giftun Kebir. On its east end a wide channel splits the reef from the mainland and on its slopes are a coral garden and three colorful pinnacles. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

Ben El Gebel

About 90 minutes from Hurghada between Giftun Soraya and Giftun Kebir is a narrow street. Along crescent of reef projects out into it from the north end of Giftun Soraya – this is Ben el Gebel (literally "between the mountains" in Arabic). It also goes by the names of Shab Torta, Shab Dorfa and Torfa el Shait. At the end of this crescent of reef are five ergs. This is your dive site. It’s about 90 minutes from Hurghada.

Banana reef

Just off the end of Ben el Gebel in the middle of the Giftun strait sits Banana Reef. It is also known as Gota Ben el Gebel, Gota Torfa el Shait or more poetically Shaab Farina meaning “dragonfly reef”, look at its shape to see why. It’s a Y-shaped reef lying in shallow water (15m).

Shaab Sabrina

This reef, also known as Fufuleya, lies 60 – 90 minutes from Hurghada. It is marked by a pointed tongue of reef poking out from the east side of Giftun Kebir. To the south side of the tongue it is basically dead. To the north though is an attractive hard coral garden that extends north-eastwards as a succession of alternating coral ridges and sand patches. There is a beautiful shallow lagoon 150 m past the tongue.

Erg Somaya

About 75 minutes outside Hurghada, on the east side of Giftun Soraya, is Erg Somaya. To the south is the tower of Giftun police station; to the north is a prominent ridge of mountain. The reef slopes steeply to a sandy ledge between 15 m and 24 m, beyond which it drops off 50m. There are two pinnacles on the ledge. One between 18 m and 10 m has a mooring buoy attached. To the north between 20 m and 12 m is another shaped like a pyramid and overgrown with a thick crop of purple soft corals. Beneath the ledge and between two ergs is a distinct nose with two caves at 25 m and 32 m joining to form a chimney.

Abu Rama da North

Abu Ramada is between 60 and 90 minutes out of Hurghada. Where the island stops at the north end a long plateau continuous at 20 - 50 m, tailing gently off. On the east side it drops off sheer, blending with a vertical wall to the south. Like Umm Gamar, there is a “Halg” or neck on the east side of the island where your boat can often wait.

Erg Abu Ramada

On the southeast side of Abu Ramada (60 – 90 minutes out of Hurghada) is a wide sandy shelf stretching eastwards. Just before it drops off, three large ergs rise up from the seabed (18 m) to just beneath the surface. They lie in a line, the biggest to the south and the smallest to the north.

Shab Ishta

Shab Ishta is 45 minutes to one hour from Hurghada. It is basically two ergs, a small one to the north, a large one to the south and it is shaped a bit like a clover leaf. Ishta is Arabic for “cream” but it’s also a term of phrase equivalent to “cool” in English. The depth ranges from 9 to 12 m and it is surrounded by areas of turtle grass.

Ras Disha

About 90 minutes south from Hurghada, on the coast, is a wide bay an island at is centre (Abu Hashish). It is defined to the north by a headland called Ras Disha. There is a plateau of shallow sand and past the beacon, to the north is a drop-off. Three ergs lie to the south. They are probably the nicest diving.

Abu Hashish

Abu Hashish is the island at the centre of a wide bay 90 minutes south of Hurghada. This island was once used as drop-off point for smugglers bringing hash into the country. A tongue of reef extends about 1 km south of the island. The dive site is at its southernmost tip. There is a shelf between 15 and 22 m outside, and beyond that a step, but fairly bare, drop-off, usually with superb visibility. Inside the tongue of reef is a scattering of long ergs.