The Blue Hole of Dahab
- Friendly Fins
- Dec 24, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 7
Good morning Friendly Fins, today we tell you about Dahab, this small Bedouin village overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba, north-east of the Strait of Tiran, an hour's drive from Sharm el-Sheikh.
After 13 years back in Dahab
Instead of just describing the amazing dives in Dahab, I will tell you a story from the point of view of a girl who has just become an advanced diver, with 20 fresh dives under her belt, who is trying to do two of the most famous dives in the world.
After 13 years, I had the opportunity to live this incredible day again as an instructor with my two friends and historical students. A unique experience of its kind to return after so many years to do the same dive but with two completely different points of view.
The same immersion experienced in two different ways
The first time between fear and anxiety we managed to survive, now instead the perception is totally different, it was a dive reliving the path of all these 10 years of instructor that I like to tell you from the Friendly Fins point of view that distinguishes us.
What we do in Dahab
Dahab attracts divers from all over the world every day for the beauty of its shore diving. Walking through the village, in addition to souvenir shops and restaurants, we find a row of diving centers and the possibility of staying overnight in small local lodges.
We went to visit this unique village for lunch, eating in one of the restaurants overlooking the sea and visiting some shops before returning to Sharm. Don't miss it, Friendly Fins!
Where are all these diving centers going?
Although in the 70s this place was particularly destroyed by intensive fishing, the coral structures with ancient corals, have resisted the change well and therefore it has remained one of the most beautiful places in the world for diving and snorkeling.
The most famous dives are the Canyon and the Blue Hole.
The Dahab Canyon
The Canyon is a narrow crack that starts at 14 m perpendicular to the coast and descends to more than 50 m towards the drop off. You enter from the shore, crossing a small lagoon of 2-3 m of water, passing the lagoon you arrive at the coral reef and to the left of the small wall we find the entrance to the canyon. You can't go wrong because it is just after a beautiful coral pinnacle full of Anthias.
The Blue Hole
The Blue Hole of Dahab is one of the few Blue Holes that exist in the world and has clearly become famous for its depth and size: a cylinder 50 m wide in diameter and almost 100 m deep.
It attracts divers from all over the world, both technical and recreational. In my opinion, the entrance to the dive is very scenic: it looks like a vertical crack, an open siphon into which we descend to 26 m. We then do the entire external wall until we dive into this wonderful hole during the backup stop at the end of our dive, crossing it and exiting from a small jetty that directly overlooks the road.
The coral reef here is extraordinary for its life and abundance of fish. Even the part at 30 m is truly breathtaking: above all a large amphitheater hosts a colony of elephant ear corals really extensive... Here I think this is one of the most beautiful points of the dive, in addition to the entrance and the saddle!
In Sharm El Sheikh you certainly won't get bored and the Sinai desert offers many possibilities not only related to the sea.
Here's another unmissable place!
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