Makadi Bay is located south of Hurghada, along a stretch of the Red Sea that’s championed around the world for its prime scuba diving opportunities. Some of the dive sites in this area are easily amongst the best in the world, so it’s no surprise that divers flock here.
All that enthusiasm also makes Madinat Makadi a great place to take up the sport. Most hotels along the bay have their own in-house diving centres, where you can rent equipment, charter a boat or even arrange to get certified. There’s no better place to take your first dive.
The following are a few of the best dive sites around Madinat Makadi and Hurghada:
Erg Somaya
Located on the east side of Giftun Soraya, this reef slopes down to depths ranging from 15 to 24 metres. It bottoms out into a sandy seabed, and then plunges another 50 metres. Interesting formations including a natural underwater pyramid and a pair of pinnacles create interesting terrain for coral to grow on.
Small Griftun
There is a spectacular wall at Small Griftun, and divers can glide effortlessly over a stretch of fan coral. You may even see enormous tuna in the deep-blue distance. In the courses of this dive, you’ll arrive at a sandy plateau overgrown with coral in an area that often sees corcodilefish, moray eels, sea turtles and spotted stingrays. It’s possible to experience Small Griftun as a drift dive or as a standard dive with the boat moored in place.
Shab El Erg
The north point of this U-shaped reef occasionally hosts mantas during the warmer months. Any time of year, the lagoon is worth exploring for the many pinnacles that rise out of the seabed. Dolphins like to put on a show every now and then.
Umm Gamar
This Island lies offshore of the bay and is surrounded by excellent diving sites. It is also a prime location for beginners to get some practice. You can drift dive on the east and west sides, or plunge into the coral gardens to the north of the island. This area can only be visited when weather permits.
Gota Abu Ramada
The hard and soft corals that populate this dive site attract an abundance of marine life – so much so that local divers have taken to calling it the ‘Aquarium’. You’ll feel like you’ve dived into a fish tank of monumental proportions, with butterfly fish, snappers, goatfish, banner fish and more teeming around you.
Wreck sites
There are a few wrecked ships that divers can visit in the area. First is El Minya, an Egyptian minesweeper that was sunk by Israeli fighters. The wreck site is only 70 metres long, so it’s easily explored. Two other wrecks in the area include The Excalibur and Colona IV – both of which were live-aboard ships that sank. The latter sank to about 70 metres and is ideal for a nitrox dive.