Abu Kafan

Overview

Those who love "Elphinstone" will be thrilled to hear that there is another dive spot in the Red Sea similar to this reef - "Abu Kafan". A long stretched outer reef about one and a half to two hours from Safaga, with a plateau to the north and an erg to the south. Translated, "Abu Kafan" means something like "The Deep One".

Description

As an outer reef, "Abu Kafan" is of course completely exposed to the current, but this is exactly what makes it so interesting and so colorful. This is the only reason why we can see a variety of fishes and a large population of different coral species, which are topped by the big fishes in the blue water.
The reef top of "Abu Kafan" is at a depth of three meters, the actual diving area between ten and 30 meters, after that it goes steeply downhill and one can get a bit queasy or dizzy here, although we cannot actually "fall".

Bigeyes and schools of barracuda welcome us as well as gray reef sharks, whitetip sharks and hammerheads. The last three don't stop by here as often as some turtles, but that's what makes it so appealing. Soft corals, fan corals and black corals complete the picture of "Abu Kafan" perfectly.
Bigeyes and schools of barracuda welcome us as well as gray reef sharks, whitetip sharks and hammerheads. The last three don't stop by here as often as some turtles, but that's what makes it so appealing. Soft corals, fan corals and black corals complete the picture of "Abu Kafan" perfectly.

Hotspots

• The southern Erg: It is particularly colorful, full of life and definitely worth an exploration visit. This erg is connected to the reef at a depth of about 18 meters. There can be strong currents in the channel between the erg and the main reef. At the bottom of the channel you can often find stonefish and scorpionfish.