Explore The Red Sea Coast
PORT SAFAGA (Bur Safaga in Arabic) amounts to very little. Coming in from the north, you pass a slip road curving off to a series of holiday resorts on a headland, catering mainly to divers. The town, whose economy is driven by the nearby phosphate mines, begins 3km later and consists of a single windswept avenue running straight on past concrete boxes with bold signs proclaiming their function, until the bus station and a final mosque, 4km south. Silos and cranes identify the port, which runs alongside (but remains out of bounds) for most of this distance. Safaga’s only attractions are the reefs to the north, and there’s not much reason to hang around otherwise.
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Diving and snorkelling in Safaga
Diving and snorkelling in Safaga
Boats and instructors at the main dive centres tend to be committed to groups, though they will take on independent travellers if they have space: expect to pay around €300 for a PADI Open Water course or around €50 for two boat dives. As in Hurghada, an environmental fee of €3 a day is levied on all divers and snorkellers. The main diving grounds lie 6–8km offshore from the holiday resorts between Safaga Island and the Ras Abu Soma headland to the north. Tubiya Island is ringed with corals just off its beach, while dive boats drop their clients directly over the sunken North and South Fairway Reefs or the twin pairs of sites known as Tubiya Kebir, Tubiya Soraya, Gamul Soraya and Gamul Kebir. Other sites include the Seven Pillars off Ras Abu Soma, and the Panorama Reef and Shark Point, 10km east of Safaga Island. Most of them are notable for their coral pillars and strong currents. Note that among the big fish prevalent in these waters are aggressive hammerhead sharks.
