Abu Hashish

Overview

Abu Hashish is a wide, sheltered bay reef about 90 minutes south of Hurghada, built around a small island ringed by a vast network of coral. A long tongue of reef runs south from the island onto a flat sandy plateau before tipping over a steep drop-off, giving a single site that works equally well for a first open-water reef dive and for divers who want a wall, caves and the chance of pelagics. Local legend has it the island's quiet position once made it a handy drop-off point for smugglers.

The Dive

The dive sits at the southernmost tip of the reef tongue, where a shelf in the 15–22m range runs outside the lagoon before falling away into a steep, comparatively bare drop-off with usually superb visibility. The classic plan leaves the lagoon through an obvious coral-filled channel, crosses the shelf to the drop-off, and follows the wall north — there are some lovely caves to explore around the 30m mark — before returning along the inside of the shelf to finish among the numerous ergs back in the lagoon. Inside the tongue of reef, table corals and coral towers give an easy, shallow playground; outside, the wall and caves add depth and structure. Current runs mainly north to south and is strongest along the drop-off, which makes the outer wall a natural gentle drift. The shelter of the bay means the site itself is well protected even when the crossing out is rough.

Marine Life

The drop-off and open water are the place for pelagics: jacks, barracuda, Spanish mackerel and whitetip sharks are regular, with hammerheads and graceful feathertail rays turning up now and then. On the shelf and inside the reef, look for turtles, blue-spotted rays, Spanish dancers, moray eels and the small reef community that lives among the table corals and ergs. The mix of habitats — lagoon, shelf, wall and caves — packs a lot of variety into one dive.

Good to Know

Abu Hashish suits all levels: beginners stay shallow among the ergs and table corals while more experienced divers work the wall and caves, so it's a popular training and fun-dive site alike. Visibility on the outer drop-off is often excellent. The main limitation is getting there — the run down from Hurghada can be choppy and rough seas sometimes make the site inaccessible, even though the bay is sheltered once you arrive. It's dived as a day trip by boat from Hurghada.