Blue Hole - El Bells

Overview

The Blue Hole is the most famous — and most mythologised — dive site in the Sinai, a near-perfect submarine sinkhole punched into the reef just north of Dahab. The classic recreational way to dive it is not down the hole itself but as a drift that begins at the Bells, a narrow cut in the reef a little to the north, and runs along a spectacular coral wall back to the Blue Hole's coral garden. It is a shore dive of real character: easy access, world-class scenery, and a route that keeps recreational divers safely in the shallows while the famous Arch stays the preserve of technical teams.

The Dive

The dive starts at the Bells, a chimney-like crack in the reef top. You descend through the slot and exit into open water at around 27m, then turn and drift south along a sheer wall draped in black coral and dramatic overhangs, keeping the reef on your shoulder and the blue on your other side. The recreational profile holds comfortably in the 10–30m band along the wall before arriving at the Blue Hole, where you cross a shallow saddle into the hole itself and finish over a bright coral garden in just a few metres of water.

The Blue Hole proper drops past 100m, and the Arch — the tunnel through the reef at around 56m that connects the hole to the open sea — is strictly a technical dive and the cause of the site's grim safety reputation. Recreational divers should never attempt the Arch. As a Bells-to-Blue-Hole drift, though, this is a manageable Advanced Open Water dive with a real sense of occasion.

Marine Life

The wall is the highlight: thickets of black coral and soft corals on the overhangs, glassfish and anthias massing in the cracks, and the chance of trevally, the odd turtle, and — for the lucky — a hammerhead, whale shark or oceanic whitetip cruising in the blue. Inside the Blue Hole, look for nudibranchs, batfish and the freedivers who use its sheltered water for training.

Good to Know

The site dives year-round and is reached by a 15–20 minute drive from Dahab to a row of camps right at the entry. Visibility is usually excellent, often 20–30m along the outer wall. The Blue Hole's reputation is built on technical divers attempting the Arch beyond their training — done as the Bells drift and kept within recreational limits, it is one of the Red Sea's great shore dives. Plan your maximum depth in advance and resist the pull of the hole.