Erg Somaya

Overview

Erg Somaya is the dramatic, grown-up cousin of Hurghada's gentle erg dives — a steep wall and pinnacle site on the east side of Small Giftun, dived as an exhilarating drift and reserved for confident divers. Soaring coral towers, fan-filled caves and a living wall dropping into the blue make it one of the most spectacular sites in the Hurghada area, but its current and depth mean it is strictly for the experienced and for calm-weather days.

The Dive

The reef falls quickly to a sandy ledge between roughly 14m and 24m, then continues down a wall to around 50m — far beyond recreational limits, so the deep wall is enjoyed as a backdrop while the dive stays within sport-diving depth. The classic plan is a drift starting north of the anchorage, following the contoured eastern wall southwards to a magnificent coral tower where the boat waits. The wall is riddled with cracks and overhangs sheltering small reef fish, and between the two main ergs lie a pair of caves — around 25m and 32m — that join to form a chimney, plus a pyramid-shaped cavern full of fan corals. Heading south, pinnacles drape in colourful coral and swarm with anthias, glassfish and their predators.

Currents here are often strong, which is precisely why it is dived as a drift — going with the flow is by far the easiest approach. Combined with the depth and the cave features, this makes Advanced Open Water and solid buoyancy the realistic minimum, and good conditions a prerequisite.

Marine Life

The wall and pinnacles teem with anthias, glassfish and the predators that hunt them. To the north you can meet humphead parrotfish, barracuda, mackerel and tuna, while regular residents across the site include Napoleon wrasse, turtles, batfish, moray eels, triggerfish and — with luck — white-tip reef sharks patrolling the deeper edge. The fan corals in the caves and the soft-coral towers are the visual highlights.

Good to Know

Erg Somaya sits about 75 minutes by boat from Hurghada, east of Small Giftun beneath the Giftun police-station tower. Visibility is usually excellent, often 20–40m. This is one of the area's more demanding dives — strong current, real depth and overhead-ish cave features — so it suits experienced divers and is only run when the weather cooperates. Treat the caves and the wall with respect and keep a close eye on depth and gas.