Shaab Maksur

Overview

Shaab Maksur is the wild eastern outpost of the Fury Shoals, a long narrow reef whose sheer walls and exposed position turn it into a magnet for big fish. "Maksur" means "broken" in Arabic, a nod to the reef's shape. Roughly 28km off Hamata and surrounded on all sides by walls dropping into the deep, it offers the southern Red Sea's classic high-voltage diving: steep coral, schooling pelagics, sharks and the genuine possibility of something enormous passing in the blue. This is a site for confident divers who want adventure over comfort.

The Dive

The reef is a slim ridge about 1.5km long, walled by steep drop-offs on its east and west flanks that plunge to around 100m. The most striking diving is on the northern plateau, where the reef starts near 22m and slopes gently to a shelf around 40m before falling away past 90m into the blue, the prime spot to hang and watch for big animals. Set a sane recreational ceiling and stay off the plateau edge unless suitably qualified. The exposed location means current is often strong and can be demanding, so this is not a beginner site; good drift technique, an SMB and a watchful eye on depth are essential.

Marine Life

The walls and current draw schooling pelagics in numbers: barracuda in tornadoes, and in season schooling hammerheads patrolling the plateau. Reef sharks, sea turtles, dolphins and manta rays are all regular, and at certain times of year whale sharks cruise through. The reef walls themselves are richly coralled, but most divers spend the dive looking outward, into the blue, where the action is.

Good to Know

Diveable year-round, but at its best in the summer months when conditions and big-animal odds peak; water runs 20 to 22°C in winter and 27 to 29°C from July to October, with visibility commonly 20 to 30m. It is a liveaboard-only site on Fury Shoals and deep-south itineraries out of Hamata. Strong currents, real depth and an exposed position make Advanced certification and solid drift-diving experience the firm baseline.