Shaab Petra

Overview

Shaab Petra is a relaxed, shallow reef in the Magawish area south of the Giftun Islands, a neighbour of Shaab Eshta and an easy boat ride from Hurghada. Two coral pinnacles rise to the surface from a sandy seabed, separated by a coral garden, with a small outlying coral block to the east that punches well above its weight. Calm, beginner-friendly and quietly full of life, it is a popular choice for training, gentle dives and night dives.

The Dive

The two ergs come up to the surface from a sandy bottom around 8m and sit roughly 50m apart on an east-west line, keeping the whole dive in an easy, shallow 5 to 15m range. The highlight is not the main pinnacles but the small coral block off their eastern side: a compact, life-packed feature that impresses even jaded divers. The smaller pinnacle is the prettier of the two and hides a tunnel crammed with shrimp and bannerfish. The sea is usually calm with a mild current from the northeast or northwest, so it is forgiving and well suited to beginners and basic training.

Marine Life

The eastern coral block carries the dive, riddled with holes full of glassfish and hatchetfish that spill out across the reef, with silversides and goatfish swarming above and orange-spot and bluefin trevally hunting through them. The main ergs hold squirrelfish, soldierfish, cardinalfish and glasseyes in their crevices, and the wider reef turns up moray eels, bannerfish, lionfish and scorpionfish. Turtles are common, especially on night dives.

Good to Know

Diveable year-round and usually calm, Shaab Petra is around 45 minutes southeast of Hurghada and typically dived alongside Shaab Eshta or other reefs in the group. Visibility commonly runs 10 to 25m. Its shallow depth and easy conditions make it ideal for beginners, courses and night diving; more experienced divers tend to treat it as a pleasant, low-key second dive.