Small Giftun

Overview

Small Giftun is the wall-and-drift jewel of the Giftun Island National Park, a short hop from Hurghada — a drop-off plunging into the deep blue, a protected reef teeming with life, and a current that can run from a lazy push to a genuine ride. With sheltered plateaus for beginners and a fast, dramatic eastern wall for the experienced, it is one of the most versatile and rewarding day-trip dives in the Hurghada area.

The Dive

The site is the smaller of the two Giftun islands, and most dives are run as drifts: you drop into open water off the south coast and let the current carry you along the reef. A sandy plateau between roughly 15m and 25m holds a rich coral garden busy with marine life and shielded from the worst of the current — ideal for open-water divers — while the main wall falls away vertically past 90m, dived along its upper face. Decorated coral formations jut from the wall, and a small cave around 40m shelters lionfish and anthias for those with the certification and gas to visit it. The northern current is the defining feature: always present, never predictable, sometimes mild and sometimes howling, which is what makes the eastern wall a thrilling advanced drift and the plateau a calmer alternative. Recreational dives stay up on the plateau and the upper wall; the depths below are for narrating, not chasing.

Marine Life

As part of a national park protecting over 196 coral species and a thousand species of fish, Small Giftun is dense with life. Gorgonian fans and long-nose hawkfish decorate the wall, scorpionfish and stonefish hold station on the plateau, and schooling fish move through in numbers. Out in the current-fed blue, ambush predators and pelagics — tuna, trevally and the occasional larger visitor — patrol the drop-off, while napoleon wrasse and buffalohead parrotfish are regular sightings on the reef.

Good to Know

Small Giftun dives year-round and is one hour to ninety minutes by boat from Hurghada's main port. The plateau suits beginners and open-water divers, but the wall's strong, unpredictable current and deep drop-offs make Advanced Open Water and good drift skills the right baseline for the eastern side. Visibility is typically excellent at 20-30m. As a protected marine reserve, the rule is simple: drift, watch, and keep your hands and fins off the coral.