The Alternatives

Overview

The Alternatives — known to local fishermen as Saba Erg, the "Seven Pinnacles," and to divers as Stingray Station — is a sheltered cluster of coral pinnacles rising from a sandy lagoon on the southern edge of Sha'ab el-Utah, in the Tiran area off Sharm El Sheikh. Its name is its purpose: tucked behind the reef and protected from the open sea, it offers a reliable "alternative" when wind and swell shut down the exposed Tiran and Ras Mohammed sites. A boat dive with a relaxed, exploratory character, it is a favourite for macro hunters and easy second dives.

The Dive

The site is a chain of outcropping pinnacles running east to west for around 1.5 miles, flanking a sandy lagoon that averages about 10m deep — so this is a shallow, undemanding dive with a sensible recreational floor around 20m. The classic plan circles the two central pinnacles, which line up with a fixed mooring, weaving between coral heads and across the sand. The first of these is Stingray Station itself, home to a cleaning station where stingrays queue up to be tended. About 1.7 miles west sits a single large coral tower known as Lonely Mushroom, a worthwhile detour for divers with the air and the inclination.

Current is variable and tide-driven, and it has an outsized effect on visibility here: a southerly current, especially with wind and waves, murks the water up, while calm conditions or a northerly flow leave the lagoon clear and full of life. That same shelter makes Alternatives an all-levels site in good conditions and a smart fallback when the open sea is rough.

Marine Life

The pinnacles are dressed in soft and small hard corals and stippled with macro life — nudibranchs, shrimps and gobies tucked into the coral and sand. Larger residents include big groupers, squid, and the blue-spotted stingrays that gave the site its nickname, gathering at the cleaning station. In calm, clear conditions the fauna is genuinely abundant, and lucky divers have even spotted leopard sharks resting on the sand. The mix of macro subjects and easy depth makes it a photographer's playground.

Good to Know

Tiran-area diving is best April to November, with warm water and the calmest surface conditions; visibility swings widely with the current, from a poor few metres on a bad southerly to a clear 20m-plus when it is calm. Avoid the site in rough seas with poor viz — it loses its charm — and save night dives for genuinely settled conditions, carrying two torches if you do. It is reached by day boat from Sharm and is a classic bad-weather alternative as well as a fine macro dive in its own right.