Sinai, Egypt · Dahab Shore Diving
Eel Gardens, Golden Blocks & Lighthouse Three easy shore dives along the Assalah coast
28°30.309′ N to 28°29.941′ N · 3–30 m · Three entries, one bay
Dahab shore diving is at its friendliest along these three sites. You park beside the water, walk in over a reef platform, and finish the dive at a Bedouin restaurant. Because all three sit within a short drive of Assalah bay, they can easily fill two relaxed days.
Three Dahab shore diving sites, three characters
Firstly the honest version: two of these three stay genuinely shallow, and the third does not have to be. Eel Gardens and Golden Blocks work in the top twenty metres, whereas Lighthouse can be run as an easy shallow loop or taken down to its thirty-metre towers.
Consequently a group with mixed experience can dive the same site on the same day without anyone compromising, provided the depth is agreed on the beach rather than underwater.
Meanwhile all three share the same rhythm: park by the water, walk in over the platform, and come out to a restaurant. That is the whole appeal of Dahab shore diving, and it is why most courses in town happen here.
What you are diving
- Firstly Eel Gardens, and hundreds of garden eels over pale sand
- Then the winding channel at 2–3 m that leads out to them
- Also Golden Blocks, two golden coral towers visible from shore at low tide
- Meanwhile Moray Garden, connected to it underwater
- Besides those, Lighthouse and its two inlets past twenty-five metres
- Finally the Dump, the quiet seagrass route heading west
High tide, every time a platform is involved. Namely the reef platform at Eel Gardens runs about sixty metres. At high water you swim across it; at low water you walk on living coral, and it does not grow back on your holiday.
Thirty metres is not a shallow dive. Lighthouse is the one Dahab shore diving site that is easy to enter and easy to go too deep on, because nothing about the beach warns you. Consequently set the maximum before you kit up.
The three Dahab shore diving sites in detail
Each card carries the coordinates, the depth range and the route as it is actually dived. Above all, agree the exit point before entering: all three finish somewhere different from where they start.
Eel Gardens
28°30.309′ N · 34°31.199′ E
Firstly the easiest Dahab shore diving entry of the three. The site lies roughly one and a half kilometres north of Lighthouse, still inside Assalah bay, and a pedestrian walkway runs around the bay to reach it. Alternatively a small internal asphalt road allows access by vehicle. Despite being well known it stays a quiet oasis, with palm trees shading the beach and two or three easy restaurants behind it.
Garden eels (Gorgasia sillneri) are the reason people come. Their colony covers a vast slope of pale sand, and hundreds of them wave in the current until you get too close, at which point the whole field disappears into the seabed.
How the dive runs
- Firstly enter at high tide, because the reef platform is about 60 m wide
- Then swim over the platform rather than walking on it
- Also pass the seagrass zone, keeping it on your right
- Meanwhile follow the winding channel at 2–3 m out through the reef
- Keep the small madrepore promontory on your left
- After a dozen metres the sand slope and the eels open up ahead
- Finally stop at the coral garden by the channel on the way back
Approach the eels flat and slow. They retract at distance, so a diver who swims straight at the colony sees an empty patch of sand. Settle, wait, and the field comes back up around you.
Golden Blocks and Moray Garden
100 m south of Happy Life Village · 16–20 m
Then a pair of Dahab shore diving sites that connect underwater, so one dive covers both. They sit about a hundred metres apart, in front of a small Bedouin restaurant called Wadi Qnai, roughly ten kilometres along the coastal road from El-Qura bay. Entry from the shingle beach is simple and the bay shelters it from waves.
Moray Garden also carries the nickname Shark’s Cave. Frankly there is neither a cave nor a shark. What you may find instead are giant morays (Gymnothorax javanicus), particularly in the northern part. The name Golden Blocks is more honest: two hard coral towers of a golden colour, visible from the shore at low tide.
How the dive runs
- Firstly descend the sandy slope straight off the beach
- Then keep the wide seagrass bed (Halophila stipulacea) on your right
- Also head north until the bottom reaches 16 to 20 m
- Because pinnacles and madrepores begin here, fusiliers and trevallies gather
- Meanwhile Golden Blocks lies about 100 m north of Moray Garden
- Finally continue north with the reef on your left to the restaurant
Lighthouse
28°29.941′ N · 34°31.193′ E
Finally the busiest Dahab shore diving entry in town. Lighthouse occupies the northern tip of Assalah bay, in the area known as Masbat. Despite the name no lighthouse stands here: the one marking the bay entrance sits a few hundred metres to the west. Most dive centres are within walking distance, and entry is easy in any sea state, straight off a beach full of parasols, sunbeds and swimmers.
Underwater the point descends into the blue past twenty-five metres and forms two large inlets. Its western inlet has a sandy bottom studded with hard coral towers, and those towers are what pull divers deeper than they planned.
Two routes from one entry
- Firstly the classic: follow the sandy ledge and circle the 30 m towers
- Then ascend slowly to 8 to 12 m and work back along the reef wall
- Also expect breams, parrotfish, lionfish and groupers in the shelters
- Alternatively the Dump, heading west over a seagrass-covered sand slope
- Because it is quieter, the Dump suits photographers and naturalists
- Finally look for octopus, pufferfish and juveniles among the seagrass
Both routes return to the same northern point of the bay, so navigation stays simple whichever way you go. The Dump is also the answer on a day when the classic route is crowded, which is most days.
Marine life on these Dahab shore diving sites
Above all, the interest on these Dahab shore diving sites is in the small and the settled rather than the big and the passing. Nothing on this stretch depends on luck, which is exactly why it suits photographers and courses.
On the sand
Namely garden eels in their hundreds, bluespotted ribbontail rays (Taeniura lymma) on the open patches, plus octopus and juveniles hiding in the seagrass nearby.
Around the towers
Also shoals of fusiliers and trevallies patrolling the pinnacles between sixteen and twenty metres.
In the crevices
Meanwhile grey morays (Siderea grisea) at Eel Gardens, giant morays further south, and lionfish along the reef wall.
On the coral
Certainly unicornfish (Naso) and butterflyfish (Chaetodon) over the table corals, with parrotfish grazing the shallows.
In the seagrass
Notably two species of Halophila carpeting the slopes, sheltering pufferfish and small hunters.
Along the wall
Finally breams and groupers holding position in the shelters between eight and twelve metres, with hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) working the coral above them.
Conditions and access
Water
- Firstly visibility, generally 15 to 30 m and best before the wind builds
- Then calm water, which is what makes Dahab shore diving workable year round
- Then temperature: 21 to 22°C in winter, 25 to 27°C in summer
- Also current, mild inside the bay at all three sites
- Finally exposure: a 5 mm suit works, and a hood helps in winter
Getting in
- Firstly from the beach at all three, with no boat needed anywhere
- Then on foot at Eel Gardens, via the walkway around the bay
- Also by vehicle on the small internal asphalt road
- Finally at high water wherever the reef platform must be crossed
Practical notes
- Firstly dive at high tide wherever a platform is involved
- Then bring booties, since entries cross shingle and rock
- Also plan the deeper towers first and the shallows afterwards
- Meanwhile agree the exit point before you enter the water
- Consequently set a maximum depth at Lighthouse on the beach
- Surface intervals are easy: a restaurant sits behind all three sites
- Also go early at Lighthouse, which fills up through the day
- Finally carry a marker for the swim back across open water
- Above all, treat Dahab shore diving as unguided unless you book a guide
Level. Open water covers everything here, and Eel Gardens suits a first sea dive. Only the deep half of Lighthouse asks for more, and that is a choice you make rather than one the site forces.
Planning your Dahab shore diving day
Generally these three fill two relaxed days rather than one busy one. Above all, Eel Gardens rewards a long slow dive, and rushing it to fit a second site in is the one mistake worth avoiding.
Meanwhile Golden Blocks and Moray Garden count as one dive because they connect underwater, so the natural pairing is those two in the morning and Lighthouse or the Dump in the afternoon once the light has moved.
Useful links
- The whole coast, north and south — every region around the town in one guide.
- Ras Abu Galum to the Caves — the six entries beyond the bay, north and south.
- The Canyon — the deep fissure and its glassfish cave.
- The Blue Hole — the 120 m sinkhole, the Bells and the Arch.
- Gabr el Bint — the wall in the far south, by camel or by boat.
- Safety standards and emergency care — briefings, oxygen and chamber contacts.
- Red Sea conditions and planning guide — visibility, weighting and currents.
- Red Sea Liveaboard — safari routes and boats across the Egyptian Red Sea.
- Divers Alert Network (DAN) — insurance and emergency guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dahab shore diving good for beginners?
Very much so. All three sites are entered from the beach and sheltered, which is why most courses in town use them. Eel Gardens is the gentlest of the three.
Why does high tide matter?
Because the reef platform at Eel Gardens runs about sixty metres. At high water you swim across it instead of walking on living coral.
Will I see sharks at Shark’s Cave?
No, and there is no cave either. Giant morays are the real attraction, mostly in the northern part of the site.
Is there really a lighthouse at Lighthouse?
Not at the dive site. One stands a few hundred metres west, marking the entrance to the bay, and the name simply stuck.
What is the Dump?
An alternative route west of Lighthouse over a seagrass slope. Since fewer divers go that way, it rewards patient photographers.
Can I dive two of these in one day?
Easily. Golden Blocks and Moray Garden connect underwater and count as one dive, and the drive between the other Dahab shore diving sites takes only a few minutes.
What are you waiting for?
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