Abu Kafan North

Egypt · reef · advanced

5–30 madvancedAOWboat entry

Abu Kafan North

The north end of Safaga's narrow offshore pinnacle: a negative entry onto a 25 m plateau, then a drift northeast to the eastern drop-off.

reefwalldriftpinnacleboat

Max depth5–30 m

Required leveladvanced

Entry typeboat

Visibilitynot sourced

The dive

Abu Kafan is a single long, narrow reef standing well offshore from Safaga, 80 minutes to two hours out depending on the boat and the sea. Its walls fall away almost vertically from just under the surface, past 80 m on the sounder and into water measured in hundreds of metres, and the only shallow ground on the whole structure is a slim plateau at each end. This entry is the north plateau. Our catalogue carries three pins on the same reef, a few hundred metres apart: Abu Kafan for the main mooring, Abu Kafan South for the southern erg, and this one for the north. They are routes on one pinnacle, not three separate reefs.

The north side is normally run as a drift rather than off the mooring. You go in off the boat, drop onto the plateau at about 25 m, and work northeast along it towards the eastern drop-off. The plateau itself is a carpet of soft coral with table corals scattered across it and two coral blocks standing on the seaward end. Where it breaks over the edge, fan and brush corals hang off the wall with longnose hawkfish sitting in them, and the blue off the lip carries unicornfish, large schools of fusiliers, schools of well over a hundred bigeyes, and barracuda. Tuna in the metre-to-metre-and-a-half class are reported specifically over this plateau. Turtles are regular; grey reef sharks and silvertips turn up occasionally, and hammerheads are described as seasonal without any operator we read committing to which months.

The reason this end is graded harder than the rest of the reef is the water. The current sets from the northwest and operators describe it as anything from mild to hard, changing in both strength and direction across a dive, which is exactly what a narrow reef with a plateau at each tip does to moving water. Everyone who writes about the site says the same thing about who should dive it: not inexperienced divers. Operators grade the reef between advanced and expert. Get the drift wrong at the north tip and there is nothing downstream of you.

Negative entry onto a soft-coral plateau at about 25 m
Two coral blocks on the seaward end of the north plateau
Eastern drop-off with fan and brush corals holding longnose hawkfish
Schools of over a hundred bigeyes, barracuda, and metre-plus tuna reported over this plateau
The wall alongside sounds past 80 m and the reef stands in several hundred metres of water

Please note before you go

Northwesterly current that varies in strength and direction inside one dive, at the exposed tip of a narrow reef
Drift entry onto a plateau already at 25 m, with the wall alongside it dropping past 80 m
Nothing downstream: miss the reef at the north tip and the next thing is open sea
80 minutes to two hours from Safaga port, on a crossing operators describe as lumpy

Access & rules

Mandatory requirements

Certification required

AOW

Getting there

Boat only, 80 minutes to two hours out of Safaga, and some Hurghada boats run here as well. The north route is normally a live drop rather than a mooring dive: the boat puts you in upcurrent of the plateau and picks you up off the wall. The mooring on the reef flank is used for the main and southern dives and is reported to give good shelter once you are tied in.

Operator

Access to the site runs through a local operator.

Rules and permits

Boats on the Egyptian Red Sea moor rather than anchor: HEPCA has installed over a thousand mooring buoys along this coast in cooperation with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, specifically to keep anchor chains off the reef. HEPCA states it receives no money from any national-park, marine-park, environmental-tax or reef-protection fee.

Season

September to November and April to May give the best combination of warm water, the better regional visibility figures and moderate crowds, and they matter more here than on an inshore reef because the site is a two-hour open crossing that gets unpleasant in winter northerlies. Hammerheads are described as seasonal at Abu Kafan, but none of the operators we read say which months, so we are not going to guess.

Conditions

Visibilitynot sourced

Currentstrong

Surgenot sourced

WaterSalt water

Depth range5–30 m

Environmentreef

Coralnot sourced

Crowdsmoderate

A normal day is a long, exposed crossing followed by a live-boat drop at the north tip, a northwesterly current on the plateau and clean blue water off the drop-off. No operator we read publishes visibility figures for this reef specifically; regional month-by-month figures for the Egyptian Red Sea run 25 to 40 m visibility and 21 to 30 C water depending on the season, so we have left a site-level number blank rather than borrow one.

On current: The current at Abu Kafan sets from the northwest and is described by Safaga operators as ranging from mild to hard, and by liveaboard operators as varying in both strength and direction within a single dive. The north tip is the end where that matters most, which is why it is dived as a drift instead of off the mooring; the mooring itself, on the reef's flank, is said to give good protection. Published depth ranges for the site disagree: one operator quotes 5 to 40 m as the working range, another 6 to 100 m for the whole reef. We have recorded the recreational north-plateau profile, which starts at 25 m.

Best months: Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov

Questions & answers

How deep is Abu Kafan North?

The north plateau sits at about 25 m and that is where the drift starts. Alongside it the wall drops past 80 m and the reef stands in water measured in hundreds of metres. Published site ranges disagree, with one operator quoting 5 to 40 m and another 6 to 100 m for the reef as a whole, so treat 25 to 30 m as the working recreational profile and set your own hard limit.

How is the north plateau at Abu Kafan dived?

As a drift, not off the mooring. The boat drops you upcurrent, you descend onto the plateau at around 25 m and work northeast across it towards the eastern drop-off, then finish up the wall while the boat follows. The mooring on the reef flank, which does give good shelter, is used for the main and southern routes instead.

Is Abu Kafan North good for beginners?

No. Every operator we read says the same thing, that the varying strength and direction of the current makes this unsuitable for inexperienced divers, and the reef is graded advanced to expert. You start the dive already at 25 m, on a drift, at the exposed tip of a narrow pinnacle two hours from port.

What is the difference between Abu Kafan North, Abu Kafan and Abu Kafan South?

They are three routes on one narrow reef, a few hundred metres apart, not three reefs. This entry is the northern plateau, dived as a northeast drift from a live drop. Abu Kafan is the main mooring dive on the flank, and Abu Kafan South is the southern end, where a large coral erg starts at about 18 m and runs deeper. The walls in between are the same walls.

Is there current at Abu Kafan North?

Usually, and it is the defining feature of this end. The set is from the northwest and operators describe it as anything from mild to hard, changing in both strength and direction within a dive as it wraps around the tip of the reef. That is why the north side is run as a drift with a live boat rather than from a fixed mooring.

What will I see at Abu Kafan North?

The plateau is a soft-coral carpet with table corals across it and two coral blocks on the seaward end, and the eastern drop-off carries fan and brush corals with longnose hawkfish tucked into them. In the blue, expect unicornfish, large schools of fusiliers, schools of over a hundred bigeyes and barracuda, with metre-plus tuna reported specifically over this plateau. Turtles are regular; grey reef sharks and silvertips are occasional and hammerheads are described as seasonal.

Can you snorkel Abu Kafan North?

No. The plateau does not start until 25 m, the north route is a drift from a moving boat, and the reef is an isolated offshore pinnacle roughly two hours from Safaga with a northwesterly current running across it. There is nothing here for a snorkeller and no safe way to be in the water without the dive boat working the site.

How do you get to Abu Kafan?

Boat only, 80 minutes to two hours out of Safaga depending on the sea, and some Hurghada boats also include it. Operators describe the crossing as lumpy, so it tends to be a fair-weather site. There is no shore access and no facilities on the reef.

Life recorded at Abu Kafan North

60 species within 1.5 km · OBIS

Taeniura lymmarare · 2 records Gymnothorax javanicusrare · 2 records Carcharhinus longimanusrare · 1 records Balistoides viridescensrare · 1 records

Cephalopholis miniatarare · 4 records

Myripristis murdjanrare · 4 records

All 60 species recorded in this area

Species	How often	Records
Cephalopholis miniata	rare	4
Myripristis murdjan	rare	4
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	4
Pseudodax moluccanus	rare	4
Monotaxis grandoculis	rare	3
Heniochus intermedius	rare	3
Variola louti	rare	3
Chaetodon semilarvatus	rare	3
Naso elegans	rare	3
Coris caudimacula	rare	2
Arothron diadematus	rare	2
Scarus niger	rare	2
Fistularia commersonii	rare	2
Chromis pembae	rare	2
Taeniura lymma	rare	2
Genicanthus caudovittatus	rare	2
Pseudocheilinus evanidus	rare	2
Chromodoris quadricolor	rare	2
Halichoeres hortulanus	rare	2
Hipposcarus harid	rare	2
Bodianus diana	rare	2
Oxycheilinus digramma	rare	2
Paracirrhites forsteri	rare	2
Caesio suevica	rare	2
Gymnothorax javanicus	rare	2
Priacanthus hamrur	rare	2
Scarus ferrugineus	rare	1
Siganus stellatus	rare	1
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	1
Tursiops aduncus	rare	1
Clathria (Clathria) arbuscula	rare	1
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	1
Chaetodon melannotus	rare	1
Pseudobalistes fuscus	rare	1
Amblyeleotris steinitzi	rare	1
Carcharhinus longimanus	rare	1
Cephalopholis sexmaculata	rare	1
Chaetodon austriacus	rare	1
Lutjanus fulviflamma	rare	1
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis	rare	1
Naucrates ductor	rare	1
Parupeneus cyclostomus	rare	1
Parupeneus forsskali	rare	1
Phyllidia varicosa	rare	1
Sargocentron caudimaculatum	rare	1
Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus	rare	1
Theonella swinhoei	rare	1
Anampses twistii	rare	1
Arothron hispidus	rare	1
Arothron stellatus	rare	1
Balistoides viridescens	rare	1
Bodianus anthioides	rare	1
Chaetodon lineolatus	rare	1
Chlorurus sordidus	rare	1
Ecsenius dentex	rare	1
Gymnothorax griseus	rare	1
Naso hexacanthus	rare	1
Ostracion cyanurus	rare	1
Pomacanthus imperator	rare	1
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	1

Nearby sites in Safaga

Explore all sites

Abu Kafan0.4 km

Safaga

A 300 m sliver of reef standing up out of deep water off Safaga, with a plateau at each end and a wall between them that goes down past 100 m.

Abu Kafan South0.8 km

Safaga

The south end of the Abu Kafan reef: a mooring dive out past a large erg that meets the main reef at 18 m, and the end that still runs when the north drift does not.

Shaab Claude4.2 km

Safaga

A small outer reef south of Sha'ab Sheer with a ridge of fused ergs and shallow swim-throughs at 4 to 6 m.

Um Hal Hal (Shaab Quais)4.7 km

Safaga

Two ergs at the edge of a plateau 400 m southeast of Middle Reef, with a wall dropping away at 30 m and a current that keeps divers out of the water most days.

Sha’ab Sheer East4.8 km

Safaga

The eastern end of Safaga's boomerang reef, where three ergs stand off the reef and leave a shallow channel that decides how the dive goes.

Shaab Hamdallah4.8 km

Safaga

A group of tall coral towers standing off the south tip of the Sha'ab Sheer plateau, dived only on days flat enough to leave a boat with no shelter at all.

Been here? Log it.

SeaLog imports your dives from your dive computer or Apple Watch, tracks every animal you see, and keeps your logbook safe forever.

Download SeaLog