Elphinstone Reef

The dive

Elphinstone is a submerged, cigar-shaped reef running north to south about 400 m long, lying roughly 10 km off the coast north of Marsa Alam. This entry is the reef as a whole - both plateaus and both walls - rather than the northern plateau, which we hold as a separate record.

The structure is simple and the consequences are not. Each tip carries a plateau about 100 m wide sitting between 20 and 40 m, and from the edges of those plateaus the eastern and western walls fall vertically past 100 m into open water. The eastern wall is the dramatic one, sheer and hung with soft coral; the western has more ledges and caverns and holds triggerfish and snapper. There is a tunnel system on the southern side at around 30 to 35 m. Deeper again, at the southern tip, is the Sarcophagus arch at roughly 52 to 70 m - outside recreational limits, and the 'sarcophagus' is a square block of rock, not an artefact.

The reef sits at an angle to the prevailing flow, so current runs over the plateaus almost permanently, generally north to south along the walls, and it can be strong. Dives are run as drifts with a blue-water pickup. Access is by day boat from the Marsa Alam coast - about an hour and a half - or by liveaboard; several boats are moored here all day, so it is rarely a quiet reef. Visibility is quoted at 20 to 35 m and water temperature at 23 to 30 C.

This is the pelagic station of the southern Egyptian coast. Grey reef sharks, giant trevally, barracuda and tuna work the plateaus; hammerhead sightings are reported but described as very elusive; oceanic whitetips, usually with pilot fish, are the reef's signature and are most reliable on the southern plateau from October to the end of December. Our OBIS records for the position are the ordinary northern Red Sea reef assemblage - sohal surgeonfish, sailfin tang, bluespotted ribbontail ray, lionfish, butterflyfish, anthias, coral hind - and do not contain these pelagics. The shark reporting is dive-guide reporting, not occurrence data.

• Cigar-shaped reef over 400 m long with a 100 m-wide plateau at each tip, 20-40 m
• Eastern and western walls falling vertically past 100 m
• Oceanic whitetips on the southern plateau, October to the end of December
• Tunnel system on the south side at about 30-35 m
• Near-permanent current; run as a drift with a blue-water pickup

Conditions

Open ocean. Current runs over both plateaus almost permanently, generally north to south along the walls, strong and capable of reversing, so every dive is planned as a drift with a blue-water pickup. Plateaus at 20-40 m, walls past 100 m below them. Visibility 20-35 m (we record the conservative 20 m) and water temperature 23-30 C through the year. Surface conditions can be rough with no shelter.

On current: Current over both plateaus is near-permanent, generally north to south along the walls, and can be strong; it is variable and can reverse. Plateau depths are given as 20-40 m; we record that band and note that the walls immediately beside it are unlimited. Visibility is quoted at 20-35 m and we record the conservative 20 m. Water temperature is reported at 23-30 C through the year. Sources disagree about the southern-side overhead: one describes a tunnel system at 30-35 m, while the Sarcophagus arch at the southern tip is given at about 52-70 m - these are different features and only the shallower one is within any recreational reach.

Dives & underwater footage