SeaLogEgypt · reef
A well-populated stretch of reef north of El Quseir that nobody has bothered to write up.
El Makluf is a name on the site list of the operators working the coast north of El Quseir, and almost nothing about it is published. The one description we could find is a diver's trip report on the Pharaoh Dive Club at Roots Red Sea, which places 'El Makluf 20 km up north' and calls it a good site with plenty of interesting fish, very large wrasses and many barracudas. That is the whole of it.
The distance does not reconcile with our position. Our coordinate sits 570 m from our own Abu Sawatir record - the house reef at the foot of that same dive centre - so either the coordinate or the '20 km' is wrong, and we cannot tell which. We have therefore recorded no depth, no visibility, no current, no entry type and no difficulty. The operator based nearby works a 75 km stretch of coast, running shore trips by bus and zodiac trips up to 30 minutes north and south, which is context for how a name like this gets used rather than a fact about this position.
What is striking is the occurrence data, which is the densest of the nine El Quseir sites in this batch: two-banded anemonefish and bluespotted ribbontail ray dominate, followed by common lionfish, white-spotted puffer, Red Sea bannerfish, Forster's hawkfish, sailfin tang, moontail bullseye, sling-jaw wrasse, checkerboard wrasse, giant moray, scalefin anthias and tassled scorpionfish. Whatever the name refers to, this stretch of reef is well-populated and reasonably well surveyed - which is more than the published dive literature can say.
No source states how this site is reached. The El Quseir operator nearest to it works a 75 km stretch of coast with shore trips by bus and zodiac trips up to 30 minutes north and south, so both are plausible - but we are not recording either as fact for this position.
On current: No source publishes a depth, visibility or current figure for El Makluf. The only account we found is a diver's trip report, which places the site 20 km north of the Roots Red Sea base; our coordinate is 570 m from our own Abu Sawatir record, which is that base's own house reef, so the two do not reconcile and we have recorded neither as a fact.
We do not know, and we have not guessed. No dive guide or operator publishes a depth, visibility or current figure for this site. The single description we found is a diver's trip report that gives no numbers at all.
That is the honest problem with this entry. The one published account places El Makluf 20 km north of the Roots Red Sea base near El Quseir, while our coordinate sits 570 m from our own Abu Sawatir record - which is that same base's house reef. The two cannot both be right, and we cannot tell which is wrong.
No source says. The operator working this stretch runs shore trips by bus and zodiac trips up to 30 minutes north and south along a 75 km coast, so either is plausible. Ask before you book.
This is the one thing we can answer well. The occurrence record here is the richest of the nine El Quseir sites we looked at: two-banded anemonefish and bluespotted ribbontail ray dominate, then common lionfish, white-spotted puffer, Red Sea bannerfish, Forster's hawkfish, sailfin tang, moontail bullseye, sling-jaw wrasse, checkerboard wrasse, giant moray, scalefin anthias and tassled scorpionfish. The one diver's account singles out very large wrasses and many barracudas.
Unknown. No source gives a difficulty rating, a depth or a current for this site, so there is nothing to base an answer on. Treat the certification question as one for the operator, not for a website.
If it appears on an operator's list, ask what they mean by the name and what the profile is before you agree. Names along this coast frequently cover several distinct spots, and this one is not described anywhere in the published dive literature.
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 36 |
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 32 |
| Arothron hispidus | occasional | 20 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 20 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 19 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 18 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | occasional | 18 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | occasional | 17 |
| Epibulus insidiator | occasional | 17 |
| Priacanthus hamrur | occasional | 17 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | occasional | 16 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | occasional | 16 |
| Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus | occasional | 14 |
| Bodianus anthioides | occasional | 14 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | occasional | 13 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | occasional | 12 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | occasional | 12 |
| Amblyglyphidodon flavilatus | occasional | 12 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | occasional | 12 |
| Naso elegans | occasional | 12 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 11 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 11 |
| Naso unicornis | occasional | 11 |
| Octopus cyanea | occasional | 11 |
| Chaetodon auriga | occasional | 11 |
| Fistularia commersonii | occasional | 11 |
| Coris aygula | occasional | 10 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | occasional | 10 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | occasional | 10 |
| Cheilinus quinquecinctus | occasional | 10 |
| Dascyllus abudafur | occasional | 10 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | occasional | 10 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | occasional | 10 |
| Tridacna maxima | occasional | 10 |
| Coenobita scaevola | occasional | 9 |
| Cyclichthys spilostylus | occasional | 9 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | occasional | 9 |
| Scolopsis ghanam | occasional | 9 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | occasional | 8 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | occasional | 8 |
| Papilloculiceps longiceps | occasional | 8 |
| Balistoides viridescens | occasional | 8 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | occasional | 8 |
| Myripristis murdjan | occasional | 7 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | occasional | 7 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | occasional | 7 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | occasional | 7 |
| Halichoeres scapularis | occasional | 7 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | occasional | 6 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | occasional | 6 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | occasional | 6 |
| Callyspongia crassa | occasional | 6 |
| Monotaxis grandoculis | occasional | 6 |
| Arothron stellatus | occasional | 6 |
| Anampses meleagrides | occasional | 6 |
| Ostracion cyanurus | occasional | 6 |
| Inimicus filamentosus | occasional | 5 |
| Hyrtios erectus | occasional | 5 |
| Neoniphon sammara | occasional | 5 |
| Ophiocoma scolopendrina | occasional | 5 |
The walk-in house reef of the Roots Red Sea camp: a sand bay you swim out of, a coral reef north and a low wall south.
A resort house reef that is really a wall dive: 200 m of jetty out to a platform, then the reef edge falls away under your fins.
A capped, walk-in house reef in a protected bay: 5 m of reef top, then a wall.
A capped, walk-in house reef in a protected bay: 5 m of reef top, then a wall.
The southern end of the El Quadim Bay house reef at El Quseir, one of three catalogue pins on the same sheltered wadi-mouth bay.
A zodiac drift ten minutes north of El Quseir harbour: down a wall to 18 m, then south into a field of pinnacles.
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