SeaLog
Certification required
OW
El Makluf ED
Egypt · reef · intermediate
0–35 mintermediateOWshore entry
El Makluf ED
Half an hour south of Gassous Bay in the base bus, in through a small cave under overhangs, out onto blocks that stand from deep water almost to the surface.
Max depth0–35 m
Required levelintermediate
Entry typeshore
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Two different reefs on the Egyptian coast are written El Makluf, and this is the northern one. It sits on the shore south of Safaga, which the ORCA base at the Coral Garden resort in Gassous Bay places 17 km south of itself and about thirty minutes away in the base bus. The other El Makluf, the one on the Movenpick El Quseir shore-dive list, is a separate site roughly 30 km further down the coast and SeaLog carries it as its own entry. The "ED" on this pin is an operator tag that arrived with the import rather than part of the name.
The two descriptions we could find agree on the shape of the dive. You go in from land: through a small cave with overhangs in the base's account, through a hole in the reef roof and then a canyon in the centre-submitted listing our record was imported from. Outside, the ground is coral blocks standing off the bottom. The base puts them at up to 35 m; the imported listing says they run between 10 m and 40 m and rise to just under the surface, and adds a coral garden of table corals to the south. We have taken the shallower of the two maxima and said so rather than average them.
Beyond that the documentation is thin, and the pin is only as good as the import. It sits 12 km south of Coral Garden in a straight line against the operator's 17 km by road, and 0.4 km from the neighbouring Abu Saaf pin, close enough that the two may be sections of the same fringing reef rather than separate dives. For the animals, the imported listing names snappers, sweepers, scorpionfish, turtles, crocodilefish, wrasses, crabs and nudibranchs; OBIS holds only five records inside 1.5 km of the pin, each a single occurrence. No visibility, temperature, season or current figure is published for this site, and no SeaLog diver has logged it, so those fields are empty here.
- Land entry through a small cave with overhangs
- Coral blocks standing from deep water up to just below the surface
- A coral garden of table corals along the southern side
- Thirty minutes by base bus, so it is a half-day out rather than a house-reef dive
Please note before you go
- Land entry through a cave or a hole in the reef roof, which needs a guide who knows the way back
- Blocks that run to at least 35 m directly off an entry with no shallow shelf
- Roadside entry on an undeveloped stretch of coast, thirty minutes from the nearest base
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
By dive-base bus, not on your own. The ORCA base at the Coral Garden resort in Gassous Bay counts it 17 km south of the base and about thirty minutes' drive, and the same base runs minibus excursions to sites all along the coast between Coral Garden and El Quseir. There is nothing at the entry itself. The pin sits just north of the Kalawy Bay resorts, where the Magic Divers house reef known as Ras Dudi is dived from the hotel jetty; that is a different, separate operation and not the way into this site.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Season
No source gives El Makluf a season, so the best months are left empty. The base keeps it on its excursion list rather than treating it as seasonal, and on this coast it is the north wind on the day, not the month, that decides whether a shore entry is comfortable.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentnot sourced
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range0–35 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsquiet
An unserviced shore entry on the open coast south of Safaga, run as a bus excursion rather than a walk-in. Below the entry the ground is coral blocks and sand. We found no published visibility or water-temperature figure for this site and have no logged dives here, so none is given.
On current: Nothing is published about current at El Makluf and there is no logged dive to check against, so the level is unset. The one number the two sources disagree on is depth: the ORCA base says the blocks reach 35 m, the centre-submitted listing says 40 m. We have kept 35 m, the conservative figure, and would plan the dive on the shallower reading until someone measures it.
Questions & answers
How deep is El Makluf?
At least 35 m on the blocks, and the two published figures do not agree. The ORCA base at Coral Garden says the offshore blocks reach up to 35 m; the centre listing our record was imported from puts them between 10 m and 40 m, rising to just below the surface. We have kept the shallower maximum and would plan on that. There is no logged dive in SeaLog yet to settle it.
How do you get to El Makluf?
By dive-base bus. The ORCA base at the Coral Garden resort in Gassous Bay, south of Safaga, counts the site 17 km south of itself and about thirty minutes' drive, and it is one stop on the base's minibus excursions along the coast between Coral Garden and El Quseir. There are no facilities at the entry, so everything comes in with the vehicle.
Is this the same El Makluf as the one near El Quseir?
No. The name appears twice on this coast. The El Quseir El Makluf is a shore dive on the Movenpick resort's own site list roughly 30 km further south, and SeaLog holds it as a separate entry. This page is about the northern one, the site the Coral Garden base drives south to. If your centre is based in El Quseir, you are almost certainly going to the other one.
Is El Makluf good for beginners?
No source publishes a certification minimum, and the base takes guided divers to its shore sites, so an Open Water diver can be brought here. The two things that argue for care are the entry, which goes through a small cave or a hole in the reef roof rather than a beach wade, and the fact that the blocks give you 35 m straight away. Dive it with the guide.
What will I see at El Makluf?
The centre listing names snappers, sweepers, scorpionfish, turtles, crocodilefish, wrasses, crabs and nudibranchs, plus a coral garden of table corals along the southern side. The OBIS record for this pin is very thin: five occurrences inside 1.5 km, being a bluespotted ribbontail ray, a tasseled scorpionfish, a humpnose big-eye bream, an orbicular batfish and a Picasso triggerfish. Do not expect a headline animal.
Can you snorkel at El Makluf?
Not sensibly. The way in is a cave or a hole in the reef roof rather than a beach entry, and the coral blocks that make the dive stand in deep water even though their tops come near the surface. Snorkellers on this coast are far better served by one of the resort house reefs, which are open from the beach.
How reliable is the position of this pin?
Only moderately, and it is worth saying so. The coordinates came in with a catalogue import, they sit 12 km south of Coral Garden in a straight line against the operator's stated 17 km by road, and the neighbouring Abu Saaf pin is only 400 m away, which is close enough that the two may be sections of the same fringing reef. Treat the pin as the right stretch of coast rather than an exact entry point.
When is the best time to dive El Makluf?
There is no published season, so we have left the best months blank. The base carries it on its excursion list all year, and what decides a given morning is the north wind, because it is an unsheltered shore entry. Ask at the centre on the day rather than building a trip around it.
Life recorded at El Makluf ED
5 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmarare · 1 records
Monotaxis grandoculisrare · 1 records
Platax orbicularisrare · 1 records
Rhinecanthus assasirare · 1 records
Scorpaenopsis oxycephalusrare · 1 records
Nearby sites in Safaga
Explore all sitesAbu Saaf ED0.4 km
SafagaA hotel house reef south of Safaga you enter through a hole in the reef top - no current, no boat traffic, any weather.
Ras Dudi North2.9 km
SafagaThe northern run of one resort's private house reef at Kalawy Bay, entered off a 250 m jetty and dived in whichever direction the current picks.
Kalawy House Reef, South4.8 km
SafagaThe southern half of a resort fringing reef 30 km below Safaga, entered off a 250 m jetty onto a sand platform at 5 m.
Salim ED7.1 km
SafagaA minibus shore dive on the Safaga to El Quseir road: a channel cut through the reef top, a cave beside it, and coral blocks on the sand outside.
Gasus Soraya11.0 km
SafagaA small bay a couple of kilometres south of Gassous Bay, dived by minibus from the Coral Garden base: sand, scattered ergs and a steep reef.
Coral Garden / Gassous Bay13.1 km
SafagaA house-reef bay 22 km south of Safaga: 30 steps from the dive base to the water, no current, no boat traffic.
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