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Four Seasons House Reef
Egypt · reef · beginner
5–40 mbeginnerOWshore entry
MEDIA5 items
Four Seasons House Reef
The Four Seasons' own kilometre of fringing reef at Shark's Bay: three jetties, a 5 m sand plateau to practise on, and a slope that keeps going to 40 m.
Max depth5–40 m
Required levelbeginner
Entry typeshore
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
The Four Seasons house reef is the resort's beach frontage on the Shark's Bay stretch of the Sharm el Sheikh coast, roughly 700 m from White Knight and a kilometre from the Shark's Bay house reef. Sinai Blues, the PADI centre that has run from that beach since 2002, describes it as about 1 km of fringing shoreline reef with three jetties along it. The jetties are the point: they turn it into a walk-in shore dive rather than a swim out across a reef flat.
The profile is why the centre teaches on it. Depths start at plateaus of about 5 m and run down sandy slopes to 30 and 40 m, with depths of around 100 m not far offshore, and the current is minimal. Sinai Blues runs introductory dives to 5 m here, Discover Scuba dives to 12 m, and the open-water training dives for its Scuba Diver and Open Water courses; at the other end of the scale the same reef is used for technical training as far as Trimix. Night diving runs on it as well.
What you see is ordinary Red Sea fringing-reef life rather than anything the site is singularly known for. OBIS occurrence records within 1.5 km of the pin are dominated by Red Sea surgeonfish, several parrotfishes, masked puffer, diagonal and blacktail butterflyfish, devil firefish, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, twoband anemonefish and small giant clams, with humphead wrasse turning up occasionally. The centre's RIBs and motor yachts leave from the same private jetty, so the usual pattern is house reef early or after dark and a boat out to the Tiran and Ras Mohammed sites in between.
- Three jetties along about 1 km of the resort's fringing reef, so entry and exit are steps rather than a surf swim
- A 5 m sand plateau that the dive centre uses for every level of training
- Sandy slopes running to 30-40 m, with roughly 100 m of water not far offshore
- Night diving on the same reef
- RIBs to the Tiran and Ras Mohammed sites leave from the same private jetty
Please note before you go
- The sand slope runs to 30-40 m and around 100 m is nearby, so it is easy to exceed your planned depth from an unsupervised shore entry
- The same jetties are the departure point for the centre's RIBs and motor yachts, so there is boat movement over the entry and exit points
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Shore entry from the Four Seasons Resort's beach. Sinai Blues, the PADI centre on that beach, runs the reef, and there are three jetties along the roughly 1 km of shoreline for getting in and out. The centre's RIBs and motor yachts leave from the resort's private jetty for the reefs a few minutes away, and it says a good collection of the 76 recognised Sharm dive sites is within a few minutes of it.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Restrictions
It is a hotel house reef but not a residents-only one. Sinai Blues states that it caters for Four Seasons residents and outside guests, so divers staying elsewhere in Sharm can book it — but you dive it through the centre rather than walking onto the resort beach independently.
Season
No source gives a season for this reef. It is a sheltered shore reef inside a resort beach rather than an exposed offshore site, and the dive centre runs its training programme on it year round, so the month matters less here than it does for the Tiran and Ras Mohammed boat trips.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentlight
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range5–40 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsquiet
A sheltered fringing reef with minimal current, entered from a jetty. The shallow end is a sand plateau around 5 m that the centre uses for skills; beyond it the bottom slopes away through 30 to 40 m. No source publishes a visibility figure for this reef specifically, so treat descriptions of it as clear water as impressions rather than measurements.
On current: Sinai Blues, the dive centre on the resort beach, describes the house reef as having barely any current, and that is the reason it runs every one of its open-water training dives on it. No source gives a figure and none reports the site being blown out. The caveat is depth rather than current: the sand keeps sloping away to 40 m and about 100 m is not far offshore, so a shore entry here can put you deeper than you meant to go.
Dives & underwater footage
Questions & answers
How deep is the Four Seasons house reef?
It starts on plateaus of about 5 m and runs down sandy slopes to 30 and 40 m, with depths of around 100 m not far offshore. Most of what actually happens on it is shallower than that: intro dives at 5 m, Discover Scuba dives at 12 m and Open Water training to 18 m. The depth is set by your plan, not by a bottom you can see.
How do you get into the water at the Four Seasons house reef?
From the shore, using the jetties. Sinai Blues describes the resort as having roughly 1 km of fringing shoreline reef with three jetties along it for entry and exit, which is what makes this a step-in dive rather than a swim across a reef flat. The centre's RIBs and motor yachts also leave from the resort's private jetty for the reefs a few minutes away.
Can non-guests dive the Four Seasons house reef?
Yes. Sinai Blues, the PADI centre on the resort beach, states that it caters for hotel residents and outside guests, so divers staying elsewhere in Sharm can book onto it. What you cannot do is walk onto the resort beach and dive it independently: access runs through the dive centre.
Is the Four Seasons house reef good for beginners?
It is close to a textbook beginner site. The current is minimal, entry is off a jetty, and there is a sand plateau at about 5 m for skills. Sinai Blues teaches its whole beginner ladder on it, from an 8-year-old's pool Bubblemaker through 5 m introductory dives and 12 m Discover Scuba dives to the open-water dives of the Scuba Diver and Open Water courses.
Can you snorkel the Four Seasons house reef?
Yes. Sinai Blues markets the same 1 km of fringing reef and its three jetties for snorkelling as well as diving. The shallow plateau sits at around 5 m, so there is plenty to look at without leaving the surface, and the fixed jetty entry means you are not committing to a long swim out and back.
Is there current on the Four Seasons house reef?
Very little. The dive centre repeatedly describes the house reef as having barely any current, and that is the stated reason it runs all of its open-water training dives there rather than off a boat. Nothing in the sources reports the site being unusable because of current; the thing to watch is the sand slope that keeps dropping away offshore.
What will I see on the Four Seasons house reef?
Standard Red Sea fringing-reef life rather than a single headline animal. OBIS occurrence records within 1.5 km of the pin are dominated by Red Sea surgeonfish, rusty and daisy parrotfish, masked puffer, diagonal and blacktail butterflyfish, devil firefish, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, twoband anemonefish, sea goldies and small giant clams. Humphead wrasse are recorded there occasionally.
Can you night dive the Four Seasons house reef?
Yes. Sinai Blues lists night diving among the recreational diving it runs on the resort's house reef, alongside reef systems, coral gardens, wall and drift diving on its boat sites. The jetty entry and the lack of current are what make it workable after dark, and Night is one of the adventure dives offered on its Advanced Open Water course.
Life recorded at Four Seasons House Reef
60 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmaoccasional · 15 recordsCheilinus undulatusoccasional · 7 records
Acanthurus sohaloccasional · 30 records
Chlorurus sordidusoccasional · 29 records
Pterois milesoccasional · 24 records
Arothron diadematusoccasional · 22 records
All 60 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Acanthurus sohal | occasional | 30 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | occasional | 29 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 24 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 22 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | occasional | 21 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 21 |
| Scarus niger | occasional | 21 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | occasional | 20 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | occasional | 19 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | occasional | 18 |
| Hipposcarus harid | occasional | 18 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | occasional | 17 |
| Coris aygula | occasional | 17 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 16 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | occasional | 15 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | occasional | 15 |
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 15 |
| Monotaxis grandoculis | occasional | 14 |
| Chlorurus gibbus | occasional | 14 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | occasional | 14 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | occasional | 14 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 14 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | occasional | 14 |
| Naso elegans | occasional | 13 |
| Tridacna maxima | occasional | 12 |
| Cephalopholis argus | occasional | 12 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 11 |
| Chaetodon auriga | occasional | 11 |
| Epibulus insidiator | occasional | 10 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | occasional | 10 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | occasional | 9 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | occasional | 9 |
| Diodon hystrix | occasional | 9 |
| Kyphosus cinerascens | occasional | 9 |
| Balistapus undulatus | occasional | 8 |
| Scarus frenatus | occasional | 8 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | occasional | 8 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | occasional | 8 |
| Cheilinus undulatus | occasional | 7 |
| Aluterus scriptus | occasional | 7 |
| Cetoscarus bicolor | occasional | 7 |
| Acanthurus nigrofuscus | occasional | 7 |
| Fistularia commersonii | occasional | 7 |
| Pseudobalistes fuscus | occasional | 6 |
| Alticus magnusi | occasional | 6 |
| Plectorhinchus gaterinus | occasional | 6 |
| Gymnothorax griseus | occasional | 6 |
| Siganus luridus | occasional | 5 |
| Arothron hispidus | occasional | 5 |
| Cantherhines pardalis | occasional | 5 |
| Chaetodon lineolatus | occasional | 5 |
| Chaetodon melannotus | occasional | 5 |
| Myripristis murdjan | occasional | 5 |
| Ostracion cyanurus | occasional | 5 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | occasional | 5 |
| Scolopsis ghanam | occasional | 5 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | occasional | 5 |
| Mulloidichthys vanicolensis | occasional | 5 |
| Neoniphon sammara | rare | 4 |
| Tylosurus crocodilus | rare | 4 |
Nearby sites in Sinai
Explore all sitesWhite Knight0.7 km
SinaiA sand-floored canyon and an eel garden in the first bay north of Shark's Bay.
Shark’s Bay1.0 km
SinaiSharm's shallow shore-entry training bay, better known for stonefish, glassfish and a night dive than for the sharks it is named after.
Ras Bob1.7 km
SinaiA sheltered local reef south of Ras Nasrani: a coral wall with narrow swim-throughs, shallow sandy bays, and a garden eel colony on the slope.
Ras Nasrani2.2 km
SinaiA headland north of Sharm where the current turns the corner: gorgonians standing into the flow and a wall behind them.
Ras Ghamila3.7 km
SinaiThe northernmost of the Sharm local sites: a long sandy plateau under table corals, with more gorgonian sea fans than anywhere else on this coast.
Far Garden5.6 km
SinaiThe far end of the Gardens chain north of Naama Bay: coral towers rising almost to the surface off a narrow plateau, then a wall dived as a drift.
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