Question 1

Are Golden Blocks and Moray Garden the same dive site?

Accepted Answer

They are two beach entries a few hundred metres apart on the same reef in Dahab's Southern Oasis, and the usual way to dive them is to walk in at one and come out at the other. Moray Garden is the southern, gentler end; Golden Blocks is the northern end with the coral towers and the gorgonian. Three Pools and the pedal-boat entry sit on the same stretch of shore.

Question 2

How deep is the Golden Blocks and Moray Garden dive?

Accepted Answer

The shallow plateau at the Moray Garden end sits at nine or ten metres, and the sandy lagoon inside it at two to seven. From there sand and coral slopes and passages fall to 30 m and beyond, with quoted maximum depths of 45 m at Golden Blocks and 50 m for the wall at Moray Garden. A normal dive here works between about 5 and 30 m and stops well short of those numbers.

Question 3

How do you get to Golden Blocks and Moray Garden?

Accepted Answer

They are about 10 km south of Dahab on the coastal road through the Southern Oasis, roughly 10 to 15 minutes from town by jeep or taxi, just before Happy Life Village. Entry and exit are off the beach over shingle. Scuba goes through a Dahab dive centre for cylinders and transport; snorkellers can reach the beach independently.

Question 4

Is Golden Blocks or Moray Garden good for beginners?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Operators list both as suitable for all levels, and Moray Garden's shallow sandy plateau is regularly used for open-water training. The coast is sheltered from big waves and strong current, and the entries are straightforward beach walks. The one thing to be strict about is depth: the sand roads slope away to 30-40 m without ever feeling steep.

Question 5

Can you snorkel Golden Blocks or Moray Garden?

Accepted Answer

Yes, particularly at the Moray Garden end, which Red Sea Tribe calls a good snorkelling spot. The entry is off the beach, the sheltered shallows and sandy lagoon sit between two and ten metres, and there are coral blocks and table corals within easy view. The gorgonian, the pedal boat and the deeper sandy passages are diver territory.

Question 6

Why is it called Golden Blocks?

Accepted Answer

Because of the large hard-coral towers on the northern part of the site and the anthias that swarm over them, which give the blocks a gold cast in the light. Dahab Divers Lodge describes the blocks as running from about 10 m up towards the surface, while Dahab Dive puts the towers at 18 m, so the figure depends which formation the operator means. The adjacent end is called Moray Garden for the morays living in the same kind of coral.

Question 7

What will you see at Golden Blocks and Moray Garden?

Accepted Answer

Morays in the coral blocks, schools of glassfish, crocodilefish and bluespotted ribbontail rays on the sand, and octopus. Twoband anemonefish sit in anemones in the shallows, giant clams show their mantles on the reef top, and pipefish turn up in the seagrass on the sandy approach. A gorgonian fan sits at around 22 m. Lionfish are common, and fire coral is recorded here.

Question 8

Is there a wreck at Golden Blocks?

Accepted Answer

There is a small one. Dahab Divers Lodge records a sunken pedal boat at about 20 m on the Golden Blocks slope, which our catalogue also carries as a separate pin under its German name, Tretboot. It is a curiosity on the way past rather than a wreck dive, and it is the only piece of sunken hardware on this stretch of the Dahab coast.

Species	How often	Records
Amphiprion bicinctus	occasional	14
Pseudanthias squamipinnis	occasional	13
Pterois miles	occasional	13
Heniochus intermedius	occasional	10
Thalassoma rueppellii	occasional	9
Parupeneus forsskali	occasional	9
Pygoplites diacanthus	occasional	8
Grammistes sexlineatus	occasional	8
Arothron stellatus	occasional	8
Paracirrhites forsteri	occasional	7
Pomacentrus sulfureus	occasional	7
Chaetodon auriga	occasional	7
Pearsonothuria graeffei	occasional	6
Variola louti	occasional	6
Sufflamen albicaudatum	occasional	6
Monotaxis grandoculis	occasional	6
Parapercis hexophtalma	occasional	5
Chaetodon fasciatus	occasional	5
Chaetodon paucifasciatus	occasional	5
Cheilinus lunulatus	occasional	5
Chlorurus gibbus	occasional	5
Epinephelus fasciatus	occasional	5
Scarus niger	occasional	5
Melibe colemani	occasional	5
Cephalopholis miniata	rare	4
Taeniura lymma	rare	4
Hipposcarus harid	rare	4
Gymnothorax griseus	rare	4
Scarus fuscopurpureus	rare	4
Fistularia commersonii	rare	4
Bodianus anthioides	rare	4
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	4
Pseudochromis fridmani	rare	4
Cheilinus abudjubbe	rare	4
Millepora dichotoma	rare	3
Amblyeleotris steinitzi	rare	3
Ancylomenes longicarpus	rare	3
Arothron diadematus	rare	3
Calotomus viridescens	rare	3
Cephalopholis argus	rare	3
Cheilinus quinquecinctus	rare	3
Cheilio inermis	rare	3
Chlorurus genazonatus	rare	3
Corythoichthys flavofasciatus	rare	3
Cyclichthys spilostylus	rare	3
Genicanthus caudovittatus	rare	3
Hexabranchus sanguineus	rare	3
Octopus cyanea	rare	3
Pycnochromis dimidiatus	rare	3
Abudefduf vaigiensis	rare	3
Zebrasoma xanthurum	rare	3
Tridacna maxima	rare	2
Abudefduf sexfasciatus	rare	2
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus	rare	2
Hemimycale arabica	rare	2
Chromis viridis	rare	2
Cheilodipterus macrodon	rare	2
Aluterus scriptus	rare	2
Pedum spondyloideum	rare	2
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia	rare	2
Conus parvatus	rare	2

Golden Blocks- Moray Garden

Golden Blocks- Moray Garden

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Season

Conditions

Dives & underwater footage

Questions & answers

Life recorded at Golden Blocks- Moray Garden

Nearby sites in Sinai

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