Manta Point

The dive

This is the northern end of Shaab El Erg, a horseshoe-shaped reef about 7 km long lying between Hurghada and El Gouna, roughly 45 km north of Hurghada and about 45 minutes' sailing from El Gouna. The name belongs to one mooring on a large reef with several named dives on it: the sheltered lagoon in the middle of the horseshoe is Dolphin House, Poseidon's Garden and the coral towers are further round, and this pin is the north point, near the lighthouse. Note that Manta Point is a name reused worldwide; this is the Egyptian one.

The dive itself is shallow and open, sandy patches and scattered coral heads rather than a wall. Sadko give the working range as 10-16 m and Divebooker a 16 m maximum, while the outer reef further round drops to 25-30 m and is dived as a separate, deeper route. Current is described as limited, the bottom is white sand, and visibility is generally quoted between 20 and 30 m. It is a boat dive; there is no shore access to any part of this reef.

The manta in the name is a seasonal claim, not a standing one. Reef mantas appear on the north point in winter, and every source that gives a window names February and March. This is the northern Red Sea, where manta encounters are less frequent than at the southern sites, and no operator guarantees them. Outside that window Manta Point is a shallow coral-and-sand dive with the same fauna as the rest of Shaab El Erg, which is a reasonable dive but not a reason to pick this mooring over the others.

Occurrence records at this pin are ordinary northern Red Sea reef: bluecheek butterflyfish, daisy parrotfish, scissortail sergeants, twoband anemonefish, sohal surgeonfish, purple tang, hooded butterflyfish, blackspotted rubberlip and small giant clams, with spotted eagle rays and bluespotted ribbontail rays over the sand. Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are recorded at this pin and are resident on the reef; dive centres also report moray eels and Napoleon wrasse on Shaab El Erg generally. Shaab El Erg is one of three sites HEPCA names as a dolphin resting area, so the Red Sea Governorate's dolphin code of conduct applies here whether you meet them in the lagoon or off the north point.

• North point of the 7 km Shaab El Erg horseshoe, near the lighthouse
• Sandy patches and scattered coral heads worked between about 5 and 16 m
• Reef mantas seasonally in February and March, not guaranteed
• Spotted eagle rays and bluespotted ribbontail rays over the sand
• Resident Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins on the same reef, under the HEPCA code of conduct

Conditions

Water runs from about 21 C in February and March to 29 C in August, and Hurghada dive centres quote 20-30 m visibility year-round with more in summer. A normal day here is flat to light chop, limited current, and 20 m or better over white sand. The reef is dived all year; wind can stir the inshore sites but boats simply move to a sheltered part of the horseshoe.

On current: Sources agree that this is not a current dive: Divers Guide record the current as limited and Sadko describe calm currents. Visibility figures vary with the source and none is site-specific: Divers Guide give 10-30 m with an average of 20 m for Shaab El Erg, Divebooker say up to 30 m, and Red Sea Diving quote 20-40 m for the reef system, helped by the white sand bottom. The conservative 20 m average is the figure recorded here. Depth also depends on which dive you are sold: Sadko give 10-16 m and Divebooker a 16 m maximum for Manta Point itself, but the outer reef of Shaab El Erg is described elsewhere as dropping to 25-30 m, which is a different route on the same reef.

Best months: Feb, Mar

Dives & underwater footage