Marsa Shagra House Reef

Yes, and that is what the site is known for. Certified divers may dive the house reef unguided and with no limit on the number of dives, within their own certification. The dive plan, depth and gas management are entirely your responsibility, which is rare in Egypt and worth taking seriously.

The head of the bay runs about 1 to 10 m over sand and coral. The outer walls of the two arms drop past 40 m, with one source describing 40-50 m and the operator stating depths exceeding 40 m; we record the conservative 40 m. Nothing forces you deep - the shallow lagoon is a complete dive on its own.

Walk in from the beach at Shagra Village onto a sheltered entry that drops you straight on the reef. To reach the outer parts of the system, which run roughly 2 km north and south of the bay, zodiacs run during daylight hours. Access to the bay is through the camp.

Yes for the bay itself: shallow, sheltered and reached on foot. Two orientation dives are run on the house reef on the first day before excursions start. A PADI ReActivate refresher is required if you have not dived in the last 12 months or are crossing over from another agency.

Both. The lagoon between the two reef arms is 1-10 m with a sandy floor and a sheltered beach entry, which suits snorkelling well. For freediving, the camp runs a dedicated house-reef zodiac for free divers. Keep clear of the bay mouth where boats cross.

A dense, textbook northern Red Sea reef community: sohal surgeonfish, bluespotted ribbontail ray, sailfin tang, common lionfish, Klunzinger's wrasse, masked butterflyfish, coral hind, Picasso triggerfish, royal angelfish, titan triggerfish and giant moray all show up in quantity in the occurrence record. Dolphins visit the bay occasionally; dugong and manta are reported but are not something to plan a trip around.

The camp charges a mandatory environmental fee of EUR 10 per stay plus a EUR 7 hyperbaric-chamber support contribution for foreign guests, effective 7 January 2025. Those are stay fees, not house-reef permits. The separate national-park tickets, EUR 19 for Shaab Samadai and EUR 11 for Marsa Abu Dabab bay, only apply if you take those excursions.

Better than the regional average. The camp has managed the bay as a protected area for around two decades and caps diver numbers, and the reef is usually described as unusually intact for an accessible Egyptian house reef. Regionally, HEPCA's Bleach Watch survey of the 2024 marine heatwave found bleaching increasing from north to south along the Egyptian coast, with preliminary 2025 recovery of 75-88 percent, so treat the reef as recovering rather than untouched.