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Certification required
OW
Ricks Reef
Egypt · reef · intermediate
18–30 mintermediateOWshore entry
MEDIA5 items
Ricks Reef
A quiet slope of salad and table corals 300 m north of the Canyon, usually dived as a one-way drift back to it.
Max depth18–30 m
Required levelintermediate
Entry typeshore
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Rick's Reef sits a few hundred metres north of the Canyon on the Dahab coast - H2O Divers says 300 m, another local centre says 250 m, and our own coordinates put the two rows 400 m apart. The practical consequence is the same either way: it is normally dived one-way, entering here and drifting south along the shore for about half an hour to finish in the Canyon's lagoon, which makes it the front half of a Canyon day rather than a separate trip.
The dive is a shore entry through a small opening in the reef table, then a descent along a slope covered in salad corals, with table corals spread across the bottom at around 18 m and a series of pinnacles standing off the wall. The centre rates difficulty one out of five and current two out of five, minimum Open Water plus, and publishes 18-35 m - but adds that dived as a shallow drift it need not go much below 18 m, which is how most people do it. Being one of the less-visited sites on this coast, the reef is described as being in very good condition, and that is the honest selling point: the same fauna as the Canyon with fewer fins over it.
The occurrence records for this position are the standard Dahab coastal set and are identical to Coral Garden and the Tropitel house reef within a few hundred metres, because the sampling box cannot separate them: twoband anemonefish and scalefin anthias lead, then sergeant majors, slate-pencil urchins, speckled sandperch, Red Sea bannerfish, masked pufferfish, purple tang, broomtail wrasse and giant clams, with regal angelfish, exquisite butterflyfish, lionfish, bluespotted ribbontail ray, grey moray, day octopus and cornetfish behind. The centre names anthias, coral groupers, pufferfish and parrotfish around the pinnacles, which is the same list from the water.
- 250-300 m north of the Canyon; usually dived as a one-way drift south into the Canyon lagoon
- Shore entry through a small opening in the reef table onto a salad-coral slope
- Table corals at around 18 m and pinnacles standing off the wall
- One of the less-visited sites on this coast and described as being in very good condition
Please note before you go
- Dived as a one-way drift the exit is at the Canyon lagoon, not where you got in - miss it and the next reliable exit is further south
- The published maximum is 35 m on a shore dive with no boat cover; the shallow 18 m version is the sensible plan
- Shallow reef table at the entry: crossing it at low water damages coral and cuts feet
- The drift finishes at the Canyon, an overhead crack entered at about 20 m - a different dive that happens to be at the end of this one
Access & rules
Getting there
Shore dive on the coast road north of Dahab, 250-300 m north of the Canyon. Entry is through a small opening in the reef table; the dive is normally run one-way, drifting south for about 35 minutes to exit at the Canyon's lagoon, so it needs a pick-up or a walk back.
Operator
You can reach the site independently.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentmoderate
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range18–30 m
Environmentreef
Coralhealthy
Crowdsquiet
A coral slope with pinnacles along a wall, in enough current to carry you south towards the Canyon in around 35 minutes. Difficulty rated one out of five, current two out of five. The reef is described as being in very good condition because comparatively few people dive it.
On current: H2O Divers publishes 18-35 m for the site and notes that dived as a shallow drift it need not go much below 18 m. We record 18-30 m: 35 m is past the recreational limit the site's own Open Water plus certification floor implies, and the standard profile is the shallow one. Difficulty is rated one out of five and current two out of five; the current is what makes the one-way drift south to the Canyon work, and the transit takes about 35 minutes. No visibility figure specific to this site was found.
Dives & underwater footage
Questions & answers
Where is Rick's Reef in relation to the Canyon?
Just north of it. H2O Divers puts it 300 m north, another local centre says 250 m, and our own coordinates give 400 m between the two records. Either way it is close enough that the standard plan is to enter at Rick's and drift south, finishing in the Canyon's lagoon about 35 minutes later.
How deep is it?
The published range is 18-35 m, but the centre notes that dived as a shallow drift it need not go much below 18 m, which is where the table corals are and where most of the dive happens. We record 18-30 m, because 35 m sits past the recreational limit implied by the site's own Open Water plus certification floor and there is nothing down there you need.
Is it good for beginners?
Reasonably. Difficulty is rated one out of five, current two out of five, and the minimum is Open Water plus. The two things a new diver should know are that the dive is one-way - you do not come out where you went in - and that it starts at 18 m rather than in the shallows.
Can you snorkel it?
No. H2O Divers lists it as not suitable. The entry goes through a small opening in the reef table and everything worth seeing is on a slope from about 18 m down. Coral Garden, 500 m south around the Canyon, is the snorkelling site on this piece of coast.
Is the reef in good condition?
The local centre says it is in very good condition, and attributes that directly to the site being one of the less-visited dives in Dahab. On the wider question, Gulf of Aqaba corals came through four consecutive intensifying marine heatwaves to 2024 without mass bleaching, although the record 2024 event did produce the first reported bleaching in the northern Gulf - healthy, but not immune.
What will I see?
Around the pinnacles the centre names anthias, coral groupers, pufferfish and parrotfish. Our occurrence records add the rest of the everyday Dahab cast: twoband anemonefish, sergeant majors, slate-pencil urchins, speckled sandperch, Red Sea bannerfish, masked pufferfish, purple tang, broomtail wrasse, giant clams, regal angelfish, bluespotted ribbontail ray, lionfish, grey moray and day octopus. The list is identical to Coral Garden's because the two positions are 500 m apart.
Life recorded at Ricks Reef
60 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmaoccasional · 6 records
Amphiprion bicinctusoccasional · 17 records
Pseudanthias squamipinnisoccasional · 14 records
Abudefduf vaigiensisoccasional · 13 records
Heterocentrotus mamillatusoccasional · 12 records
Arothron diadematusoccasional · 12 records
All 60 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 17 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | occasional | 14 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | occasional | 13 |
| Heterocentrotus mamillatus | occasional | 12 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 12 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 12 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | occasional | 12 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | occasional | 10 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | occasional | 10 |
| Tridacna maxima | occasional | 9 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 8 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | occasional | 8 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | occasional | 7 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | occasional | 7 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 7 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | occasional | 6 |
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 6 |
| Myripristis murdjan | occasional | 6 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | occasional | 6 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | occasional | 5 |
| Octopus cyanea | occasional | 5 |
| Oxycheilinus digramma | occasional | 5 |
| Fistularia commersonii | occasional | 5 |
| Arothron stellatus | occasional | 5 |
| Gymnothorax griseus | occasional | 5 |
| Calotomus viridescens | occasional | 5 |
| Holothuria edulis | rare | 4 |
| Epibulus insidiator | rare | 4 |
| Cheilio inermis | rare | 4 |
| Dascyllus abudafur | rare | 4 |
| Echinometra mathaei | rare | 4 |
| Acanthurus nigrofuscus | rare | 4 |
| Pomacentrus trichrourus | rare | 4 |
| Grammistes sexlineatus | rare | 4 |
| Arothron hispidus | rare | 3 |
| Amblyeleotris steinitzi | rare | 3 |
| Bodianus anthioides | rare | 3 |
| Bothus pantherinus | rare | 3 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | rare | 3 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 3 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | rare | 3 |
| Chromodoris quadricolor | rare | 3 |
| Coris aygula | rare | 3 |
| Cyclichthys spilostylus | rare | 3 |
| Genicanthus caudovittatus | rare | 3 |
| Hipposcarus harid | rare | 3 |
| Lotilia graciliosa | rare | 3 |
| Mulloidichthys flavolineatus | rare | 3 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | rare | 3 |
| Parupeneus cyclostomus | rare | 3 |
| Pearsonothuria graeffei | rare | 3 |
| Scarus niger | rare | 3 |
| Scorpaenopsis diabolus | rare | 3 |
| Millepora dichotoma | rare | 3 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 3 |
| Siganus luridus | rare | 2 |
| Scolopsis ghanam | rare | 2 |
| Neoniphon sammara | rare | 2 |
| Tripneustes gratilla | rare | 2 |
| Inimicus filamentosus | rare | 2 |
Nearby sites in Sinai
Explore all sitesCanyon, Dahab0.5 km
SinaiA roofed crack in the reef north of Dahab: an overhead environment with a recreational front door and a technical back one.
Coral Garden0.5 km
SinaiThe shallow hard-coral garden that wraps around the Canyon: the same shore dive without the overhead.
Tropitel Dahab Oasis house reef0.8 km
SinaiA hotel house reef 300 m from Coral Garden, entered off a jetty, dived mostly by the people staying above it.
Abu Talha1.2 km
SinaiA quiet shore dive north of Dahab: an amphitheatre of coral off a reef table, dived only when the tide allows.
Tiger house1.7 km
SinaiA quiet coral garden south of the Blue Hole, entered off a jetty when the wind allows.
Abu Helal1.8 km
SinaiA crescent-reef lagoon south of Abu Talha, dived rarely because the tide has to be right - which is why the coral is what it is.
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