Question 1

How deep is Sha'ab Sheer Soraya?

Accepted Answer

Shallow for the area. Blue Submarine's Safaga catalogue gives a maximum of 18 m, and there is no wall or deep plateau to drop over. That makes it the shallow counterpart to the main Sha'ab Sheer reef, which runs to 30 m, and to the Salem Express at 32 m. Gas, not depth, ends this dive.

Question 2

Is Sha'ab Sheer Soraya the same as Sha'ab Sheer West or East?

Accepted Answer

No. Sha'ab Sheer West and Sha'ab Sheer East are the two ends of the main boomerang reef, which runs roughly 1 km east to west and is also charted as Hyndeman Reef. Soraya is a separate small round reef detached to the south of it. Operators describe it as about 800 m south of the main reef; measured to the west and east pins it is nearer 1.6 km.

Question 3

How do you get to Sha'ab Sheer Soraya?

Accepted Answer

By boat only, roughly 90 minutes from Safaga on the ground southeast of Safaga Island. In practice you arrive on a Salem Express day trip rather than a dedicated run: the wreck is about 1 km east and Blue Submarine lists it at 95 minutes against 90 for this reef. Subex's version of that day starts at 07:00 with about an hour of road transfer to Safaga and returns around 17:00.

Question 4

Is Sha'ab Sheer Soraya good for beginners?

Accepted Answer

The reef itself is: 18 m maximum, hard coral, no wall, and Blue Submarine rates it 2 on their five-step scale. The complication is the trip rather than the site. It is a 90-minute offshore run usually paired with the Salem Express, and operators put their own requirements on the wreck half of that day. Subex, for example, asks for 25 logged dives plus Nitrox and Deep specialties.

Question 5

What will you see at Sha'ab Sheer Soraya?

Accepted Answer

The draw is small-animal detail in the hard coral: scorpionfish, moray eels and nudibranchs in the small caves and grottos, with schools of fusiliers and bannerfish over the reef. Whitetip reef shark, blue-spotted stingray, titan triggerfish, batfish and giant clam are all recorded near this pin. Dolphins are reported over the Sha'ab Sheer ground and both bottlenose and spinner dolphin appear in the records here, but they are chance, not a feature.

Question 6

Is there current at Sha'ab Sheer Soraya?

Accepted Answer

Nobody publishes a figure for this reef. Blue Submarine names strong current explicitly at four of its offshore neighbours and does not name it here, which is mild evidence that Soraya is the calmer option. 4EVERSEA does report occasional strong current around the corners of the main Sha'ab Sheer reef, so treat the ground as capable of running and take the briefing.

Question 7

Can you snorkel Sha'ab Sheer Soraya?

Accepted Answer

In practice, no. It is a 90-minute offshore boat ride on a wreck-diving schedule, with no shore, no facilities and nothing to fill the surface interval. The reason to be here is what sits inside the coral caves and grottos, and that cannot be seen from the surface. Snorkellers are far better served by the inshore reefs closer to Safaga.

Question 8

When is the best time to dive Sha'ab Sheer Soraya?

Accepted Answer

March to May and September to November, when the Egyptian Red Sea is calmest and visibility is at its best. Calm weather matters more here than at the sheltered inshore Safaga reefs because the boats have to make a 90-minute offshore run to reach it. Safaga water sits at about 22.5 C in February and March and about 29.4 C in August, so plan a 5 mm suit outside high summer.

Species	How often	Records
Scarus ferrugineus	rare	4
Taeniura lymma	rare	3
Epinephelus tauvina	rare	3
Chaetodon austriacus	rare	2
Amblyglyphidodon flavilatus	rare	2
Chromis pembae	rare	2
Siganus argenteus	rare	2
Stenopus hispidus	rare	2
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	2
Chlorurus gibbus	rare	1
Chromis flavaxilla	rare	1
Corythoichthys flavofasciatus	rare	1
Ctenochaetus striatus	rare	1
Dascyllus marginatus	rare	1
Diodon hystrix	rare	1
Epibulus insidiator	rare	1
Epinephelus fasciatus	rare	1
Millepora dichotoma	rare	1
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis	rare	1
Myripristis murdjan	rare	1
Ostracion cyanurus	rare	1
Papilloculiceps longiceps	rare	1
Parupeneus cyclostomus	rare	1
Parupeneus forsskali	rare	1
Pearsonothuria graeffei	rare	1
Platax orbicularis	rare	1
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	1
Scarus niger	rare	1
Stenella longirostris	rare	1
Triaenodon obesus	rare	1
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	1
Caesio suevica	rare	1
Flavocaranx bajad	rare	1
Pomacanthus maculosus	rare	1
Tursiops aduncus	rare	1
Abudefduf vaigiensis	rare	1
Cheilodipterus macrodon	rare	1
Dascyllus trimaculatus	rare	1
Naso elegans	rare	1
Odonus niger	rare	1
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	1
Tridacna maxima	rare	1
Zebrasoma desjardinii	rare	1
Caesio lunaris	rare	1
Fromia ghardaqana	rare	1
Acanthurus nigrofuscus	rare	1
Aethaloperca rogaa	rare	1
Arothron diadematus	rare	1
Balistoides viridescens	rare	1
Chaetodon semilarvatus	rare	1
Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus	rare	1

Sha’ab Sheer Soraya

Sha’ab Sheer Soraya

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Season

Conditions

Dives & underwater footage

Questions & answers

Life recorded at Sha’ab Sheer Soraya

Nearby sites in Safaga

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