SeaLog
Certification required
OW
Tobia Island
Egypt · reef · beginner
7–25 mbeginnerOWboat entry
Tobia Island
The sand island at the south end of the Tobia Hamra reef, with a gentle coral slope off the beach, a garden-eel field in the deep sand and dolphins that come in on the snorkellers.
Max depth7–25 m
Required levelbeginner
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Tobia Island, also logged as Sandy Island, is a small sand island 20 to 30 minutes out from the Safaga bases depending which jetty you leave from. It forms the southern end of the long Tobia Hamra reef, and the surrounding lagoon is where the boats tie up. It is not only a dive site: snorkellers and windsurfers come across from Safaga to it, and two beach umbrellas on the sand are the landmark that identifies the place. Off the island's shore the reef drops away very slowly, and the slope is grown with hard coral, so this is the reef Safaga centres take beginners to and where a lot of check dives and course dives get done. Be careful with the name: the seven-pinnacle site locally called the Seven Pillars is Tobia Arbaa, a different reef about 2.8 km away, not this one.
The dive can be run along the main reef, over the individual coral blocks that stand on the sand, or as a drift, and one Safaga base lists a 'Sandy Island Drift' as its own dive. The outer face of the reef carries very large table corals and a lot of fire coral. Deeper on the sand there are seagrass beds and a big field of garden eels — the Red Sea garden eel is in the OBIS record for this pin — and it is on that open sand under the boats that the local guide notes seamoths, along with humpback turretfish, ghost pipefish and hooded butterflyfish. Giant morays, stonefish and Napoleon wrasse are all described as regular here, and bottlenose dolphins are both reported by the dive centres and recorded in OBIS at this pin; the local account says they come in and play with the snorkellers rather than with the divers.
Depth is where the sources part company. A local dive guide puts the outer reef at about 25 m, one Safaga centre gives the working range as 7 to 30 m, and another says the slope keeps going to about 35 m; the shallow figure is the safe one to plan on. There is also a wreck for anyone who asks: a wooden safari boat that sank in 2002 sits at 18 m in the channel east of the island, about 15 minutes' swim away, and is now full of lionfish and glassfish. Not every guide knows the route to it.
Two practical warnings, both from people who dive it. In stormy seas the sand lifts and visibility drops badly, which is the standard reason this site gets cancelled. And it is worth not diving on a falling tide, when the water draining off the shallows clouds the whole bay.
- Sand island with a lagoon the boats moor in, at the south end of the Tobia Hamra reef
- Gentle hard-coral slope off the island shore, used for check dives and courses
- Large table corals and heavy fire coral growth on the outer face
- Seagrass beds and a large garden-eel field in the deeper sand
- Bottlenose dolphins recorded at this pin and reported playing with snorkellers
- A wooden safari boat sunk in 2002 at 18 m in the channel to the east, full of lionfish and glassfish
Please note before you go
- A lot of fire coral on the outer face of the reef, alongside the large table corals
- Stonefish are described as not uncommon here, on a site whose selling point is a gentle sand-and-coral slope people kneel on during courses
- Visibility collapses when the sea is rough and the sand lifts, and again on a falling tide as water drains off the shallows
- The island is used at the same time by dive boats, snorkellers and windsurfers coming across from Safaga
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Day boat from Safaga, roughly 20 minutes from the northern bases and about 30 minutes from the town centres. Boats moor in the sand lagoon off the island; two beach umbrellas on the sand are the landmark.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Season
Diveable all year on temperature: ten-year Safaga averages run from about 22.5 degrees in February and March to about 29 degrees in August. The variable that matters is wind, because this is a sand-bottomed site whose visibility drops sharply when the sea gets up, and the local advice is also to avoid a falling tide.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentlight
Surgelight
WaterSalt water
Depth range7–25 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsmoderate
Sheltered water in the lee of Ras Abu Soma over a slowly shelving coral slope and open sand. Normal conditions are calm with little current; sources put the working depth range anywhere from 7 to 35 m, with the outer reef most conservatively given as 25 m. Water sits around 22.5 degrees in February and March and about 29 degrees in August on ten-year Safaga averages. The one thing that ruins it is a rough sea, which lifts the sand and kills visibility.
On current: Little current as a rule: this stretch sits in the lee of Ras Abu Soma, and the guide covering the reef says there are no waves and very little current there, though it can still get windy. One Safaga base nonetheless runs a drift version of the dive, so expect enough flow to move you along on some days. Depth is the claim the sources disagree on — 25 m for the outer reef from a local guide, 7 to 30 m from one centre, 'very slowly down to about 35 m' from another — and the shallow figure has been taken here as the planning depth.
Questions & answers
How deep is Tobia Island?
Sources give different figures and the honest answer is a range. A local dive guide puts the outer reef at about 25 m, one Safaga centre gives the site's working range as 7 to 30 m, and another says the slope continues down to roughly 35 m. Plan on the shallow figure: the reef falls away very gently from the island shore, so a whole dive can be spent well inside recreational limits.
How do you get to Tobia Island?
By day boat from Safaga. It is about 20 minutes from the bases north of town and about 30 minutes from the centres in Safaga itself. The boats moor in the sand lagoon beside the island, which is also where snorkellers and windsurfers from Safaga come across to.
Is Tobia Island good for beginners?
It is one of the standard beginner reefs in Safaga. Three separate operators call it very easy to dive, the slope off the island shore is gradual, it sits in the lee of Ras Abu Soma with no waves and very little current, and check dives and course dives are routinely run here. The site can be dived along the main reef or over the individual coral blocks, either of which works at Open Water level.
Can you snorkel at Tobia Island?
Yes, and it is one of the better reasons to come. The island sits in a shallow sand lagoon, the reef starts at the shoreline, and boats run over from Safaga carrying snorkellers and windsurfers as well as divers. The local account notes that the dolphins seen here often play with the snorkellers rather than keeping to the deeper water.
What will I see at Tobia Island?
The sand is more interesting than the reef. Deeper out there are seagrass beds and a large colony of garden eels — the Red Sea garden eel appears in the OBIS record for this pin — and the open sand under the boats is where the local guide reports seamoths, humpback turretfish, ghost pipefish and hooded butterflyfish. On the reef itself, giant morays, stonefish and Napoleon wrasse are all described as regular, and OBIS adds giant and undulated moray, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, batfish, coral hind and emperor angelfish.
Are there dolphins at Tobia Island?
Often enough that two dive centres and the local site guide all mention them, and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are recorded in the OBIS data around this pin. They are described as frequent visitors rather than residents, so treat a sighting as luck. Reports say they interact with snorkellers on the surface more readily than with divers below.
Is there a wreck at Tobia Island?
There is one, but it is not part of the standard dive. A wooden safari boat that sank in 2002 lies at 18 m in the channel east of the island, roughly 15 minutes' swim from the site, and has become home to large numbers of lionfish and glassfish. The local guide notes that only some divemasters know the way to it, so ask before the briefing rather than after.
When should you avoid diving Tobia Island?
When the sea is up and when the tide is falling. This is a sand-bottomed site, and both the local guide and a Safaga dive base say that in rough conditions the sand is stirred up and visibility becomes poor. The same guide adds that the water draining off the shallows on an ebbing tide clouds the site badly, so it is worth checking the tide before booking a morning here.
Life recorded at Tobia Island
53 species within 1.5 km · OBISGymnothorax javanicusrare · 1 recordsTaeniura lymmarare · 1 records
Tursiops aduncusoccasional · 5 records
Heniochus intermediusrare · 3 records
Pseudanthias squamipinnisrare · 2 records
Bodianus anthioidesrare · 2 records
All 53 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Tursiops aduncus | occasional | 5 |
| Heniochus intermedius | rare | 3 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | rare | 2 |
| Bodianus anthioides | rare | 2 |
| Tridacna squamosa | rare | 2 |
| Platax orbicularis | rare | 2 |
| Tridacna maxima | rare | 1 |
| Fibularia ovulum | rare | 1 |
| Gibberulus albus | rare | 1 |
| Caesio striata | rare | 1 |
| Caesio suevica | rare | 1 |
| Canthigaster cyanospilota | rare | 1 |
| Cephalopholis hemistiktos | rare | 1 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon lineolatus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | rare | 1 |
| Cheilinus abudjubbe | rare | 1 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | rare | 1 |
| Conomurex fasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | rare | 1 |
| Echinothrix calamaris | rare | 1 |
| Epinephelus tauvina | rare | 1 |
| Fistularia commersonii | rare | 1 |
| Flavocaranx bajad | rare | 1 |
| Gloripallium maculosum | rare | 1 |
| Gorgasia sillneri | rare | 1 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | rare | 1 |
| Gymnothorax undulatus | rare | 1 |
| Lethrinus mahsena | rare | 1 |
| Paracheilinus octotaenia | rare | 1 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | rare | 1 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | rare | 1 |
| Pardachirus marmoratus | rare | 1 |
| Plagiotremus tapeinosoma | rare | 1 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus trichrourus | rare | 1 |
| Pseudodax moluccanus | rare | 1 |
| Pterois miles | rare | 1 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | rare | 1 |
| Taeniura lymma | rare | 1 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | rare | 1 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | rare | 1 |
| Pearsonothuria graeffei | rare | 1 |
| Hemigymnus sexfasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | rare | 1 |
| Hipposcarus harid | rare | 1 |
| Callyspongia (Callyspongia) siphonella | rare | 1 |
| Grammistes sexlineatus | rare | 1 |
| Neoniphon sammara | rare | 1 |
| Siganus luridus | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in Soma Bay
Explore all sitesTobia Hamra1.8 km
Soma BayA coral garden cut by a maze of sandy canyons, sheltered by Soma Bay and shallow where it matters.
Tobia Kebir1.9 km
SafagaThe big one of the Tobia reefs: a long north-south reef with ergs off its southern end, a channel to cross, and a glassfish cave at about 10 m.
Tobia Nos1.9 km
SafagaThe middle block of the Tobia chain: one gorgonian-hung pillar and a scatter of smaller ergs between Tobia Kebir and Tobia Soraya.
Tobia Soraya2.0 km
SafagaThree chains of linked coral ergs meeting in an inverted Y on white sand at 12 to 15 m, with a tunnel and a canyon on the eastern arm.
Gamul Soraya2.5 km
SafagaThe small half of the Gamul pair north of Safaga Island: a round reef with a sand plateau of coral pinnacles and a garden-eel colony off its south side.
Tobia Arbaa2.8 km
Soma BaySeven coral pillars standing off the sand in the lee of the Soma Bay headland, none of them deeper than about 15 m.
Been here? Log it.
SeaLog imports your dives from your dive computer or Apple Watch, tracks every animal you see, and keeps your logbook safe forever.
Download SeaLog