SeaLogEgypt · reef
The jetty reef at the Zabargad resort in Hamata: giant stride off the end, wall and overhangs, deep water within a fin's length of the coral.
This is the house reef of the Zabargad Beach Resort at Hamata, in the far south of the Egyptian coast about 180 km below Marsa Alam. It is a shore dive in the sense that you walk to it: kit up at the dive centre on the beach, walk out along the resort jetty and take a giant stride off the end. It is not Zabargad Island, the large island roughly 50 km offshore that appears on Deep South liveaboard itineraries next to Rocky Island. The resort borrowed the island's name, and at least one travel listing has copied Zabargad Island's dive description onto this house reef; the two are different places and nothing written about the island applies here.
What you drop onto is a fringing reef with more relief than most Red Sea house reefs. Diver magazine's account of it describes sections of sheer wall and overhangs, broken up by coral heads and sand channels, running out onto a sand-and-coral-rubble slope that heads off into deep water. Because the current sweeping up this stretch of coast brings nutrients with it, the hard coral carries plumes of soft coral and sponge. Deep water sits close in, so pelagic fish are seen cruising in the blue off the reef, which is unusual for a dive you reach on foot.
Access has been generous whoever has run it. Emperor Divers, on the beach here when Diver visited in 2019, opened the reef from 08:00 to sunset with guided or unguided options; the tour operator listing quotes sixteen hours a day from the resort jetty; and Lagona Divers, who built a base at the reopened resort in 2024, keep unguided buddy-team diving on the house reef for experienced divers. Check the current arrangement when you book, because the resort and the dive centre on it have both changed hands recently.
Walk-in from the dive centre on the resort beach, out along the short jetty and a giant stride off the end. The resort is at Hamata, about 180 km south of Marsa Alam and roughly two and a half hours by road from Marsa Alam airport; Hamata marina, from which the Fury Shoals day boats leave, is a few minutes away by minibus. The reef is only reachable through the resort.
You can reach the site independently.
House reef access is set by the dive centre and has been quoted differently by different operators: 08:00 to sunset when Emperor Divers ran it in 2019, sixteen hours a day in the tour operator listing, and unguided buddy diving for experienced divers under Lagona Divers from 2024. Confirm the hours and the guided-versus-unguided rule when you book.
No source we read gives a season for this reef. What is noted for Hamata generally is that it is warm and dry for most of the year but windier than the coast further north, so the limiting factor tends to be wind on the boat days rather than anything about the house reef, which is on a sheltered beach.
A sheltered sandy beach with the reef straight off the jetty, and enough access hours that early morning and night dives are part of the normal programme. Diver magazine found the usual Red Sea reef fish plus visible soft coral and sponge growth. None of our sources gives visibility or water temperature figures for this reef.
On current: Diver magazine notes that this stretch of coast is fed by currents sweeping up from the south, which is what puts the soft coral and sponge growth on the reef. None of the sources we read quantify the current on the house reef itself or describe it as a problem, and the dive centres have run it unguided for experienced buddy pairs, which suggests it is normally manageable. We have left the numeric depth and visibility fields empty because no source we read gives figures for this reef.
No, and the confusion is common. This is the house reef of the Zabargad Beach Resort on the coast at Hamata, reached on foot along the resort jetty. Zabargad Island is a large island far offshore, dived on Deep South liveaboard itineraries alongside Rocky Island. At least one travel listing has copied the island's dive description onto this resort reef.
You kit up at the dive centre on the resort beach, walk out along the short jetty and take a giant stride off the end onto the reef edge. There is no reef-flat crossing and no surface swim, which is what makes the site work for snorkellers and for repeat dives through the day.
None of the sources we read gives a depth figure, and the honest answer is that the reef does not set one. Diver magazine describes wall sections and overhangs giving on to a sand-and-coral-rubble slope that runs off into deep water, so the depth you dive is the depth you plan. Ask the dive centre for their house-reef limits.
Yes. Lagona Divers describe the house reef, reached by the short jetty, as ideal for both diving and snorkelling. The jetty puts you straight over the reef edge, so you do not have to cross a shallow reef flat to reach the interesting part.
It has been allowed, but confirm before you travel. Emperor Divers offered guided or unguided house-reef dives when Diver magazine visited in 2019, and Lagona Divers, who built a base at the reopened resort in 2024, keep unguided buddy-team diving for experienced divers. The resort and the dive centre have both changed hands recently.
Diver magazine reports the usual Red Sea reef fish plus notable plumes of soft coral and sponge growing on the hard coral, which the writer attributes to nutrients carried by the current running up this coast. Because deep water sits close in, larger pelagic fish are sometimes seen cruising in the blue off the reef edge.
Hamata is about 180 km south of Marsa Alam, roughly two and a half hours by road from Marsa Alam airport and five and a half from Hurghada. Hamata marina is a few minutes away by minibus, and the day boats from it reach the Fury Shoals reefs, including Sha'ab Claudio and the Abu Galawa wrecks.
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Saurida gracilis | rare | 2 |
| Doryrhamphus excisus | rare | 2 |
| Eviota marerubrum | rare | 1 |
| Hipposcarus harid | rare | 1 |
| Neoglyphidodon melas | rare | 1 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | rare | 1 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | rare | 1 |
| Fibularia ovulum | rare | 1 |
| Naso elegans | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon trifascialis | rare | 1 |
The mangrove and lagoon island of the Qulaan group off Hamata, worked as the last snorkelling stop of the day.
The largest of the four Qulaan islands off Hamata: a white-sand island inside a national park, snorkelled far more often than it is dived.
A resort jetty onto a sheltered fringing reef: sandy lagoon at 2 to 3 m, then a 10 to 15 m outer wall, open from 06:00 to 21:00.
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