SeaLog
Certification required
OW
Zerib Soraya
Egypt · reef · intermediate
5–30 mintermediateOWboat entry
Zerib Soraya
A one-way drift through a gently sloping hard-coral garden south of El Quseir, dropped by zodiac and picked up at an agreed time, ending over garden eels in the bay it is named for.
Max depth5–30 m
Required levelintermediate
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Zerib Soraya is one of the two Zerib reefs on the coast south of El Quseir, and it belongs to Ducks Diving's home range at the Rohanou Beach Resort. The operator's own site sets it out plainly: entry by zodiac about seven minutes north of the jetty, run as a drift with the dive time and the pick-up agreed before you get in, working depths of 5 to 30-plus metres. You dive through a gently sloping coral garden of varied hard-coral species and growth forms, and at the end of the dive, in the bay called Zerib Soraya, you can sit and watch garden eels in the sand.
On the relationship to Zerib Kebir, 930 m away: they are two dives, not one under two names. The naming follows the Red Sea convention of pairing a kebir and a soraya reef under one name — Safaga has Tobia Kebir and Tobia Soraya, Gamul Kebir and Gamul Soraya on the same pattern — and Ducks Diving lists them as separate entries with different access and different content. Zerib Kebir is a small intact bay that serves as the resort's house reef, walked into from the jetty, with caves, coral blocks, sand clearings and a coral garden on its north side; a first-hand account of it describes tunnels at 3 to 10 m on the south side and an anemone patch on the northern drop-off around 28 m. Zerib Soraya is the zodiac drift with the coral garden and the eels. If you have one week here you will dive both, and they will not feel like the same dive.
How you get in depends on who takes you. Ducks Diving runs it as a zodiac drift. Pharaoh Dive Club, based at Roots Red Sea in El Quseir, lists Serib Soraya among its selected south shore dives, alongside Serib Kebir, Sug Bohar and El Moghar — so the site is also worked from the land on that stretch of coast, which is the thing El Quseir is known for. Neither operator publishes a current strength, a visibility figure or a difficulty rating for the site, and we have not invented any.
The OBIS occurrence record within 1.5 km of this pin is a reasonable match for a coral garden with a sandy bay at the end of it: blue-spotted ribbontail ray, twoband anemonefish, giant moray, titan triggerfish, small giant clam, brown unicornfish, stripebelly puffer, sea goldies, checkerboard wrasse and bigfin reef squid.
- Gently sloping hard-coral garden with a mix of species and growth forms
- Garden eels in the sand of the Zerib Soraya bay, where the dive finishes
- Zodiac drift about seven minutes from the Rohanou jetty, with an agreed pick-up
- The smaller half of a genuine pair — Zerib Kebir, 930 m away, is a different dive
Please note before you go
- One-way drift with a pre-agreed pick-up: surfacing off the planned line or off the planned time is the failure mode here, not depth
- The operator's depth band runs past 30 m; Egyptian CDWS rules cap recreational diving at 30 m or your certification limit, whichever is less
- Egyptian rules require every diver in an independent buddy team to carry a signal buoy, and on a drift with a boat pick-up it is the thing that finds you
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Ducks Diving, based at the Rohanou Beach Resort south of El Quseir, drops divers here by zodiac about seven minutes north of its jetty and collects them at an agreed time. Pharaoh Dive Club, at Roots Red Sea in El Quseir, also names Serib Soraya among its selected south shore dives, in the same group as Serib Kebir, Sug Bohar and El Moghar, so it is worked from the land as well. The pin sits roughly 9 km south of El Quseir town and 930 m from Zerib Kebir.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Rules and permits
Standard Egyptian Red Sea rules. Emperor Divers' Egypt FAQ states that under CDWS regulations recreational divers work to 30 m or their certification limit, that gloves and knives are not to be used unless specifically required, and that touching, feeding, chasing or riding marine life is prohibited. ORCA Dive Clubs' summary of the CDWS rules adds that Egypt requires a diving medical examination or an on-site medical statement, and that every diver diving independently with a buddy must carry a signal buoy.
Season
Nothing site-specific: the months here are the regional pattern from Emperor Divers' Red Sea seasonal guide, which rates autumn best overall — the summer heat gone, the water still warm, fewer visitors — and spring close behind for visibility. Because the site is run as a zodiac drop, the day-to-day question is sea state rather than month.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentlight
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range5–30 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsquiet
A normal dive here is a drift along a sloping garden of hard coral, ending over sand. No operator publishes a visibility figure or a current strength for the site, so we record neither. Regionally, Emperor Divers' Red Sea seasonal guide gives water around 22 degrees in winter rising to as much as 30 in summer, with visibility often over 30 m in spring. Pharaoh Dive Club characterises El Quseir diving generally as uncrowded, with coral gardens, wall dives, offshore ergs, seagrass meadows and cavern systems along the same coast.
On current: Ducks Diving runs this as a one-way drift with the dive time and the pick-up point agreed with the boat beforehand, which tells you there is a reliable set to the water here, but no operator we read publishes how strong it gets. The depth band 5 to 30-plus metres is the operator's own; we cap the recorded maximum at 30 because that is the Egyptian CDWS recreational limit. Sources also differ on how the site is reached — Ducks Diving by zodiac, Pharaoh Dive Club listing it among its south shore dives — so confirm the format with whoever is taking you rather than assuming.
Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov
Questions & answers
How deep is Zerib Soraya?
Ducks Diving, which runs the site, gives it as 5 to 30-plus metres. We record 30 as the maximum because Egyptian CDWS rules cap recreational diving at 30 m or your certification limit, whichever is less. The described dive — a gently sloping hard-coral garden finishing over sand — does not require you to use the bottom of that band.
How is Zerib Soraya dived?
As a one-way drift. Ducks Diving drops divers by zodiac about seven minutes north of its jetty at the Rohanou Beach Resort, with the dive time and the pick-up agreed before anyone gets in the water. Pharaoh Dive Club in El Quseir lists the same site among its south shore dives, so it is also worked from the land; confirm the format with whoever is taking you.
What is the difference between Zerib Soraya and Zerib Kebir?
They are two separate dives 930 m apart, not one site under two names, and the operator that runs both lists them separately. Zerib Kebir is the sheltered bay that serves as the Rohanou house reef, entered on foot from the jetty, with caves, coral blocks and sand clearings. Zerib Soraya is the zodiac drift through a hard-coral garden that finishes over the garden eels in its own bay.
What will I see at Zerib Soraya?
A gently sloping garden of hard corals in a mix of species and growth forms, then garden eels in the sand of the bay where the dive ends — those two are what the operator picks out. The OBIS records around this pin add blue-spotted ribbontail ray, twoband anemonefish, giant moray, titan triggerfish, small giant clam, sea goldies and bigfin reef squid.
Can you snorkel Zerib Soraya?
Not as it is run. A zodiac drop, a one-way drift and a pick-up at an agreed time is not a snorkelling format, and no source describes what the shallows here look like from the surface. Zerib Kebir next door is the sheltered bay with a walk-in jetty entry and is the site to ask about instead.
Is Zerib Soraya suitable for beginners?
No operator publishes a rating for it. What raises it slightly above a beginner site is the format rather than the terrain: you are committed to a direction and to a pick-up time from the moment you descend, which is more to manage than a walk-in house reef. The shallow half of the operator's 5 to 30-plus metre band is within open-water limits.
Where is Zerib Soraya and how do you get there?
On the coast roughly 9 km south of El Quseir town, in the stretch that Ducks Diving works from the Rohanou Beach Resort and Pharaoh Dive Club works from Roots Red Sea in El Quseir. Ducks reaches it by zodiac in about seven minutes from its jetty. There is nothing at the site itself — no parking, no facilities, no shade.
When is the best time to dive Zerib Soraya?
There is no site-specific season published. Regionally, Emperor Divers' Red Sea seasonal guide rates autumn best overall, with the summer heat gone and the water still warm, and spring close behind for visibility, which it says often exceeds 30 m. Winter still works at around 22 degrees. Since the site is run as a zodiac drop, sea state matters more on the day than the month does.
Life recorded at Zerib Soraya
60 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmaoccasional · 18 recordsGymnothorax javanicusoccasional · 12 recordsBalistoides viridescensoccasional · 9 recordsSepioteuthis lessonianarare · 4 records
Arothron hispidusoccasional · 15 records
Amphiprion bicinctusoccasional · 15 records
All 60 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 18 |
| Arothron hispidus | occasional | 15 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 15 |
| Naso unicornis | occasional | 15 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | occasional | 12 |
| Tridacna maxima | occasional | 10 |
| Balistoides viridescens | occasional | 9 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | occasional | 9 |
| Fistularia commersonii | occasional | 9 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 9 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | occasional | 9 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | occasional | 8 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | occasional | 8 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 8 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 7 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | occasional | 7 |
| Epibulus insidiator | occasional | 7 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | occasional | 7 |
| Priacanthus hamrur | occasional | 6 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | occasional | 6 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 6 |
| Tripneustes gratilla | occasional | 6 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | occasional | 6 |
| Coris aygula | occasional | 6 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | occasional | 6 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 6 |
| Oxycheilinus digramma | occasional | 6 |
| Callyspongia crassa | occasional | 5 |
| Cyclichthys spilostylus | occasional | 5 |
| Ostracion cyanurus | occasional | 5 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | occasional | 5 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 4 |
| Scolopsis ghanam | rare | 4 |
| Mulloidichthys flavolineatus | rare | 4 |
| Epinephelus tauvina | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 4 |
| Caesio striata | rare | 4 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | rare | 4 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | rare | 4 |
| Sepioteuthis lessoniana | rare | 4 |
| Naso elegans | rare | 4 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | rare | 3 |
| Acanthurus sohal | rare | 3 |
| Sufflamen albicaudatum | rare | 3 |
| Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus | rare | 3 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | rare | 3 |
| Bodianus anthioides | rare | 3 |
| Arothron stellatus | rare | 3 |
| Dascyllus abudafur | rare | 3 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | rare | 3 |
| Myripristis murdjan | rare | 3 |
| Pardachirus marmoratus | rare | 3 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | rare | 3 |
| Scarus fuscopurpureus | rare | 3 |
| Aluterus scriptus | rare | 2 |
| Siganus luridus | rare | 2 |
| Rastrelliger kanagurta | rare | 2 |
| Diodon hystrix | rare | 2 |
Nearby sites in El Quseir
Explore all sitesZerib Kebir0.9 km
El QuseirOne beach entry, five different dives - and canyons that need a guide the first time.
El Makhroga2.1 km
El QuseirEl Mohgar3.0 km
El QuseirTorfa Sabaa4.6 km
El QuseirSoug Bohar5.8 km
El QuseirA shore dive you enter by dropping through a hole in the reef flat and following a rope out, at kilometre 15 south of El Quseir.
El Mina9.1 km
El QuseirA five-minute speedboat hop off El Quseir's harbour, dived for a seagrass patch among the coral rather than for any one formation.
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