World | Red Sea | Diving Safaga:

Safaga overview

Wrecks:

• Al Kahfain
• M.V. Hatour
• Salem Express

Reefs:

• Abu Kafan
• Arba Erg
• Arpha Bank
• Fellow Rocks
• Gamul Kibeer
• Gamul Shiwayya
• Middle Reef
• Panorama Reef
• Ras Abu Soma
• Ras Umm Hesiwa
• Sha'ab Bagul
• Sha'ab Claude
• Sha'ab Hamdulillah
• Sha'ab Saiman
• Sha'ab Sheer
• Sharm El Naga
• The Tobias
• Tubya Hamra
• Tubya Kibeer
• Tubya Shiwayya
• Umm Hal Hal

Resources & Links:

Dive Centers:

• Emperor Divers
• Gulf Divers

Diving Tour Operators:

• blue o two
• Red Sea Explorer
• Sunshine Diving
• Zizinia

Other Information Online:

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Scuba Diving in Safaga, the Red Sea

Reader Reviews:

Dive Site: Tubya Hamra

Location: Safaga

Description: Reef

Depth: 7 - 30+ metres (23 - 100+ feet)

Visibility: 20 metres (65 feet)

Rating: ***

Tûbya Hamra is the eastern part of the large reef which circles the tiny Island of Tûbya (Gezîret Tûbya). Often spelt as Tobia Hamra, the translation to English of this site is "Red Tûbya" (hamra being the Arabic for red). Tûbya Island itself is little more than a large flat rock which breaks the surface and it is directly east of here that the Tûbya Hamra dive site is located. Directly south and embedded in the same large oval shaped reef is a small sandy island (actually named on Admiralty Charts as "Sandy Island"). This sand sliver is close to the edge of the southeastern part of the reef and although I have seen occasional snorkellers here there is little in the way of marine life and coral growth here so diving is best done at Tûbya Hamra to the north.

A good way to dive here is to be dropped further out to the east by a zodiac of RIB (if your dive boat has one) and drop down the sloping wall to 30 metres +. If there is any current here (which is highly unlikely) you can head into it by going to the north and returning south along the upper reef plateaus at 20 metres, 12 metres and 7 metres respectively. Better still, drop in as far north as possible (where the coral is more pristine) and make a "one way" dive to the south. If you don't have a dive tender and your boat moors on the eastern reef you can make an "out and back dive" ideally heading north then south on your return. The reef is a series of thin sandy plateaus bordered and surround by masses of hard boulder coral which you can weave your way in and out off. There is a thin sand plateau at 7m with lots of small marine life on the reef wall so this is an ideal site for all levels of diver. Schools of fusiliers and snappers frequent the area as do Red Sea bannerfish and butterflyfish and it is not uncommon to see blue spotted rays.

Rik Vercoe, BSAC Advanced Instructor

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