Deep South – Zabargad & Rocky Islands

Port Berenice – Rocky & Zabargad Islands Itinerary

Day 1 : Port Berenice – Embarkation

Day 2 : Check out dive Shaab Eshara and first day and night dive.

Day 3 : Morning dive at Abu Galawa West, 2nd dive at Abu Galawa East, 3rd dive at Malahi, 4th dive & night dive at Amphoras . Sailing at night to Rocky Island .

Day 4 : Morning dive at North East Rocky, 2nd dive at south West Rocky, 3rd dive at North West Rocky, 4th dive at South East Rocky. Sailing to Zabargad Island for night dive & overnight.

Day 5 : Morning dive at Abu Bassala, 2nd dive at Gota’a Mymora, 3rd dive Fendra Hamara, 4th dive at Habily Wasta, night dive at Gota’a Wasta

Day 6 : Morning dive at Habily Gaafar, 2nd dive at Habily Aly, 3rd dive at Habily St.John Woods. Sailing to Dangerous reef for 4th & night dive.

Day 7 : Morning dive at Habily Abu Wassef. 2nd dive at White Rock. Sailing back to Port Berenice; sunset party and dinner onboard and overnight.

Day 8 : Port Berenice – Disembark

Rocky & Zabargad Islands Dive Sites

ABU GALAWA EAST & WEST - Usually provides easy dives and is therefore suitable for beginners or your first Days checkout dives. Underwater visibility is excellent in this area. Dive sites at this location offer beautiful coral gardens, pinnacles and shallow drift dives in the 15 to 25 meter range.

ZABARGAD -  Is the largest marine park in Egypt’s southern Red Sea and is often grouped with the Rocky Island Marine Park which lies just 5km southeast. Zabargad’s Turtle Bay is home to an abundance of reef fish, cuttlefish, octopus, blue spotted rays and crocodile fish, and is also a nesting ground for turtles during August. Beyond the sheltered coves, Zabargad offers thrilling walls, Both hard and soft corals live here and strong currents as well as the Khanka Wreck and sightings of oceanic whitetips, grey reef sharks, hammerhead, silvertips and manta rays. 

ROCKY ISLAND – Rocky Island provides fantastic diving, with sheer vertical walls and rugged, jagged profile. Strong currents can make diving a drift dive. The reef composition here is generally stony, with fairly good coral cover. Divers can discover sharks of all species, a whole range of reef and pelagic creatures and different coral types such as stony corals, plate and cabbage corals, acropora, fire coral, and Dendronephthya soft corals.

HABILI ALY - Habili Aly is another incredibly popular dive site that can feel like diving in an aquarium!  Reef predators such as jacks and grey reef sharks are commonly seen, Hammerhead sharks and manta rays are also encountered, though less frequently. It is not unusual to see Bottlenose Dolphins on the surface here, and sometimes underwater.  Manta Rays are around during the summer months. Butterfly Fish, Red Sea Banner Fish, Angel Fish, and Big Eye bimble around in the shallows and for those that have sharp eyes, you will see Large Dragons and Purple Flabellina moving slowly over the walls.  Overhangs and Black Corals are found in the south.

HABILI GAFFAR - is a smaller reef flat, perhaps 30m across at the surface, with a ledge running around it at 20-35m deep before the reef plunges in to the depths of the Red Sea. Its small size means you can circumnavigate the entire reef 2 or 3 times during a dive or zigzag up one side, depending on the strength of the current. The strong currents attract snapper, barracuda, tuna and reef sharks on the northern side where a small protrusion forms at 40m. The shallower sections of the reef are dominated by pink clasping soft corals and fairy basslets. Schools of bigmouth mackerel race across the reef top in search of food. Lionfish slowly stalk in the shallows, waiting for their opportunity to strike on unsuspecting prey.

DANGEROUS REEF - Is the most southerly of the St. John's reefs, but seems oddly named since it is one of the few dive sites in the Southern Red Sea that offer a reasonably shallow flat bottom. This makes it good for an overnight anchorage and night diving, where you can find squid, Spanish dancers, and hunting moray eels. The topography here makes for great swim-throughs. There are many breaks in the reef shallows that allow easy and safe penetration.

Deep South - Elba Reef

Port Berenice – Elba Reef Itinerary

Day 1 : Port Berenice – Embarkation

Day 2 : Check out Dive and first days diving : Sernaka Island and Il Kamash wreck and Night Dive

Day 3 : Diving whole day and night Dive at Elba Reef and Levanzo wreck

Day 4 : Diving whole day and night Dive at Elba Reef

Day 5 : Exploration Day of 4 new dive sites

Day 6 : Abu Fandira South & North & Night Dive

Day 7 : Abu Fandira Fogani for 2 morning dives and then sailing back to Port Berenice; sunset party then dinner onboard and overnight.

Day 8 : Port Berenice – Disembark 

Elba Reef Dive Sites

Abu Fendira : Currently a deep south reef area where at present there will be no other liveaboards. The 6km-long line of reefs run-in an east-west direction and the various topography offers wonderful views of brilliant coral blocks at about 15-25m. Beside the reef, sharks cruise in the area along with large schools of fish and many species of crustaceans. Gorgeous Napoleon fish and the rare humphead parrot fish are residents here in large numbers :

Elba Reef North : The North Plateau that starts at around 20 meters depth and drops to it´s northern tip to round 45 meters. Plenty of huge coral fans are at the edge of the plateau. Quite often you can spot some big pelagics here, such as grey reef sharks and even hammerheads as well as a verity of marine life.

Elba Reef South : The South Plateau is a shorter than the North, with some huge pinnacles. It started as well at around 20 meters and slopes down to 45 meter. The eastern and western sides drop quite steep to more than 100 meters in depth. In the shallow part of the reef is a beautiful cave system at the eastern edge, starting at around 8 meters depth.  Marine life is plentily. 

Wreck of Levanzo : The wreck of Levanzo is located at the eastern reef of the Elba region. Dropped straight on top of the wreck from the RSA V Zodiac. The stern with the Propeller is the first to reach at a depth of 22m.As the wreck is upside down a penetration is not the easiest one, but you can dive under the wreck in some areas. It’s nicely covered with plenty of huge black corals and soft corals. The broken part is at a depth of around 40 meters, where the dive ends for recreational diving. There is plenty of marine life to be found at the wreck. Such as big groupers, schooling trevally and other marine life.

You either finish your dive ascending at the rope placed at the prop or continue along the reef to shallow up and do your safety stop along the main reef. It has nice coral blocks too. Then you might end your dive at the mooring boat.

Exploration Day 5 Returning North Between Elba Reef and Abu Fendira Reef (An area 2,700 Square Nautical Miles): The Deep South in many areas is total virgin unexplored reef diving. On the return trip North, the 5th days of diving will be spent exploring remote reef areas. Guests can give their input on each of the 4 dives carried out on this day throughout the 2025 season and the top 4 dive sites voted by guests will be named and added to the 2026 RSA V itinerary going forward.

* Sample itineraries and maps are for illustrative purposes only and subject to change based on local regulations, guest experience, weather, and logistics.