Nuweiba – the Desert Oasis

It is fair to say that the best diving can often be found in some of the most unexpected places. When one thinks of the Sinai, the immediate image is of the spectacular vertical drop offs of Ras Mohammed, teeming with fish life. Venture further north and the canyons and blue hole of Dahab come to mind. But further north still and you have an entirely different kind of diving, the sort that allows you to get close to some of the rarer and most colourful of the Red Sea’s inhabitants.

Nuweiba is a much overlooked destination, well away from the hustle and bustle of the more popular Red Sea destinations. It lies just over 150 km north of Sharm El Sheikh on the east coast of the Sinai – deep in the gulf of Aqaba, just 70 km south of Taba and the border with Israel. It is an oasis – it’s name means “bubbling springs” in Arabic.

Like Sharm El Sheikh, Nuweiba is split into several distinct areas, stretching along the coast. It is noted for its port – a busy trade link to neighbouring Arab countries and a popular ferry route for pilgrims travelling to Mecca. Nearby is the settlement of the Bedouin Mizena tribe whilst the Tarabin tribe reside to the north. It is along the coast between the port and the town itself, that you will find the resorts.

When you first arrive in Nuweiba, it is hard not to notice the number of unfinished hotels. Much investment was made here, in anticipation of a steady stream of visitors from Israel and Europe. However, the troubles in the Middle East and it’s impact on tourism over the years have dampened the speed of growth, and many of the developments remain “works in progress”. Fortunately the lower tourism levels are to the benefit of the reefs, which are in very good condition and it also ensures that Nuweiba, for the moment, remains one of the quieter locations on the Red Sea coast.

In contrast to the more intense experience of swimming along the walls found further south, the diving here is much more relaxed. The reefs generally slope or shelve away gradually into deeper waters and the dive sites are accessed by shore diving from jeeps.

Indeed, you only need to walk a few metres from the dive centres down the beach to find good diving, for the house reefs of the hotels themselves are often teeming with unusual critters. I soon got a taste for what was to come, for only 10 minutes into the first dive, we were greeted by a fine example of a frogfish, perched in full view on the reef. A short swim across the sea grass and there are several coral blocks to be found, home to glass fish, cleaner shrimp and a whole family of snowflake morays – there is plenty to see here and it is shallow enough to allow you to take your time.

Nuweiba has not been developed anywhere near as much as more popular resorts such as Sharm or even Dahab. Fortunately you will also not find the streams of divers that you will find elsewhere in the more popular Sinai resorts. With only a handful of dive centres in Nuweiba it was easy enough to have a dive site all to ourselves and not see another diver underwater other than those in our group – this is certainly one of the key attractions of this location – an uncrowded Red Sea destination with good diving! Having found more than enough interest on the house reef during the first day it was time to venture further afield.

Of all the dives in the region, there is one that really stands out for me. The site is known as ”the sinker”. It is an old shipping buoy that has a concrete mooring embedded in the sand. Unfortunately that sand bed is sloping into deep water, and the buoy, rather than floating at the surface, is now in 15 metres of water. The buoy itself is encrusted in beautiful orange and red soft corals and a large school of sweepers flows like liquid around the steel drum, avoiding predation form the jacks that hunt them. It is a visual spectacle. Following a short swim through the blue back to the reef we are greeted by another frogfish – they seem to be in abundance in this region. The seagrass beds in the shallows leading to the shores also provide home to ghost pipefish – for those with sharp eyes.

German diving instructor Simon Appel was my guide to the region and it was his ever enthusiastic talk of seahorses that was catching my attention by the fourth day - I’ve never managed to spot one in the Red Sea. Our destination was Maagana, a fifteen minute drive north up the coast road. The northern area of Nuweiba consists of the city itself, followed by the ruin of a 16th century fort, just 5 minutes from the hotel. It was originally built to protect the Sinai against invasion by the Turks – the Bedouins have used the well inside the ruins for centuries as a source of fresh water. Upon arrival at our destination. we kit up under a palm shelter and simply need to take a few steps before entering the water. The beach quickly slopes off into deeper water and with the expert eye of dive guide Hamdi it only took a few minutes before the sea horses appeared in our vision, well camouflaged on the grassy banks. The remainder of the dive is no less interesting, the reef dropping in steps and gullies into deeper water.
Of course the diving is not the only attraction for Nuweiba – popular tourist spots such as St. Katharine’s Monastery and the Coloured Canyon can be reached in 1 hour. In summary if you are looking for good shopping, landscaped five star hotels and a bustling nightlife, Nuweiba will not be for you. But if you are a diver who has a fascination for unusual marine life, or maybe a photographer, and somebody who appreciates the dive staff knowing your name, want a real get away from it all trip, and some not too strenuous but high quality dives, Nuweiba is well worth a visit.

Top Spots in Nuweiba
El Hibeiq
A dive side with large schools of banner-fish drifting in the blue, above fan and table-corals. The reef slopes away gently and amongst the coral pinnacles, turtles can occasionally be seen feeding on the soft corals. The sandy bay with unspoiled colourful coral-blocks at a depth of 10 to 15 meters is a perfect place to end the dive, watching the cleaning shrimps attend to visitors such as moray-eels.

The Sinker
A shipping buoy that has sunk into deeper water and is now an home for a variety of marine life. The base of the buoy lies in 30 metres of water, but the interesting area is around the steel drum at 15 metres, which is covered in orange soft corals and surrounded by schools of sweeper. Having swum back through the blue water, the reef itself is also an interesting dive.

MFO Pipeline
This was the water intake for a now decommissioned water desalination plant, which in itself has become an attraction for critters. The dive starts by following the coral encrusted pipes out from 5 metres depth to the intakes themselves which lie in 15 and 20 metres respectively. The dive concludes by swimming to a rich coral blocks, home to a family of Lionfish and the possibility to see frogfish.

Maagana
The interest in this dive starts just 20 metres from the beach, as a seagrass covered slope drops into deeper water. Here you can find seahorses. Further along the reef drops away in a series of gullies and canyons, all encrusted in hard corals, to a depth of around 35 metres, Amongst the corals it is possible to see Spanish Dancer Nudibranchs.