Abu Hilal / Small Canyon - Dive site - Egypt

A guide to scuba diving at Abu Hilal / Small Canyon

Dive site: Abu Hilal / Small Canyon

Location: Egypt, North Sinai

Dive type: Reef dive, shore dive, naturalist dive

Skill level: Beginner

Visibility: The average visibility at Abu Hilal / Small Canyon is 20m / 65ft.

Depth: Depths around Abu Hilal / Small Canyon ranges from 10 to 50+ m / 33 to 164+ ft.

Water temperature: The water temperatures around Abu Hilal / Small Canyon will change with the seasons, from 20° C (68°F) in February to 27° C (81° F) in September.

Dive site information: Abu Hilal / Small Canyon is an extensive dive site with several points of interest. There is an inshore reeftop that drops steeply to 12 m /40 ft. A protruding piece of reef serves as a breakwater for wind-driven waves from the north. There is also a sheltered lagoon with a bottom located in 12 m / 40 ft of water. The small canyon that gives the dive site its other name is indeed very narrow and also twists a lot. It starts more than 30 m /100 ft down and has very few exit points. It is unsuitable and dangerous for most recreational scuba divers since it begins very deep down and doesn’t allow exit until you have descended even deeper.

Marine life: The marine life found at Abu Hilal / Small Canyon is in excellent condition and very diverse. There are a lot of healthy corals here. The reef is inhabited by hundreds of reef fish species, including rock cod, wrasse, lionfish, triggerfish and large starry puffers. You will also most probably encounter sea turtles.