The Brothers: Big Brother - Dive site - Egypt

A guide to scuba diving at The Brothers: Big Brother

Dive site: The Brothers: Big Brother

Location: Egypt, Offshore and Deep South

Dive type: Reef dive, wreck dive, boat dive, wall dive, naturist dive

Skill level: Beginner

Visibility: The Brothers area and the Big Brother dive site generally offers an under water visibility of 20 m / 65 ft.

Depth: Big Brother has a maximum depth that exceeds 70 m / 230 ft, while the average depth for the dive site is 25 m / 80 ft.

Water temperature: The water temperatures in The Brothers area and around the Big Brother dive site will change depending on season. February is the coldest of the winter months and water temperatures as a rule stay down around 20° C / 68° F. September is the warmest month and offers water temperatures around 27° C / 81° F.

Dive site information: Many scuba divers claim this is one of the best dive sites in the Red Sea. The Brothers are two small islands situated in the central Red Sea area, and Big Brother is of course the larger of the two. Big Brother is located approximately 1 km / 0.6 miles north of Little Brother. This is a very interesting dive site and some liveaboards stay here for more than a week. The islands are the tops of two large reef pillars. Big Brother offers a sheer vertical wall that drops down well beyond 70 m / 230 ft.

There is a wreck at the northwest side of Big Brother, with the bow located at 30 m / 100 ft. The stern has sank even deeper, down to 40 m / 30 ft. Her name is Aida and she is covered in soft corals. According to popular lore she was a troop transport that sunk in 1957. Just 100 m / 330 ft from Aida you can explore a much older wreck, with at least parts of it more conveniently located in shallower waters than Aida.

Marine life: This truly is a great dive for those interested in exploring the marine life of the Red Sea. Since The Brothers reef is so remotely located and is the only noteworthy reef in the region, reef fish as well as pelagics flock around it, from the minute anthias to the large sharks. The coral growth at Big Brother is top notch and extremely dense and varied, since the reef is constantly washed by the strong open-sea currents. The Big Brother wall is covered in corals from the surface to below the limits of recreational scuba divers. There are an abundance of healthy antipatharians, sea whips and gorgonians. The amount of soft corals is truly amazing and stony corals are plentiful as well.