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Safaga, Soma Bay, El Quseir & the BrothersAdvancedwall

Big Brother East Wall

Also known as Big Brother East

Sheer soft-coral and gorgonian wall running the length of the island's eastern side, dived as a drift. Grey reef sharks and big…

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Sheer soft-coral and gorgonian wall running the length of the island's eastern side, dived as a drift. Grey reef sharks and big schooling fish along the drop-off. Depth 5–50 m; liveaboard only; Strong north-to-south drift along the wall; the standard way to dive this side. current; visibility 20-30 m. Within the Egyptian Red Sea Protectorates offshore-islands regime, administered by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency with the Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS).

Highlights

  • Sheer soft-coral and gorgonian wall running the length of the island's eastern side, dived as a drift. Grey reef sharks and big schooling fish along the drop-off.

Marine life

  • oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) - most reliable autumn and winter, often in the shallows under the boats
  • scalloped hammerhead - schooling on the plateaus, mainly summer, deep and early morning
  • thresher shark - autumn and winter, deep, rarely seen
  • grey reef shark
  • silvertip shark
  • whitetip reef shark
  • great barracuda schools
  • dogtooth tuna
  • giant and camouflage grouper
  • Napoleon wrasse
  • anthias, glassfish and sweeper clouds
  • gorgonian fans and black coral
  • manta ray (occasional)
  • grey reef and hammerhead sightings decline in the hottest months

Good to know

Best season
March-November liveaboard season.
Protected status
Within the Egyptian Red Sea Protectorates offshore-islands regime, administered by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency with the Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS). Closed to dive boats for roughly 3.5 months over the winter of 2018-19 after four non-fatal oceanic whitetip bites; reopened 29 March 2019 under CDWS rules that remain the governing regime: no overnight mooring at the islands, diving permitted only 06:00-16:00 after which all boats must leave, a daily cap of 18 vessels (12 at Big Brother, 6 at Small Brother), a CDWS coordination record required before the coast guard will issue a sailing permit, and a ban on discharging organic waste within 5 nautical miles. Night diving prohibited; SMB mandatory. Operators and guides required to complete shark-awareness training.
Fees
Government reef / marine-park tax payable in cash on board, in USD or EUR. Master Liveaboards quotes USD 90 per person for a 7-night Brothers/Daedalus/Elphinstone itinerary; Red Sea Aggressor IV lists USD 105 marine park + USD 45 port = USD 150 per person for the same itinerary. Amount is set by government decree and changes.

More sites in Safaga, Soma Bay, El Quseir & the Brothers

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Abu Kafan North

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Abu Kafan South

Southern plateau of Abu Kafan, dived as a drift along the sheer wall.

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