Hurghada (Giftun and Abu Nuhas)

Diving Standards

CDWS rules emphasize safety briefings, risk assessment, buddy procedures, and environmental guidance. They also state that dives requiring special skills, such as wreck, nitrox, or night diving, should match actual qualifications or logged experience.

Hurghada-specific Risk Pattern

• Giftun can be easy or sporty depending on current and exposure.
• Abu Nuhas adds long surface transit, current, overhead environments, and the temptation to exceed training.
• Recreational depth on air in CDWS guidance is capped at 40 m for suitably trained and experienced divers, but most visitors should stay well inside that limit.

Practical Habits

• Carry an SMB on any drift-capable day.
• Use a torch for wreck dives.
• Keep hoses and accessories clipped in.
• Respect standard post-dive no-fly intervals, and leave a full 24 hours when in doubt after repetitive or deeper diving.

Hurghada has established recompression support, which is one reason it remains a major Red Sea diving base. CDWS lists Hypermed near Hurghada Airport and the Naval Hyperbaric Medical Center in Hurghada among local diving medical facilities. Hypermed states that it has provided diving-accident and hyperbaric care in Hurghada since 2007. This does not remove the need for good insurance, but it does mean serious support is closer than in many remote reef destinations.

Core Reef Rules

CDWS environmental briefings and HEPCA guidance are aligned on the basics:

• Do not touch, chase, feed, collect, or stand on marine life or coral.
• Maintain buoyancy and keep at least 2 m from fragile coral where briefings specify.
• Avoid dangling gauges, octos, cameras, or SMB spools near the reef.
• Reef-safe sunscreen is preferred, and plastic waste should stay off the boat and out of the sea.

Why It Matters Here

Hurghada's reefs carry intense day-boat traffic. HEPCA's long-running mooring work exists specifically to reduce anchor damage, so use operators that tie into fixed moorings where provided.

Wildlife Behavior

Dolphin resting sites such as Shaab El Erg and El Fanous should be approached passively. Turtles, including hawksbill and green turtles, use parts of the Egyptian Red Sea coast for nesting and feeding, so respectful distance matters both in and out of the water.