Divers visit these reefs for two reasons: either they go through here when sailing from Egypt to Sudan or they come here to find a place where there are no other boats or hoards of other divers.

Abu Fendera is one place like that as is Elba Reef. From all the Egyptian liveaboards, only one or two sail this far South when an adventurous group books a week on them.

Abu Fendera lies South of St Johns and the Elba Reef can be found on the Egyptian and Sudanese border with a good plateau on its North and South side as well.

On the South plateau lies the large wreck of “SS Isola di Levanzo” that sank in the early 1900s. She is a rarely visited beautiful wreck which is surrounded by scattered sherry bottles all over the sea bottom. A few interesting facts about the wreck:

The “SS Isola di Levanzo” was built in 1901, weighed 3,713 tons with a length of 339.6 feet and a breadth of 46.3 feet. She was a single-flueted and double-masted vessel with a maximum speed of 11 knots and was able to accommodate up to 900 passengers.

She was built by the Orlando Brothers in Leghorn (Livorno) and she was launched in 1901 as the latest vessel of the Southern Marine Transport Association.

The boat laiden with salt and other cargo ran aground on the Elba Reef in the Red Sea on March 14, 1923 on the way from Genova to Durban. On March 28 during a salvage operation the towing rope snapped, the boat drifted onto the rocks and sank.

And finally, do not miss snorkelling in the Elba Reef lagoon.

These two destinations (Abu Fendera and Elba) can be reached by only high-speed vessels since several close to 10-hour-long night sailings dot the week-long itinerary to make sure the divers can start their next dive early in the morning at a far dive site. (The distances are: Hamata-St Johns, St Johns-Elba, Elba-Abu Fendera.)  And for these distances are just perfect the two robust steel vessels: Cassiopeia 5* and Andromeda 5*.

Planned Abu Fendera and Elba itinerary:

1. Day
Arrival in Hurghada, bus transfer to Hamata, night spent onboard in the harbour

2. Day
Check dive in the morning
Fury Shoal (day and night dive)
Night sailing to St Johns

3. Day
Diving all day at St Johns
Night sailing to Elba (10 hours)

4. Day
Diving all day at Elba
Night sailing to Abu Fendera (6 hours)

5. Day
Diving all day at Abu Fendera
Early morning sailing to St Johns (4 hours)

6. Day
2-3 dives at St Johns
Sailing to the North

7. Day
2 dives at Fury Shoal
Return to the harbour by 14:00, night spent onboard

8. Day
Bus transfer to Hurghada airport