St John's Reef

Egypt's southernmost reef system, straddling the Tropic of Cancer in Foul Bay near the Sudanese border and reached only by deep south liveaboard. The name covers a cluster of reefs: the shallow cave and tunnel maze of Umm Kararim (St John's Caves), where coral walled passages and chambers open to shafts of sunlight, and the larger Gota Kebir with its fissures and swim throughs. Outer pinnacles such as Habili Ali rise from deep water and pull scalloped hammerheads, grey reef sharks and mantas in summer, while gorgonian draped walls hold Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and green turtles. Hard and soft coral cover here is among the densest in the Red Sea.