Sanganeb Atoll
Shaab Rumi · Sudan
The only true atoll in the Red Sea, rising from 800 m of open water 25 km off Port Sudan and crowned by a British-built lighthouse. Sheer walls draped in soft coral fall away from a shallow reef flat, but the southwest plateau at 20-30 m is the headline dive: a standing tornado of barracuda, schools of bigeye trevally, and patrolling grey reef and whitetip sharks, with scalloped hammerheads cruising the blue from January to April. Gazetted as a marine national park in 1990 and inscribed by UNESCO as World Heritage in 2016; reachable only by liveaboard.
Conditions
Depth
5 to 40 m
Advanced depths
Current
Can be moderate
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
20 to 30 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
25 to 33°C
3mm shorty
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Vis (m) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Current | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Scalloped hammerhead
Last confirmed Apr 15, 2026 · 45 records
Very likely
Most dives
Grey reef shark
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Whitetip reef shark
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Schooling barracuda
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Bigeye trevally
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Bumphead parrotfish
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Napoleon wrasse
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Reef manta ray
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Gear