Hamata, Red Sea, Egypt

Habili Gafaar

Habili Gafaar is a small submerged reef in the St John's complex, 5 km south of Habili Ali, rising from a sandy plain to a top at 8 metres. Smaller than Ali but no less spectacular, the reef is famous for the dense growth of large red and orange gorgonian fans coating its walls and for big-pelagic encounters: schooling hammerhead sharks, grey reef sharks, silvertips, and oceanic whitetips and silky sharks in the blue. Manta rays are seasonally observed in summer. Tuna, jacks, barracuda schools and Napoleon wrasses are reliable. Currents are strong and reverse during the dive. The dive is run as a circumnavigation along the wall. Visibility 30–40 metres. Liveaboard access only. Inside the Elba protected area.