Offshore Red Sea island duo reached only by liveaboard, with sheer coral walls, reliable oceanic whitetips, seasonal hammerheads and two historic wrecks.
Last updated June 2026
The Brothers are two tiny offshore islands in the Egyptian Red Sea, roughly 67 km out from the coast at El Quseir and reachable only by liveaboard. There is no town here and no shore base; every dive runs from the boat and its zodiacs. You sail an overnight crossing, dive through the day, and the islands usually come packaged with Daedalus and Elphinstone on the classic offshore safari known as BDE. What you cross the open sea for is sharks. Oceanic whitetips patrol the walls year-round, scalloped hammerheads school in the blue in summer, and threshers rise to a dawn cleaning station, among the most reliable big-shark diving anywhere.
Big Brother is the larger island and the headline. It carries a working 1883 lighthouse and two historic wrecks grown into its coral wall: the deep 1901 steamer Numidia and the more intact 1957 tender Aida. Little Brother, a kilometre south, is the smaller and purer wall, prized for soft coral and a dedicated shark plateau. The diving is committing. Walls drop sheer past 60 metres with no shallow shelf. The current runs strong and can pull divers down, and at peak season the islands get busy. Most divers come knowing the sharks are a gamble, not a guarantee, and rate the place anyway.
Diving the Brothers is restricted to licensed liveaboards that hold marine-park permits, so you book a boat and a route, not a day trip. Dedicated Brothers trips run five to seven nights; the combined BDE and North-and-Brothers itineraries run seven to ten. The crossing from Hurghada is seven to nine hours of open sea, usually sailed overnight, so pack seasickness tablets. Bring a full Egyptian visa: the Sinai-only stamp used for shore towns like Dahab does not cover these offshore reefs.
Operators expect advanced certification and a solid logged-dive history before they will take you here, and the marine park sets a minimum experience bar. This is no place to log your first deep, current-swept dives. A marine-park fee is bundled into the trip price. Night diving is not allowed, and rough weather can close the islands, so itineraries often list them as conditions permitting. The best window is October and November for clear water and reliable whitetips, with hammerheads peaking May to October.
Two steep-sided coral-and-rock cones, pinnacles of undersea mountains rising sheer from a seabed over 700 m deep. Near-vertical walls drop past 60 m with no shallow shelf.
The must-do dives in this area, picked by our editors.
Experienced liveaboard divers who want coral walls, sharks and two historic wrecks on one offshore reef.
Experienced divers after the Brothers' finest soft-coral walls and a dedicated shark plateau.
Advanced and technical divers who want a deep, coral-grown wreck that spans recreational to technical depth.
Advanced divers who want a recognisable, coral-covered Red Sea wreck within recreational range.
Diamonds mark nearby dive areas — tap to explore.
The more diveable of Big Brother's two wrecks: a coral-blanketed 1950s Egyptian lighthouse tender lying down the reef wall, intact and fish-thick.
The larger Brothers island: sheer Red Sea coral walls, a working lighthouse, reliable oceanic whitetips, and two historic wrecks on one reef.
The smaller, purer Brothers island: pristine soft-coral walls on every face and a northern plateau where threshers and grey reef sharks gather.
A British cargo steamer wrecked in 1901, fused into Big Brother's north wall from train wheels at 8 m to a stern beyond 80 m.
Book online or contact a centre that dives this area.
41m, 26-guest wooden liveaboard running Master Liveaboards' full Egyptian Red Sea catalogue from Hurghada and Port Ghalib, from northern wrecks and Tiran through the offshore Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone to the far-south Rocky, Zabargad and St John's reefs.
38m, 26-guest wooden sister to Blue Horizon running the identical Master Liveaboards Egyptian Red Sea catalogue, from northern wrecks and Tiran through the offshore Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone to the Deep South, from Hurghada and Port Ghalib.
Compact 18-guest, 9-cabin wooden liveaboard focused on Deep South and St John's routes from Port Ghalib, reaching remote Rocky Island and Zabargad.
26-guest sister of Superior with Junior and Executive suites, ranging across Emperor's Egypt catalogue from northern wrecks and offshore Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone to the Deep South.
13-cabin, 26-guest wooden liveaboard running Emperor's northern Red Sea wreck-and-reef weeks from Hurghada, plus offshore Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone.
Red Sea Explorers' largest liveaboard: 37.5m, 28 guests across 14 cabins, running the same GUE-leaning offshore and deep-south Egypt route catalogue.
36m, 22-guest steel liveaboard with a dedicated camera room and gas-blending deck, running the Brothers, Daedalus, Deep South and Fury Shoal weeks.
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