Abu Kafan

Abu Kafan starts with a judgement call on the surface. The guide reads the current and wind and decides which wall, east or west, and which way the drift will run. A common plan is a zodiac drop onto the northern plateau at around 15 to 25 metres, then a one-way drift along the spectacular eastern wall, the reef on one shoulder and open blue on the other. The wall is the spectacle, a sheer face falling past recreational depth and draped in black coral and large gorgonians, with overhangs, fissures and channels worth a torch to look inside. Out in the blue off the wall is where the site earns its name: schools of barracuda and tuna, bannerfish and sweetlips hanging in the current, and the genuine chance of reef sharks or, in season, hammerheads cruising the drop-off. The southern plateau is the alternative or second-dive route, a slope from about 18 to 50 metres studded with pinnacles, dived straight from the boat when the current allows. The whole dive is current-led and best treated as a deep, exposed drift. Stay with the guide, watch your depth on the wall, and carry an SMB for the pick-up.

Among Safaga's offshore reefs, Abu Kafan is the one repeatedly ranked first. It earns that for three reasons divers come back to. The walls are the steepest and most photogenic in the area, dense with black coral and large sea fans. The open-water position gives the best odds of a shark or pelagic encounter on the mainland coast. And the long, exposed, current-driven drift is a real adventure the sheltered inshore sites cannot match. The honest caveat is the marine life: sharks and big animals here are seasonal and never a sure thing, and a flat day can produce a beautiful wall and not much in the blue. This is the site a Safaga trip is planned around, weather permitting, and the one that separates the area from a quiet reef-and-wreck town.

This is a wide-angle dive. The signature shot is the wall itself, a coral-hung face of black coral and gorgonians dropping into nothing, with a diver placed for scale against the void. Bring a torch for the overhangs, fissures and channels, where the colour hides out of the open light. The blue off the wall is the other frame, harder to plan because the pelagic action is seasonal, but it is where the barracuda balls and the occasional shark line up against open water. The current sets the pace, so a one-way drift means picking your moment rather than working a spot for long.

Plan Abu Kafan as a weather dive. Book it early in a multi-day trip so there is slack to wait out wind, and keep the sheltered Tobia and Gamul gardens as the fallback when the offshore reefs close. This is a one-way drift in open water, so stay tight on the guide and carry an SMB for the boat pick-up. The drop-off falls far past recreational limits and can pull you deeper than intended, with the steep void inducing mild vertigo, so plan your depth and watch your computer. Add around 2 kg of lead over your usual for the high Red Sea salinity. A torch repays the swim along the wall.