Sha'ab Eshta

Sand at 8-10 m takes the descent, and the two ergs rise from it a few fin kicks apart. The standard plan is a figure of eight: one loop around each erg, passing through the narrow channel between them. The site is small enough that a second lap fits in the same dive. Seagrass sways across much of the outer floor, and small coral blocks and table corals sit on the sand near the ergs. Leather corals and Xenia dress both pinnacles.

The channel is where the dive concentrates. Schools of sweetlips, goatfish and bannerfish work along the reef walls, barracuda hang just below the surface above it, and the tidal current funnels through at its own pace. Scorpionfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish and angelfish live on both ergs, and gobies share burrows with shrimp on the sand. With the shallow depth, bottom time runs long.

Seagrass at the base of the pinnacles is the habitat the dive is built around. Its patches hold seahorses and pipefish, and ghost pipefish are reported among them, which turns a lap around the outer floor into slow searching. One operator also describes juvenile butterflyfish and tiny angelfish using the ergs as a nursery. Lionfish gather in groups, stingrays cross the sand, and nudibranchs sit at the base of the reef.

The ergs top out within a few metres of the surface, so the water over them is bright but the margin for buoyancy mistakes is small near the coral. Stonefish, scorpionfish and crocodilefish are reported on the scree, and they match it closely: before you settle to look at anything on the floor, check where your fins and hands are going. Water runs about 23-28 C across the year, and the surface can be choppy on a windy day.