Also known as: El Malahi, Malahi, Sha'ab Malahi
Fury Shoals reef of ten close-set coral towers whose open-topped, sunlit passages form a shallow maze, reached by boat from Hamata.
Last updated October 2026
Ten large coral towers stand close together in the southern half of the reef, some rising 16 to 20 metres with overhangs near the top. Canyons and narrow corridors run between them, and the floor there mostly sits at 15 metres or less. A main reef block with a hard-coral garden lies to the north. Every passage is open to the sky, so the surface is always easy to reach, and on a high-sun dive the light drops through the gaps as beams and moving shadows. Depth shifts often and sometimes sharply from one passage to the next, which gives the ears work. Current runs only on the outside of the reef, so a single dive can pair an exposed outer edge with a calm, sheltered interior. On the east side a drop-off edge is reported about 50 metres out, and behind the boat a sandy floor with large boulders lies near 20 metres.
The towers stand close enough to form genuine corridors, and the route through them branches, turns and doubles back. Hard and soft corals cover the walls, bannerfish school around the south-eastern blocks, and the small creatures in the cracks and on the coral reward a slow pace. A single dive covers only part of the reef. One 2017 diver report mentions a napoleon wrasse of about 1.5 metres living among the towers, which is a sighting to hope for, not to plan around.
The passages are confusing and it is easy to lose your bearings. A good guide or a very good map makes the dive far easier to relax into.
The corridors are overgrown and the reef is always in motion, so objects can fall. Keep neutral buoyancy and stay off the walls and overhangs.
The beams in the passages appear when the sun is not too low, so the middle of the day suits the dive best.
Day boats leave from Hamata port, and the hotel transfer from Marsa Alam takes about 2 hours by road.
The southern Egyptian Red Sea went through warm-water bleaching in 2024, after an earlier episode in 2023, and recovery is patchy from reef to reef.
What makes this dive site stand out.
Ten close-set towers form canyons and corridors south of a main reef block.
The surface is always easy to reach, so the maze is not an overhead dive.
With the sun high, beams and shadows play through the passages.
Current runs only on the outside of the reef; the inner maze stays calm.
Between the towers divers rarely go deeper than 15 m.
24.2245°N, 35.7255°E
SeaHorse Diving Club sells the full-day Hamata trip at 150 EUR per certified diver (snorkel trip 100 EUR, introductory dive 130 EUR), including hotel transfer from Marsa Alam, lunch, two guided dives, air, weights and all taxes and fees. Prices are time-sensitive.
Two operators grade the site for all levels. Open Water is the minimum given here because the dive between the towers stays shallow; the passages are best dived with a guide.
Summary
Easy to moderate: shallow and calm inside, but the passages are confusing and the depth changes often.
Safety considerations
What can go wrong here, and what divers do about it. Conditions change - take the briefing from the operator on the day.
Multi-day safari boats with this site on their itinerary.
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.
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.
Red Sea Explorers' largest liveaboard: 37.5m, 28 guests across 14 cabins, running the same GUE-leaning offshore and deep-south Egypt route catalogue.
Red Sea Explorers' tech flagship: a 37m, 22-guest steel liveaboard with a full trimix/CCR fill station and scooters for offshore and deep-south Egypt safaris.
138ft (42m), 26-guest Aggressor liveaboard out of Port Ghalib running two Saturday-to-Saturday southern itineraries: Brothers-Daedalus-Elphinstone, and St John's-Daedalus, across offshore plateaus and the Marsa Alam and St John's reefs.
42m steel liveaboard released 2018, the Spanish-operated Blue Force Fleet's Egypt boat, running week-long Red Sea routes from Hurghada and Port Ghalib, with English and Spanish spoken on board.
44m, 28-guest wooden liveaboard and the Sea Serpent Fleet's technical flagship, running the fleet's shared Egyptian Red Sea route pool: offshore Brothers-Daedalus-Elphinstone, northern wrecks and the Strait of Tiran, and southern St John's and Fury Shoals.
Book a guided dive at this site.
Eco-diving resort south of Marsa Alam with 3 villages, unlimited house reef diving, 60+ sites, and access to Elphinstone Reef.
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One operator renders Malahi as playground and adds that the reef could as easily have been named labyrinth. Both readings fit the same place: ten coral towers close enough together to leave canyons, corridors and routes that branch. The site is also written Sha'ab Malahi or El Malahi.
The passages are open-topped: operators say the surface is always easy to reach, and they grade the site for all levels. One lists the dive type as cavern and reef, and one diver calls it a cave dive because the sun shines through the holes above. The openings overhead are what let that light in, so the surface stays within easy reach throughout. The overgrown corridors do shed debris, so keep to the guide's route and out of the walls.
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