Three Pools

Three Pools earns its name before divers ever reach the open reef. The entry itself is the feature: three natural sandy lagoons, each 3-4 m deep, formed in the reef plate and connected by coral saddles. Sunlight filters through this shallow water and colours it indigo and turquoise — an experience that feels complete even before the main dive begins.

Timing matters here. At high tide the coral saddles between pools pass easily; at low tide they tighten and surge increases. Buoyancy control through the passages is the main technical demand of the site. Past the third and largest pool, divers exit into open water and descend gradually to the coral slope at 15-20 m.

The main dive is an anticlockwise circuit keeping the reef to the left. Hard coral bommies of Massive pore coral (Porites solida) and Brain corals (Platygyra spp.) alternate with sandy alleys where crocodilefish and scorpionfish lie half-hidden. Schools of glassfish cloud the space around the pinnacles. Napoleon wrasse cruise the circuit as regulars. When air and conditions allow, the dive can extend northward as a drift into Moray Garden 300 m away — the open-water passage adds barracuda and squid to the species list.

No other Dahab site has this entry format. The three interconnected pools function as both the start of the dive and as an attraction in themselves: beginners get their first underwater light show in protected, calm water before the reef proper begins. It is why the site appears consistently in PADI course schedules and in recommendations for snorkellers who want a bit more than the open sea.

That said, Three Pools has a mixed reality. The coral garden outside the pools is honest rather than spectacular — and some reviewers from 2022-2023 describe visible reef damage near the entry area from sustained snorkeller pressure. Divers who come expecting the pristine reefs of Dahab's less-visited southern sites will be disappointed. Those who come for the unusual lagoon entry, the relaxed conditions, and the reliable presence of Napoleon wrasse, Picasso triggerfish, and octopus will find a site worth the short drive south.

The site sits in front of a small Bedouin restaurant on the coast road south of town; a large signboard at the water entry shows the site topography. Access is by car or camel, about 7 minutes from town centre.

Peak season (July-August) brings quad bike tour groups that use Three Pools as a departure point — foot traffic, dust on the access track, and large snorkeller groups coincide with peak diving hours. An early start, before 8 am, avoids the worst of it.

The Red Sea's salinity runs around 41 ppt; carry extra weight. An orange DSMB is recommended for all Egyptian reef dives — yellow signals emergency and should not be used as an ascent marker.