Bucket List Scuba Dives – The Infamous Dahab Blue Hole & Canyon
A world-famous dive site, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. The Blue Hole in Dahab. But what is it like to dive recreationally?
In October 2022 I got a chance to dive one of the most well-known dive sites in the world. Dahab’s Blue Hole. Along with another dive site called the Canyon. This was a day trip as part of a dive club trip to the Red Sea. This was the perfect dive day to finish off our trip with! Our dive centre for the week was Camel Dive Club and an early morning road trip from Sharm el Sheikh to Dahab resulted in 2 fantastic dives.
The Misfortune of Dahab’s Blue Hole
Whether you are a diver or not it is likely you have heard of Dahab’s Blue Hole. Mostly due to the high number of diver deaths that have occurred in the hole. The approximate total is around 200 divers who have lost their lives diving the Blue Hole. A huge number of terribly sad deaths. I am not going to go into the hows and whys of these unfortunate deaths. However, if you do want to know more then I highly recommend watching Monty Halls Dive Mysteries. The show looks at the highly technical dives through the arch at 56+ meters and how it can lead to accidental deaths if unprepared.
However, the Blue Hole is visited and dived by thousands of divers every year. It is a perfectly safe dive for the recreational diver to do. As a recreational dive, you do a different dive that leads to the Blue Hole from the gorgeous wall reef on the outside. If you are looking for a dive with a stunning wall reef, canyon decent and finishing at the top of the big Blue Hole then this if your dive!
So Let’s Dive The Blue Hole
After kitting up at the side of the Blue Hole you walk 5 minutes along the desert footpath to a small crack in the coast. This is where you giant stride in. Watch out for many snorkellers here as there is not much room to jump in. Descending one by one into a canyon-like crack, called Hells Bells.
You descend down the crack to 24m where there is an arch you swim under and out into the open blue waters. It is a narrow crack in the wall that you can touch on both sides. You descend into loads of bubbles from the divers below you and is a pretty cool way to start a dive. However, if you do not like it the front of the canyon is open. Swim forward and you are out in the open.
Now you go with the flow, following the beautiful wall reef around the Blue Hole. Shallowing up as you go. Keep an eye on the blue waters to your left for any larger species. Below you are several hundred meters of water, quite a surreal feeling as you float around in the clear waters.
A few exciting species to look out for are the huge Elephant Ear Sponges and the small cleaner fish. These fish will come right up to you and pick at your skin. If you are brave enough to remove your reg and grin, the fish may come to clean your teeth too!
As you shallow to around 9m you will spot a dip in the top of the reef. This is known as the saddle. It leads into Dahab’s Blue Hole. This area is particularly beautiful with the sun lighting up the colour of the corals. Head over the Saddle and you are now diving into the Blue Hole.
Follow the outside of the hole at around 5m while taking in the sights of the never-ending blue waters below you. There is not much life in the hole itself so don’t expect to find too much life. If the visibility is good you can just make out the arch that sits at 56m. Also, the freedivers can be spotted descending into the dark centre of the hole. It is impressive watching them!
Onto The Canyon
The 2nd dive of the day was the Canyon. Just down the desert track from the Blue Hole, the Canyon is a dive to not be missed. This dive is a playground for the recreational diver, but also ideal for technical diving too.
Again sitting up by the water’s edge, overlooking the gorgeous lagoon you will start your dive in. It is a shorter walk into the water but watch your step as the path is covered by the sea. If you stray away from the path the area is very rocky. This can make getting in and out a little busy but not as busy as the Blue Hole exit is in my opinion.
You start the dive in the shallow lagoon that is no deeper than 3m. Keep your eyes open for the camouflaged walking fish, I believe they were known as sea moth (don’t hold me to that though!). Some of us also spotted a Banded Snake Eel (I believe) in this area! The fish surround you as you put your fins on and it makes some beautiful photos.
The lagoon leads out to a large coral garden to explore. This plateau gently slopes down and is full of gorgeous corals. Loads of juvenile fish living in the coral structures. Continuing on you can spot the canyon by the bubbles rising from the ground.
The Canyon top sits at around 20m and heads down the slope to the 50m mark. You will only explore a small end of the Canyon so it is good to wait for any other divers already in the crack to come out before venturing in yourself. The bottom of the Canyon sits at 30m, be sure to look up to the top and take in the silhouettes of the waiting divers. Take a torch to look at the back wall too, there’s a big shoal of Glassfish living there.
After exploring the Canyon you make your way back across the coral garden and into the Lagoon. Bringing you to the end of a day’s spectacular diving.
The Dahab Blue Hole Verdict
Depending on your trip this may bring you to the end of your day’s activities. For my trip, we then headed into Dahab for some beautiful food and a spot of shopping. A great way to round off the day.
So that’s what to expect when you are diving the infamous Dahab Blue Hole. It is a great bucket list diving destination for many divers. No matter your diving preference, snorkellers, freedivers, recreational divers and technical divers there is a way of exploring all it has to offer. It really is a wonderful dive site!
Personally, my favourite dive out of the 2 was the Canyon. I just loved the different water colours from the light Lagoon to the dark canyon. Then seeing the bubbles coming up from the ground, and watching other divers from above and below the canyon made for some cool photos too. This dive is going high on my best-dives-to-date list!
