Carless Reef Hurghada
Famous for the abundance of diver friendly moray eels. The marine life here is extremely rich. Expect the sightings of nudibranchs, tuna and sharks
Dive Site Details
Famous for the abundance of diver friendly moray eels. The marine life here is extremely rich. Expect the sightings of nudibranchs, tuna and sharks.
Dive site Carless Reef
Carless Reef, also mistakingly referred to as Careless Reef, is about one hour northeast of Hurghada. She emerges from the depths of the Red Sea as if coming from nowhere. It comprises two large pinnacles surrounded by a beautiful coral garden plateau, swarming with sea fauna.
Around the main reef the depths vary from 12 meters to 17 meters, eventually almost vertically dropping off to 20 meters to 25 meters.
We dive this site in excellent weather conditions only. This is due to its extremely exposed position and the lack of protecting moorings. The current can be demanding so some experience is required. It can be unpredictable from time to time and certainly the current does not always come from the north as mistakingly suggested by many diving guides.
The ergs offer no protection from the sea and lack of a decent anchorage has contributed to Carless’ popularity since divers can’t get here every day.
As said Carless Reef is a plateau as if pushed up from the abyss by a giant hand, sloping towards a drop-off that plunges straight down into the void. The reef lay-out ensures various dive plans. You can start from the mooring, exploring the plateau’s rich marine life. It is inhabited with a garden of corals and pinnacles.
Another choice is drifting from north of the ergs, cruising along the eastern drop-off, ending the dive around the coral garden and the smaller southern pinnacle. As if you were impersonating the figure 8.
Carless Reef’s famous feature is the very large contingent of diver friendly moray eels. It is the result of prolonged fish-feeding. To put it romantically, they are easy to choreograph for photographers and videographers.
This place seems to be crawling with just about everything. On the plateau you might keep an eye out for whitetips, turtles and to the north to a school of residential bannerfish. On the drop-off you look for tuna, giant trevallies and huge groupers.
It seems as if every organism in the food chain here is being fed by a menu of nutrient water,swept in constantly by the current. What Carless Reef has in store for you is everything from nudibranchs to tuna and sharks. Well, you may even have a rendez-vous with hammerheads.
