Hatour - Safaga
Hatour, out near the Panorama Reef, is our pick for a more evocative wreck dive in Safaga. It’s not a huge wreck, sitting upright on a sandy bottom at 15 metres, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in character. We're talking about a tugboat, a compact steel hull now completely encrusted. You drop onto the deck, and it’s immediately clear this isn't a recent sinking. The superstructure is gone, but the engine room is still there to poke around in, along with the prop and rudder. What makes Hatour special for us is the sheer volume of life that has moved in. Schools of fusiliers are so thick you sometimes have to push through them. Look closer, and you'll find plenty of gobies and blennies tucked into every crevice, plus the usual lionfish hunting around the edges. It’s a gentle dive, good for extended bottom times, and ideal for photographers wanting to capture both the history and the vibrant colonisation. We'd suggest going in the morning; the light filtering through the water column really makes the colours pop.
- Location
- Safaga, Egypt, Red Sea & Middle East
- Coordinates
- 26.657063, 34.054188
- Type
- wreck
- Maximum Depth
- 15m
Best Time to Dive in Safaga
The warmest water temperatures in Safaga occur in August, averaging 29.2°C. The coolest conditions are in March at 22.1°C.
Monthly Water Temperatures
- January: 23.1°C
- February: 22.3°C
- March: 22.1°C
- April: 22.8°C
- May: 25.0°C
- June: 26.5°C
- July: 27.7°C
- August: 29.2°C
- September: 28.6°C
- October: 27.4°C
- November: 26.7°C
- December: 24.9°C
Nearby Dive Sites in Safaga
- Abu Hamra - 21m
- Abu Kafan - 15-40m (wall)
- Abu Kafan North - 25m
- Abu Kafan South - 25m
- Abu Saaf ED - 21m
- Abu Sawatyr - 19m
- Abu Soma Paradise House Reef (reef)
- Aida
- AIDA - 40m (wreck)
- AL KAHFAIN - 50m (wreck)
- Al Kahfain (Wreck) - 22m (wreck)
- Aluminium - 15-30m (wreck)
- Anemone Garden - 22m (reef)
- Aquarium - 19m
- AQUA SAFARI - 34m (wreck)
Nearest Dive Centres to Hatour
- Aquastars Dive Centre & Dive Safaris - ["PADI"]
- Atlantik Diving Center - ["PADI"]
- Club Ras Soma Diving Center
- Coraya Divers
- Coraya Divers Naga Bay - PADI, SSI, CMAS
- Coraya Divers Red Sea
Marine Life in Safaga
Home to 32 recorded species including 22 reef fish, 5 whales & dolphins, 2 seagrass & algae, 1 sharks & rays, 1 sea cucumbers, 1 hard corals.
Notable Species
- Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) - Whales & Dolphins
- White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) - Whales & Dolphins
- Long-beaked Dolphin (Stenella longirostris) - Whales & Dolphins
- Bullethead Parrotfish (Chlorurus sordidus) - Reef Fish
- Slender grouper (Anyperodon leucogrammicus) - Reef Fish
- Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) - Sharks & Rays
- Desjardin's Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma velifer) - Reef Fish
- Diagonal Butterflyfish (Chaetodon fasciatus) - Reef Fish
- Dapple coris (Coris variegata) - Reef Fish
- Blue Trim Parrotfish (Scarus ghobban) - Reef Fish
- Brownbanded wrasse (Halichoeres scapularis) - Reef Fish
- Wrasse (Stethojulis interrupta) - Reef Fish
- Wrasse (Cheilinus trilobatus) - Reef Fish
- Klunzinger's wrasse (Thalassoma rueppellii) - Reef Fish
- Banded thicklip (Hemigymnus fasciatus) - Reef Fish
- Bottleneck Sea Cucumber (Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens) - Sea Cucumbers
- Dusky Wrasse (Halichoeres marginatus) - Reef Fish
- Crested Sabretooth Blenny (Petroscirtes mitratus) - Reef Fish
- Bridled Dolphin (Stenella attenuata) - Whales & Dolphins
- Armed Squirrel-fish (Neoniphon sammara) - Reef Fish
Recommended Packing List for Hatour
Based on average water temperature of 25.5°C, currents 16 cm/s.
- Shorty or Rashguard - warm 26°C water needs minimal exposure protection
- Mask - essential for every dive
- Fins
- BCD - buoyancy compensator
- Regulator - your most safety-critical piece of gear
- Dive Computer - tracks depth, time, and NDL
- Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) - essential for boat pickups
- Dive Torch - useful for crevices and colour at depth
- Underwater Camera - capture your diving memories