Elphinstone Reef

The crown jewel of Marsa Alam diving: a narrow reef roughly 300 metres long, sitting about 12 km offshore and dropping away in sheer walls on every side. The two long flanks fall past 70 metres into deep blue, while the northern and southern plateaus are the stage for its famous encounters. This is exposed, current-swept, big-water diving — reserved for experienced divers comfortable with drift and negative entries — and the reward is some of the best pelagic action in the Red Sea, headlined by oceanic whitetip sharks and, in season, schooling hammerheads.