Destinations
Loading...The Brother Islands are a world famous scuba diving destination. It offers some of the best diving in Egypt and in Red Sea. These 2 small Islands (Little Brother and Big Brother) are famous for their wonderful pristine coral as well as being one of the best places in Egypt to dive with Sharks!
Here you can encounter the Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Schooling Hammerhead Sharks as well as Grey Reef Sharks and Silvertip Sharks! The very rare Thresher Shark can also sometimes be spotted!
In addition, the Brothers Islands are home to a fantastic reef life with myriads of colourful reef fishes, pelagic fishes such as Barracudas, Giant trevallies, Tunas and even the magnificent Manta Ray!
Diving with sharks is just one of the mindblowing fish encounters you can experience while diving at Brother Islands in the Red Sea. With amazing vertical walls covered with corals and spectacular fish population, diving at the Islands is definitely unforgettable!
Little Brother Island
Little Brother Island is really great for amazing walls covered by unspoiled hard and soft Coral. The underwater scenery is really breathtaking and diving there is just mindblowing. Hammerhead Sharks, Grey Reef and Silvertip Sharks are often spotted there. The sandy bottom is at 47m and the top of the reef is quite shallow and makes a great spot for your safety stop!
Big Brother Island
Little Brother Island is the best for Coral but for the big fish action, it is best to dive around Big Brother Island. It is a great spot to encounter the very curious Oceanic Whitetip Shark! Other shark species like Hammerhead, Grey, Silvertip and even the very rare Thresher Shark can be spotted too!
Altogether, there are about 12 possible dive sites around the Brothers. There are 2 particularly interesting wrecks to dive on the North of the Big Brother Island not far from the lighthouse, the Numidia Wreck and the Aida Wreck.
Aida Wreck
The Aida is a former 75m long Italian ship that sunk in 1957 while transporting troops. The ship is still in good shape and attracts lots of marine life with schools of fishes all around the wreck. The soft coral is wonderful and makes great underwater picture opportunities. The shallow part of the Aida lies around 15m and it goes down to 45m deep. Be careful, the current can be very strong on the Aida Wreck!
Numidia Wreck
The Numidia is a former 130m long British Cargo that sunk on its way to India in 1901. Sadly, it was only its second trip! The Numidia was carrying locomotives wheels that can still be found. The Numidia wrecks now lies almost vertically on the steep reef slope with the top being at 8m and the stern being very deep at around 80m deep, therefore making it inaccessible for recreational diving. However, if you are a tech diver, it is an fascinating playground. You can watch this beautiful video of a scooter tech dive of a visit on the Aida and the Numidia Wreck. Be careful, the current can be very strong in the area!
Best time to dive the Brothers Islands
It is possible to dive all year round at the Brothers. However, as it is located offshore the sea conditions can be rough and can sometimes forbid any diving and liveaboards trip can be cancelled.
The best season to dive the Brothers runs from June to August when the sea is usually calm. In addition, the Shark population seems to increase in May so it is the best time to go there if you want to encounter these fantastic creatures. During Winter (from November to March) is the worst time as the sea conditions are often bad and trips can get cancelled.
Access
Due to the remoteness of the site, the great depth and the strong current, you will need to be an experienced diver to dive the Brothers. Moreover, as it is a National park, you need at least 50 logged dives to embark on a Liveaboard. I usually use this website to book in advance my Liveaboards in the Red Sea as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because they have an easy booking system.
The Brothers Islands are located in the Middle of the Red Sea, about 150 km Southeast of Hurghada and 125km North of Marsa Alam and are only accessible by liveaboards. Most of the liveaboards visiting the Brother islands start in Hurghada or in Safaga.
You can dive The Brothers all year long. Access: from the Shore. See the map of The Brothers on the right for the exact location.
Fishes you may spot while diving The Brothers
-
Fusilier
-
Giant Trevally
-
Hammerhead Shark
-
Manta Ray
-
Napoleon Wrasse
-
Tiger Shark
-
Turtle
... and more fishes & sea life, Dogtooth Tuna, Grey Reef Shark, Jack, Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Silky Shark, Silvertip Shark, Tresher Shark
Photos
-
Clown fishes waiting in front of their blue anemone housePhoto by Jihye Lee -
Blacktip Shark patrolling the crystal clear water... EPIC photo!Photo by Yann Hubert -
Huge Hammerhead Shark patrolling the reef in French PolynesiaPhoto by Yann Hubert -
Beautiful & Colorful Mandarin FishPhoto by Rich Guest -
Yellow Seahorse in Lembeh StraitPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Flying Ray Manta in Bali!Photo by Jihye Lee -
Lion Fish swimming in crystal clear waterPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Surreal LifePhoto by Jihye Lee -
Orange Frog Fish surprised in the reefPhoto by Rich Guest -
School Thousands Blue Gold Fusilier FishPhoto by Jihye Lee
Diving Reviews for this region
Hurghada
Lots of good wrecks to dive and good place for Underwater Photography. Starting Point for Liveaboards to the South Red Sea. Very Good Visibility and good place to learn scuba diving.
July 2013 Beautiful reef lots of life. Very strong currents on the day we were there. Was like being on a spin cycle in a washing maching.
Awesome. Thresher, Hammerhead and grey reef sharks. Great vis. Pretty wrecks. Fun current.
diversified and rare shark species,
alot of longmanus, 2 thresher sharks, many grey reefs, hammerheads and whaleshark, little brother reef is amazing
It was great experience.. yes not for beginners.