SUDAN - SHARK DIVE EXPEDITION - "Central & North" Sudan route

CENTRAL & NORTH SUDAN (7 nights): 

This is the classical and best-known route in Sudan. This includes the “Umbria” wreck and renowned reefs like Sanganeb or Sha'ab Rumi. There we will dive with schools of barracudas, jackfish, sharks, among spectacular coral gardens and the famous and nostalgic remnants of the Pre-continent II of Jacques Cousteau. We will dive in far North reefs like Angarosh, Merlo and the rests of Blue Belt wreck, visiting pristine coral reefs, with enormous whip coral gardens, huge amounts of marine life and will look for the big game out there, white tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks and hammerheads

The best diving season is between the months of February and May. The climate of Sudan is influenced by the Indian Ocean, during the winter months (December to April) it is more cool, with outdoor temperatures ranging between 20º to 27º (February) and 24º to 35ºC (May) and water temperatures between 24ºC in the month of February and the 29ºC in the end of May. During the months of April and May, there may be some storms and outside temperatures reach 30/35ºC and the water temperature is between 26ºC/29ºC

“CENTRAL & NORTH” ROUTE 

Main dive spots:

 Umbria wreck: One of the best wrecks from WWII, with a huge array of cargo still intact in its holds. Sanganeb Reef:  Barracudas, jackfish, grey reef sharks, bumphead parrot fish and even encounters with hammerheads. Sha’ab Rumi: Very long reef with a famous lagoon where we can find the remains of Jacques Cousteau Precontinent II program as well as an amazing plateau with grey reef sharks cleaning stations and one of the best places to spot the shy hammerhead sharks.

At the northern area of Sudan, we will dive Angarosh Reef: named after the amount of sharks in the old times and where we can usually spot groups of hammerhead sharks, barracudas and jackfish next to the incredible walls and whip coral gardens. Abington Reef: vertical walls covered with corals Qita El Banna: White tip reef sharks, big tunas and even grey reef sharks and hammerheads along a wonderful wall covered with soft corals.  

Wreck "Umbria": One of the best wrecks in the world. It was scuttled by her captain at the beginning of the Second World War. Still preserves almost intact its military cargo and hosts a large number of marine life. The wreck is easy to dive due to the depth (between 5 and 33 meters) and the virtual absence of currents. The exploration of the wreck represents a real adventure for divers.

The wreck is 150 mts long and is covered with corals, boasting a huge amount of marine life like snappers, sweet lips, butterflies, barracudas… 

Sanganeb Reef: Located 15 miles NE of Port Sudan, this reef is marked with a beacon of the Victorian era at its southern tip. We can find different dive sites here. The north side is exposed to prevailing winds and currents and can be dived only with calm seas and preferably in the early hours of the morning. Mantas can be seen here and if you are lucky, you might find small groups of hammerhead sharks patrolling the blue.

The south side offers a plateau with some coral blocks and a lot of barracudas, schools of unicorn fish, sweet lips and much more. There is a small sand area on the south western tip., where we will find white tip sharks.

In the north part of the plateau, we will find a steep drop off where grey reef sharks, hammerheads and even silver tips cruise by.

Sha'ab Rumi: This huge barrier reef is located about 20 miles NE of Port Sudan. It forms a true coral garden and cleaning station for some pelagic species. On the west side there are two openings that allows entrance to the interior lagoon. Just outside the entrance of the lagoon we will find the remains of the Pre-continent II, the underwater “village” built by the team of Jacques Cousteau in 1963. The southern area of the reef is more dynamic as two different currents bring nutrients from the deep. This attracts large schools of fish as well as different species of sharks that patrol the boundaries of the reef. With some luck, we will also spot groups of large Bumphead Parrotfish.

Shaab Suedi: This huge reef system, 18 miles North from Shaab Rumi, hold the remains of the “Blue Belt”, also known as t”Toyota wreck”, due to the amount of cars and trucks that where inside. Nowadays, the top of the wreck sleeps at 56 meters of depth and we can only visit some of the cars and trucks that fell off the wreck and now rest on the reef. The entrance to the lagoon holds an amazing coral garden and when the current is favourable, is a great spot to practice a “black water night dive” under the boat, where we will be able to spot thousands of little deep sea creatures coming close to the surface to feed close to the lights.

Angarosh: The name has derived from the arabic Umm el Ghoroush (Mother of the harks) and was first dived by Hans Hass, who was surprised by the amount of hammerheads and grey reef sharks he found here. A little sandy island marks this steep-walled reef. In the Eastern side, we find two plateaus, at 25 and 40 meters deep, covered with soft corals, whip corals and great seafans. Here we will be able to spot hammerheads, grey reef sharks, barracudas and groups of jackfish. On the shallower part of the reef we will also encounter small groups of bumbhead parrot fish.

Shaab Merlo: An amazing reef with a huge pinnacle of coral that sinks into the depth, completely covered by soft corals and where we can sometimes find oceanic mantas.