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Canyon

Besides the Blue Hole the Canyon is one Dahabs most famous dive sites. For this reason the Canyon chages itself to a bubbling Whirlpool at some days.  It is advisible to dive before 10:00h or after 14:00h because the day trippers coming from Sharm el Sheikh will have left then. 

The entry leads through an approx. 100m long lagoon with a depght of ca. 2-3 meters. At its south-eastern end a 2m deep corridor leads into the open water. Caution: when the water is draining off there might be a strong current towards the open sea. 

The wall initially drops down to 8m. Two little coral blocks are in the direct vicinity of the corridor. When you dive back from the Canyon the one which is on 8m depth looks lika a "dragon head".

The little "dragon" is the best orientation to find the corridor after the dive. With strong waves it is unpossible to cross the reef top.

From the "drangon" you have to dive about 70m in northern direction to meet the upper end of the Canyon.  A little coral block with a dark chink in 12m depth is the entry to the canyon. The block is guarded by very big schools of glasfish which only falteringly flinch back when the divers float through the entry of the canyon. Below the block  is a little cave which is the upper end of the canyon.

I n this part the caynon is barely 3m wide and approx. 9m deep. Through the narrow chink the daylight paints again and again new light patterns onto the wall.

In the lights more and more glasfishes become visible. Behind this wall of swarm fishes often big fishes are hiding. Don't get frightened when a big grouper or a napoleon fish appears behind the glasfishes.
 
 

The ground shallowly drops off from 16 to 30m. In this depth the canyon opens to a grotto. Its big exit opens at 20m. Sometimes we choose this opening as entry and dive the canyon from down to upwards. The lower part of the canyon, down from the grotto, digs eastwards.

Upwards initially closed, later closesd the canyon drops down to a depth of 51m. At this spot the reef wall quickly drops off into the deep blue.

The way back is easy to find. One only has to swim over the canyon and  orientate along the crevice and all the bubbles. Its the direct way back to the coral block at the 12m part of the dive spot.

In southern direction one has to dive - the reef at the right hand side - back from the "little dragon" in the direction of the lagon. Thoase who still have enough air in their tanks will reach southwards of the lagon another dive spot, the Canyon Table.

The Canyon Table has the best conditions for a slow "up-diving" or a 2nd, shallower dive. The littely bays in the reef wall in depths of 3 to 10m are full of live: big murays, fairy basslets, coral groupers, blue spotted rays, lion fishes and lots of other swarm fishes change the Red Sea into a colorful underwarter landscape.

The Canyon Garden - another dive site -  is siutatued about 250m northwards of the Canyon. Here a 2nd dive near the canyon  is comfotably possible as well. 

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