Sanganeb – South Plateau (lighthouse)
Sanganeb is the Red Sea's only true atoll, about 14 nautical miles NE of Port Sudan and rising from roughly 800 m depth, crowned by a lighthouse. The south and south-west plateau, either side of the lighthouse jetty, is the classic dive: schools of barracuda, jacks and snappers, grey and whitetip reef sharks, hammerheads in the blue, healthy table and black corals and a good night dive. Sharks here are said to behave curiously because they were fed in the past.
Facts
- Region: Sudan Red Sea (Port Sudan & north)
- Area: Sanganeb Atoll
- Depth: 5–55 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: moderate
- Type: reef, wall, pinnacle, drift
- Coordinates: 19.7233, 37.4437 (approximate)
- Highlights: grey reef shark, whitetip reef shark, hammerhead, barracuda, jacks, anthias, napoleon wrasse, humphead parrotfish
- Permit: Sanganeb Marine National Park is a protected area; visiting boats pay a government/port/marine-park charge in cash on arrival (DUNE lists EUR 187 per 7-night trip). No official Sudanese fee schedule or issuing office could be found.
- Tips: Advanced divers (deep wall to 55 m; depth is the main danger). Many trips also climb the lighthouse in the surface interval (the lighthouse dates from the early 20th century, rebuilt in the mid-20th; sources differ on the exact dates). Sanganeb Marine National Park (declared 1990) is part of a UNESCO World Heritage property; IUCN notes that wild anchoring by liveaboards is a threat, so use moorings. Permit/fees: no separate dive permit from an official Sudanese source could be found. Operators collect a combined government/port/marine-park charge in cash on arrival (DUNE lists EUR 187 per 7-night trip; Blue Force listed EUR 220 + 70 service tax, now historical), so ask the operator what is included.