Dolphins - Nuweiba, Dahab or Sharm?

[Illumita]

I've been on a quest to see wild dolphins my whole life. It seems that wherever I go, everybody else sees dolphins but they never appear for me!

My husband and I are headed to the Red Sea for 12 days in end of August, and we are still trying to figure out where we're going to spend our time but Nuweiba, Dahab, and Sharm have caught our attention. We are hoping to do two locations during our stay. Has anybody seen dolphins around these spots?

 

[MartinNorway78]

No I have not, better go to the west side, El Gouna and Hurghada.

(That said I have never been to Nuweiba so others might fill you in on that one, however I have never seen Dolphins in Sharm and Dahab)

Dolphin House being the obvious candidate (notice there are two "Dolphin House" in red sea, one in Marsa Alam and one outside El Gouna, North of Hurghada) Shaab El Ergh.

 

[Solly]

I confirm that I have seen and dove with dolphins in the dolphin house in shaab el erg just north of Hurghada.

 

[300bar]

Best dolphin dive I ever had was at Abu Nuhas.(we didn't see the wrecks that time)
They came up to us and played with us.

Trip out of Hurghada.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Best bets for dolphins is Dolphin House (aka Samadai). It's a daily boat trip out of Marsa Alam (not that one of Hurghada). Dolphins are sometimes spotted in Fanous of Hurghada. Risso dolphins (not Bottlenose) are spotted in Tiran (Sharm El Sheikh).

 

[Druid]

I've seen dolphins in Sharm, and I've only been there once. I've spent a lot of time in Dahab and never seen one there.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Dolphins are frequently spotted in Dahab in the Lighthouse area but usually they're far enough to swim with.

 

[String]

Not seen one at lighthouse (or even heard of anyone seeing any this year) there. Then again, dont know of anyone having seen any this side of Sharm anyway.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Here's a photo of one of the Risso dolphins we encountered during our trip back from Tiran. The photo was shot by my friend Eric Lichaa back in May 2006.

 

[Jai Bar]

If you want to dive/snorkel/swim/play with a wild dolphin, then most chances to meet such one are in Eilat. However, it is a single, lone dolphin looking for company- not a whole pod.

There's this young male dolphin who has been spending the last three summers in Eilat, looking for company and playing with everyone. In some cases, one may even too much attention from him.

He was named "Marco" by local people and usually during the winter he is not observed near the shore- you can inquire during the summer to see if he comes back. I can assure that after a few hours spending with him you'll get tired from playing with dolphins

In previous years Eilat was also frequently visited by Olin (she used to do almost daily Nuweiba-Eilat), RIP. However, she was found dead near Nuweiba a couple of years ago :-(

In Sinai there are lots well known dolphin pods like the ones mentioned in this thread but at least from my experience they usually don't give you more than a few moments attention, perhaps a couple of minutes. Don't expect to play a few hours with them...