Marsa Alam has been on the to do for a while. Would you say its a little more challenging of a diving location than Hurghada?
So its not Marsa Alam, its another 2h south - hence much quieter. Fury Shoal reef is less visited as its a fair bit into the sea and deep south. Hence its only liveaboards or day boats usually. Can be very nice but of course it's sea - sometimes its full, sometimes its empty. And there are some nice dive sites and some so so.
Depending on where you stay its either Zodiac (early start so you get there before any other boats, but not the most comfy ( Red Sea Diving Safari has (or at least had when I was there) the advantage that they are allowed to run one directly from their shore, much faster and real early),
or day boat - Orca - slower but way more comfy especially if half full, can relax and read a book plus plenty of space for your gear. They do Zodiacs too, but both from the port - means might take 0.5-1h to set sail, depending on the mood of port authorities. Decent home reef with a nice lagoon.
They are all close by, and if you are into kite surfing, there is a Kite Village close by as well - some folks went diving on some days, then fly on another.
Never been to Hurghada - even when driving from Cairo all the way to Wadi Lahami, stopped overnight past Safaga (another Orca; there is an awesome wreck around there, Salem Express - been there in 2019 and it was the most beautiful one I've seen in Red Sea. Back then it was untouched, full of corals and marine life (and cargo hold not yet plundered, dunno about now). Hurghada is an all inclusive dump if you ask me (harsh I know).
Egypt wise Dahab is also a nice place (including on land), but seems sea life is scarce lately in comparison to pre/post revolution years. Or maybe I was real unlucky last time. Awesome for tech diving though.
This is where Scuba Seekers are based, they also own the only liveaboard I would consider in Red Sea - MV Legends II - caters to both rec and tec/ccr plus probably the only one that has a dive lift ;]
Will look at Gozo now - any insights into the type of diving? Lots of reefs? Macro/Micro fauna?
Certainly nudi branches, sea horses and zillion of fire worms, some octo and things during night dives. Not that much reef wise, its mostly rock passages, some beautiful swim through and caverns (Blue Hole, Cathedral Cave, Inland Sea and so on), and lots and lots of wrecks. Most diving is from the shore but some from the boat as well. I like it down there, nice vibe on land and quite nice diving as well (as far as Mediterranean goes). September is neat too as it gets slightly quieter tourist wise but still perfect conditions.
Canaries could be an option, been a few times to Lanzarote - stay north though, much quieter, better food and more local - South is infested with big hotels. Diving a bit similar to Med, fewer wrecks though, little reef, some nice sites up north and definitely must visit (dive) La Graciosa island when there. Can get chilly since its Atlantic - 7mm I would say. Fun shore entry with giant Atlantic waves on some dive sites (or one in a nudist village, DO NOT look up when surfacing though xD) and a very nice vibe on land (at least in the North of the island), plus some interesting volcanic caves one can visit (on foot).
For "real" reefs gotta head to Coral Triangle ideally...less and less of them are left worldwide.
www.scapascuba.co.uk
No more day trip available since 2019 pity. I thoroughly enjoyed my two trips with them.
