Trip Report Yanbu, Saudi Arabia

[hedonist222]

I took an exploratory to the little town of Yanbu on the Red Sea. A 2.5 hour spect flight from Dubai.

Exploratory in the sense that I was hoping to find Egypt-grade diving without having to actually go to Egypt (for many reasons, logistically there are no more direct flights to the diving parts of Egypt, the crowds and hustle and bustle of Egypt diving, the draconian nightmare that Cairo airport customs & security has become).

I did twelve dives over four days.

To describe my experience in one sentence:
A barren aquarium.

Endless visibility but nothing but the same limited marine life. No diversity. There is triple the diversity here in the UAE. Quadruple and more in Zanzibar. Comparisons for diversity reference only.
Is this common for the Red Sea? Or is Yanbu not the best place on the Red Sea?
There was so little diversity. To use simplify by arbitrarily quantifying, we'd see a hundred species on a typical dive here. In Yanbu, it was no no more than twenty. And say two hundred in Zanzibar.

It was the same two variants of Parrotfish, two hard coral, three soft coral, three Damselfish, two Triggerfish. And this is at the best dive site in Yanbu (about an hour boat ride towards the center of the Red Sea).
There was a lot of life, just the same one hundred marine life over and over.
The nearer sites were even more desolate.

Skip the IONA wreck.
Barely any life and visually not a very interesting looking wreck.

I was hoping that I'd find a Red Sea alternative to Egypt.

Thanks to J&M for helping me from A to Z.
They made the trip very fun in spite of the diving itself.

 

[BoltSnap]

more in Zanzibar

Is Zanzibar a mature diving destination with required infrastructure? Is diving competitive with Egypt?

 

[hedonist222]

Is Zanzibar a mature diving destination with required infrastructure? Is diving competitive with Egypt?

I'm not an expert on the Zanzibar diving scene.
Happy to respond to you on my Zanzibar trip report - lest we depart from the Red Sea diving theme of this subforum.

 

[Etmutt]

hey,

yes it’s fairly typical, due to combination of factors:
First, contrary to egypt, there is limited fishing controls / protected areas
Second, yanbu is not so small as a city, it houses 2 leasure ports and one of the major oil port of the world
Third, you probably did not go to the “best” spots > those are out of the usual way and have much better diversity

 

[BoltSnap]

Happy to respond to you on my Zanzibar trip report - lest we depart from the Red Sea diving theme of this subforum

Link please?

 

[dflaher]

Link please?

Trip Report - Trip Report - Zanzibar (East Coast)

I made my way to Zanzibar last week. I had intended on going (back) to either the Philippines or Indonesia, but I did not have enough time. I wanted to go somewhere that only needed a direct flight and little to no commute on arrival. Zanzibar fit this. A direct five hour flight from Dubai to...

scubaboard.com

 

[jpython]

I've been to Yanbu for diving many times, and I tend to disagree a bit. The guide might not have been very knowledgeable, or perhaps you were just unlucky. There are usually schools of hammerheads, silky sharks, barracuda, and many other fascinating big and small fish to see. Additionally, dugongs are often spotted near the bay. I hope you have better luck next time. Typically, summer is the best season for diving in Yanbu, while winter is ideal for the southern region with its drop-offs and blue holes. The country has just recently opened up to tourism, and it will take time to grow and mature, but the Red Sea holds pristine, undiscovered treasures.

 

[BoltSnap]

I've been to Yanbu for diving many times, and I tend to disagree a bit. The guide might not have been very knowledgeable, or perhaps you were just unlucky. There are usually schools of hammerheads, silky sharks, barracuda, and many other fascinating big and small fish to see. Additionally, dugongs are often spotted near the bay. I hope you have better luck next time. Typically, summer is the best season for diving in Yanbu, while winter is ideal for the southern region with its drop-offs and blue holes. The country has just recently opened up to tourism, and it will take time to grow and mature, but the Red Sea holds pristine, undiscovered treasures.

Would their security people at airports get constipated when they see UW photography equipment?

 

[Etmutt]

not really; you may occasionally have to ask to see the manager but they are ok

 

[NothingClever]

I've had many great dives in Yanbu but they were all from a LOB.