Meet your 284 underwater neighbours

Hurghada reefs host over 225 commonly seen fish species, from clouds of orange anthias and Red Sea anemonefish to Napoleon wrasse, moray eels, bluespotted rays and seasonal dolphins. Add 59+ coral species, green and hawksbill turtles, and you understand why the Red Sea is rated among the best diving on Earth.

Red Sea diving around Hurghada is very safe. The animals to simply not touch are lionfish, stonefish and fire coral. Your guide points them out during the briefing. Nothing hunts divers here; keep your hands to yourself and everything keeps its distance.

Yes. Sheab El Erg reef (divers call it the Dolphin House) is about an hour by boat from Hurghada and has resident spinner dolphins. We regularly meet them on daily trips; encounters are wild and unforced, often during the surface interval or even underwater.

Year-round. Green turtles graze the seagrass beds around Giftun Island and Fanadir reef almost daily, and hawksbill turtles patrol the coral walls. Summer months (May-September) bring the warmest water and the most activity.

Around 15% of Red Sea fish exist nowhere else. Divers' favourites include the masked butterflyfish, Red Sea anemonefish, sohal surgeonfish, purple tang, orchid dottyback and the Picasso triggerfish. All of them are regulars on Hurghada reefs, and all of them are in this guide.