Daedalus Reef

Daedalus Reef, also called Abu el-Kizan, is an isolated reef, far from other reefs and exposed to the open sea. The island's lighthouse was built by the French in 1863, around the same time as the Suez Canal, to protect vessels in the Red Sea. The first lighthouse was a round cast iron tower, and the current stone tower dates from 1931, the year the lighthouse was renovated. The lighthouse is manned by the Egyptian Navy, and the islet also has a weather station.

The north tip is the place for scalloped hammerhead sharks, often 10 or more together, and for oceanic whitetip sharks. Barracudas, trevally, eagle rays and manta rays are frequent, and among the pelagics silky sharks and tuna also appear. Thresher sharks appear on the southern plateau, and dolphins and turtles are also seen on the reef. The east and west walls have giant hard corals, soft corals and sea fans, and the west wall is home to 'Anemone City', a colony of over 200 anemones and their clownfish. There are also gardens of hard and soft corals and cleaning stations where wrasse attend to queues of unicornfish and groupers. The reef also holds the wreck of the Zealot and an archway, explored by technical divers.

April–May and October–November tend to be the best time, with a peak of hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks. Whale sharks tend to appear from May to June, and thresher sharks tend to prefer the cooler winter months.