Pipeline (MFO Pipeline)

Two pipelines from an Israeli desalination plant run from the shore out to sea; the structure was left behind after the Israeli occupation in the 1970s. By 2011, these discharge pipes had not been used in over 30 years.

The pipes are covered in coral, and their end areas work as cleaning stations, where large jacks and snappers come for the attention of cleaner shrimp and wrasse. Scorpion fish, anthias, fairy basslets and batfish appear on the pipes, while the sand holds many tiny pipefish and, occasionally, a torpedo ray. There are also encrusting soft corals and numerous lionfish, scorpionfish and stonefish. On a small nearby reef there are parrotfish, jacks, groupers, leopard rays, giant barracuda and green turtles. At the safety stop, it is worth looking for pygmy seahorses.

At the end of summer, green turtles tend to mate at the site. In Nuweiba, the best time to dive is usually May–June and September–November; from January to April the sea usually gets colder and chilly winds are common.