Rocky Island

Rocky Island is a triangular island only 540 m across at its longest; all around it, a shallow plateau extends about 35 m out to sea before the wall drops away, and it serves for the safety stop. It was this island that the cargo ship S.S. Taiwan struck while on a voyage from Basra to Gothenburg; refloated, she was later abandoned and sunk close to the shore of Zabargad on 14 March 1950. Below the island, at a depth beyond the reach of recreational diving, lies the wreck of the Maidan. On her final voyage, the Maidan was returning to Europe: after a stop in Port Sudan, she was heading through the Red Sea towards Suez, and her captain intended to pass within sight of Zabargad, then called St. John's Island, to fix the position. But the ship was 2.5 miles west of her route, and even with St. John's Island sighted ahead, the captain did nothing. The Board of Trade inquiry found serious errors of judgement by the captain, who was censured and never went to sea again.

The walls are densely covered with corals and sponges, with violet, magenta and yellow soft corals, leather corals, black coral trees and giant sea fans. Clouds of anthias and surgeonfish swirl around the reef, where Red Sea bannerfish, giant squirrelfish, lyretail hogfish and blackspot snapper also appear. Moray eels, scorpionfish, stonefish and nudibranchs hide in the cracks. In the blue, schools of barracuda and tuna pass by, and the big fish stay in the blue off the eastern tip. Sharks are frequent, and the reef is a meeting place for pelagic fish, several shark species, mantas and marlin. Mackerel and dolphins also turn up at the site, and what can be seen here also includes the giant moray eel, giant trevally and pharaoh cuttlefish. In July 2016, lesser crested terns (Thalasseus bengalensis) were photographed breeding on the island itself.

You can dive Rocky Island all year round, although most cruises visit it from March to November. The best time tends to run from May to August or September, with warmer air and sea from July to September and cooler in February. In the far south of the region, spring and autumn tend to bring the calmest seas, making it easier to reach the exposed reefs.