Shark Reef Ras Caesar

Shark Reef / Ras Caesar — Brothers Islands, Egypt

The Brothers Islands — Al-Ikhwa in Arabic, 'the brothers' — are two remote limestone outcrops in the Egyptian Red Sea, roughly 70 km offshore from Marsa Alam. They are reachable only by liveaboard, typically on a 3–5 night Southern Red Sea itinerary, and they hold some of the most dramatic wall diving and most consistent shark encounters in the entire Red Sea.

Big Brother (Al-Akh Al-Kabir) is the larger of the two — about 400 meters long — with a British lighthouse built in 1883. Little Brother (Al-Akh Al-Saghir) is a hundred meters long and uninhabited. Shark Reef at Ras Caesar refers to the specific dive site on Big Brother's south and southeast walls — a sheer vertical face that drops from 15 meters to beyond recreational depth, swept by nutrient-rich upwellings.

The Sharks

The Brothers have oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) from May through November — the same critically endangered species that appears seasonally at Elphinstone but in different behavioural contexts. At the Brothers, whitetips are common at the island perimeter, often appearing mid-dive rather than as a target of a specific station.

Scalloped hammerheads congregate on the south wall in summer and autumn, particularly at dawn. The combination of a steep wall, strong current, and a school of hammerheads passing in the mid-water at 25–35 meters is among the most dramatic dive moments available in Egypt.

Grey reef sharks and silvertip sharks patrol the walls on virtually every dive. Thresher sharks have been documented at the Brothers, though sightings are irregular.

The Wrecks

Two wrecks sit at Big Brother: the Numidia (a British cargo vessel from 1901, at 8–85m) and the Aida (an Egyptian naval supply vessel from 1957, at 32–68m). Both are deep — the Aida's stern sits at 68 meters — but the upper sections of the Numidia (8–30m) are accessible and heavily colonised.

Practical Info

• Depth: 15–40m (reef dives); deeper for wreck sections
• Difficulty: Advanced — remote location, strong current, significant depth, required liveaboard logistics
• Access: Liveaboard from Marsa Alam (overnight); no day-trip access
• Best season: May–November for oceanic whitetips; summer for hammerheads
• Marine life: Oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerheads, grey reef sharks, silvertip sharks, thresher sharks