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Liveaboard Diving in The Brothers
What to Expect on a Liveaboard to The Brothers
Liveaboards to The Brothers are the only way to visit these reefs due to their remote location. The two islands, Big Brother and Little Brother or El Akhawein as they are known locally, lie less than a mile apart, around 67 km/ 40 miles from the coast at Al-Qusayr. For those more familiar with the Sharm el Sheikh area, that is around 200 km/ 125 miles South of the Ras Mohammed National Park.
Both islands are tiny when viewed above water; the tear-shaped little brother has only a few rocks on its flat surface. Big Brother is made much more obvious only by the 30-meter-high lighthouse that was put there by the British in the late 19th Century as a warning as to what lay beneath. However, the lighthouse was not enough to save the two ships, the Numidia and Aida, which were wrecked, one directly beneath the lighthouse!
Underwater, the Brothers are much larger; Little Brother has a few meters of shallows and a huge drop-off into the blue. Big Brother drops straight down from the side of the island; the walls on both islands are covered in soft and hard coral. These reefs are home to huge Napoleon wrasse, barracuda, and hordes of reef fish. There is also a chance to see sharks with oceanic whitetips, grey reef sharks, and hammerheads hanging around. Numerous Red Sea dive liveaboards will offer a visit to The Brothers in their itineraries.
Daily Schedule (example)
Morning - A dawn dive is normally offered before breakfast with a light snack and a briefing around 6 am before heading to the dive deck to prepare. These dives are best on Nitrox, especially since there will be four or more dives daily.
The divers will be dropped and picked up on the dive site by small tender boats with a small surface or underwater swim each way. The conditions can be quite rough on the surface, so a negative entry is best if possible. After returning to the boat for a proper breakfast and a rest, there will be a second dive before lunch.
Afternoon - After lunch, in the afternoon, there will be two more dives, likely to the shallower areas of the reef. Unfortunately, there will not be night dives at The Brothers as they are not allowed inside the marine park area for conservation and safety reasons. The Brothers' currents and surface conditions can be rough, so it isn’t the best for night diving.
The Brothers Underwater
The Brothers have long been known to be among the best dive sites in the Red Sea. The tear-shaped Little Brother is a wall dive with sheer drops on all sides. It is a feast for the eyes with gorgonias and fantastic, colorful, hard, and soft corals.
To the North, there is one exception to the underwater wall topography. A plateau sits at the edge of recreational dive limits, 40 meters/130 ft. down. This is the place to see sharks. Grey reef sharks, silvertips, and even the occasional hammerhead can be seen coming out from the blue.
Big Brother is only 1km away from Little Brother and is one of the best places to see oceanic whitetips, great hammerheads, and the more common reef sharks.
In addition to the big fish, Big Brother has two shipwrecks sitting to the North, ironically just beneath the lighthouse. Lying stem to stern on the sloping walls of the island, Numidia is the larger of the two. The wreck starts at 8 meters/26 ft. with the stem of the boat, but the ship's main body starts around 20 meters/65 ft. The Stern is around 80 meters/260 ft., allowing technical divers to explore an area inaccessible to most other visitors.
The smaller Aida also provides a dive for recreational and technical divers starting shallow and reaching 60 meters/196 ft. Both wrecks are covered in corals and fish and make fantastic dives, although divers should be aware that the currents on both wrecks can be severe.
Top Tips for the Brothers
- The currents here are very strong, and with very deep waters on every side, a safety stop on the slightly sheltered shallow reef is a wise move.
- A depth alarm on your computer is a good idea, given the tremendous drop-offs and 30-meter-plus (100-feet) visibility.
- Plentiful thermal protection is a good idea since the currents here make for some serious thermoclines.
Getting to The Brothers
Only accessible by diving from a liveaboard the Brothers are an overnight sail from land. Egyptian liveaboards depart from either Hurghada or Marsa Alam; some depart from one and disembark at the other, the advantage being less time spent sailing back, so more time diving. Those departing Marsa Alam are typically part of an itinerary that also takes in Daedalus and Elphinstone reefs. Hurghada to Marsa Alam itineraries on the other hand often visit the Northern wrecks before heading down to The Brothers.
Both Hurghada and Marsa Alam have their own airports close to the departure ports offering international flights from mainland Europe and connections further afield. It is worth noting that transfer between the two resorts is around 4 hours and can involve an extra charge.
The Brothers Diving Reviews
- 9.0 Superb
- 409 Verified Reviews
Poor visibility not much to see.
Diving The Brothers in April on the Blue Melody
Heavy currents and rough sea made this sight a little challenging.
Diving The Brothers in April on the Blue Melody
Great, we dove with dolphins, hammerheads and a manta!
Diving The Brothers in May on the Emperor Elite
Amazing reef/blue water diving one of the groups saw a school of hammerheads
Diving The Brothers in May on the Blue Horizon
Nice vis, good reef. Nice coral cover and fish life. Saw hammerheads, reef sharks, dolphins, tuna, pipefish, big sea fans, and more. Good wall diving.
Diving The Brothers in July on the Discovery I
Coral formations and potential to see large marine life.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Blue
Nice coral, lots of small fish, not many big fish
Diving The Brothers in September on the Blue Melody
The wreck off little brother was so incredible.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Tillis
Great experience even though we didn’t see large stuff. The reef is a hot spot for dive boats, but is large enough that you aren’t Al over other divers.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Ghazala Explorer
It was very good Hammerheads
Diving The Brothers in September on the Blue
bad weather but we made it work
Diving The Brothers in October on the Blue Melody
Clear Warm waters. Beautiful corals Great dives
Diving The Brothers in November on the Ghazala Explorer
At Brothers we saw the Hammerheads! It was amazing!
Diving The Brothers in November on the Tillis
Driving to Brothers was great, although we didn’t find any hammerheads
Diving The Brothers in March on the SS Glorious Miss Nouran
Amazing. Colors are incredible. Saw a Manta
Diving The Brothers in April on the SS Serena Dreams
Great dove site. Hammerheads!
Diving The Brothers in May on the Sea Serpent Grand
Good. Heard dolphins in the water and saw them when we were on the surface.
Diving The Brothers in June on the Blue Storm
Not great. Choppy waves, huge current.
Diving The Brothers in August on the Ghazala Explorer
Awesome! Saw a few grey reef sharks and had a great encounter with an oceanic white tip
Diving The Brothers in October on the Nouran
Ok, nothing fantastic but the Numidia wreck was a nice change from shark dives
Diving The Brothers in October on the JP Marine
We saw some wreck and sharks, otherwise it is quite basic diving there. There are better and more wrecks along the Red Sea north route.
Diving The Brothers in December on the Blue Seas
Diving in the brothers is great as usual, we would've hoped for more diving there but local regulations prevented it.
Diving The Brothers in March on the Sea Serpent Contessa
Visibility was unfortunately poor, so we concentrated more on the reef. Beautiful coral garden at the end in Big Brother, and nice soft corals and small caves in Little Brother.
Diving The Brothers in April on the JP Marine
Not lucky days, bad visibility
Diving The Brothers in April on the JP Marine
Big Brother had a beautiful reef. Little Brother huge beautiful grogonian corals.
Diving The Brothers in April on the Blue Horizon
Very exciting ! Beautiful sharks ❤️
Diving The Brothers in April on the Sea Serpent Grand
A great experience, but the water visibility was not the best when I was there. The sharks were also not present because of the season. Will have to go back there in a better season
Diving The Brothers in April on the JP Marine
Cool with pelagic Manta ray
Diving The Brothers in April on the Blue
Good, no big animals but stunning
Diving The Brothers in April on the Sea Serpent Grand
Big Brother was disapointing, but, Small Brother was interesting, both sharks and reef.
Diving The Brothers in May on the Sea Serpent Grand
I was expecting more wildlife, but the corals and small fishes were really beautiful
Diving The Brothers in May on the JP Marine
Below expectations. Only highlight was two mantas far away.
Diving The Brothers in May on the JP Marine
The current was quite strong. The wreck was stunning, so were the corals which are very well intact. Really nice spot.
Diving The Brothers in May on the Emperor Elite
Excellent dive site, a little current but manageable Lots of coral and fish to see
Diving The Brothers in May on the Discovery II
nice, but bit below expectations in regards of sealife to be seen, other than that: Dive-site chosen very attractive
Diving The Brothers in June on the Tillis
The conditions were challenging but excellent
Diving The Brothers in June on the JP Marine
It was class, some big seas added to the excitement.
Diving The Brothers in July on the Sea Serpent Grand
Excellent, fantastic places! Just one more boat around, lucky!
Diving The Brothers in July on the Blue Melody
It was so good, we had great visibility and saw few sharks
Diving The Brothers in July on the Sea Serpent Contessa
Very deep, the less experienced divers of the group held the group back which lead to short bottom times The strong currents made it dangerous for such large groups
Diving The Brothers in August on the Discovery I
Ok, we were unlucky with hammerheads though.
Diving The Brothers in August on the Discovery I
Unfortunately we were more lucky above water with seeing a whale shark and various longimanus than underwater, where the coral garden and the wrecks remained the highlights but we didn't see much big fish around
Diving The Brothers in September on the Sea Serpent Grand
Big Brothers was a busy site but little brothers we had no others boats.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Sea Serpent Grand
Little Brother was amazing. Huuuge reef with amazing amounts of coral. Shame we only shaw one shark
Diving The Brothers in September on the Discovery II
Good, but unfortunately we only saw 5 hammer shark but, but an oceanic whitetip, which was a impressive experience.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Tillis
We saw hammerhead sharks and many many fish!
Diving The Brothers in September on the Andromeda
We saw hammerhead sharks and many many fish!
Diving The Brothers in September on the Andromeda
Very good diving, waiting in the blue for hammerheads.
Diving The Brothers in October on the Discovery I
Not great - too many divers and basically waited on the blue at 30m with a hundred other divers to see a shark.
Diving The Brothers in October on the Discovery II
Diving was ok. At the time no sharks around.
Diving The Brothers in October on the Discovery II
The weather resulted in large swells that made entry and exit challenging
Diving The Brothers in October on the Blue Melody
Amazing. Had to skip Little brother island dive because of the strong current but the big brother dive was great. Expect to see Longimanus (oceanic white tip shark)
Diving The Brothers in October on the Blue Seas
Scary! Strong currents at times
Diving The Brothers in October on the Ghazala Explorer
Great! Strong currents so didn’t get to see wrecks but corals were amazing
Diving The Brothers in October on the Discovery II
Beautiful reefs, full of life.
Diving The Brothers in November on the Ghazala Explorer
Great! Aida II wreck was challenging and a bit chaotic due to other divers behaviour (not following the route) but enjoyable nonetheless!
Diving The Brothers in November on the JP Marine
A bit of current on this dive site and crowded dive site.
Diving The Brothers in November on the Discovery II
Breathtaking! Shark, shark, shark
Diving The Brothers in November on the Ghazala Explorer
der Taucher sollte etwas Erfahrung haben.
Diving The Brothers in November on the Discovery II
Deep dives, no sharks that day.
Diving The Brothers in November on the Sea Serpent Contessa
Guter Reef. Hatten 3 TG dort. Erst am kleinen Brother 2 TG, danach am großen Brother 1 TG. Als Highlight gab es nur einen Seidenhai, der's aber von seiner Größe mit uns aufnahmen konnte. Im übrigen schöne Korallen und viel Kleinkram.
Diving The Brothers in March on the Sea Story
Great reef, but not shark season and the visibility wasn’t the best.
Diving The Brothers in March on the Discovery II
It was great overall, we got tailed by a whit-tip shark in the zodiac but couldn't spot any underneath. Another group had an encounter with a tiger shark.
Diving The Brothers in March on the Sea Story
It was an amazing spot. In my opinion one of the best of this trip. Plenty of opportunities to spots big pelagicus. I had the opportunity to have a close encounter with a thresher shark.
Diving The Brothers in March on the Ghazala Explorer
Great dive site, an opportunity to see a couple of wrecks and really beautiful reef!
Diving The Brothers in March on the JP Marine
Lotsa current, but then "current is life". Still got to meet the Thresher Shark, other team had the Hammerhead. Great!
Diving The Brothers in March on the Discovery II
Really nice dive site but the wrong time of year to see the big stuff; we saw one shark in three dives.
Diving The Brothers in April on the Discovery II
Big nemo stayed away but great unspoiled corals with more life than a zoo!
Diving The Brothers in April on the Sea Story
Good. No sharks, water pretty cold. No currents
Diving The Brothers in April on the Discovery II
Very nice, not to much current.
Diving The Brothers in April on the Tillis
godd visibility, nice and calm waters
Diving The Brothers in April on the MY Odyssey Liveaboard
It was two dives at Little Brother and one dive at Big Brother. During the dives at Little Brother we saw sharks.
Diving The Brothers in April on the Thunderbird
Hammerhai und Mantas gesehen :)
Diving The Brothers in April on the Discovery II
Perfect to see big things but the reef was also nice, in case you can't find sharls.
Diving The Brothers in May on the Tillis
Crowded lots of boats at the dive site, nice corals but no pelagics around.
Diving The Brothers in May on the Discovery II
Was just ok, we were lucky to have good weather but now sign of Longimanus / Oceanic white tip.. disappointed.
Diving The Brothers in May on the Sea Serpent Contessa
Fantastic, walls of corals and fish
Diving The Brothers in June on the Discovery II
Good wall and saw hammerheads
Diving The Brothers in June on the Sunshine
Dives were great. I wish we spent more time there to do a 3rd dive at the rec site. Did not see any sharks but the coral reef and other marine life were incredible.
Diving The Brothers in June on the Discovery II
Love these reefs. HUGE walls of corals
Diving The Brothers in June on the Discovery II
Fantastic reef, lot of vibrant soft and hard coral
Diving The Brothers in June on the SS Glorious Miss Nouran
Superb wrecks. Beautiful reefs.
Diving The Brothers in June on the Sea Serpent Excellence
Great hammerheads and longimanus
Diving The Brothers in June on the Blue
easy dive with tresher sharks and barracudas
Diving The Brothers in July on the Sea Serpent Contessa
Strong current, and required deep diving (below 30m). Corals at shallower depths.
Diving The Brothers in July on the Sea Serpent Contessa
Highlights of this cruise ; into underwater wild
Diving The Brothers in July on the Hammerhead II
We had rough conditions so we could not use the zodiac, but it was still very good. Little Brother had extremey beautiful corals and we saw one grey reefshark.
Diving The Brothers in August on the Discovery II
good marine life to see especially on the walls but challenging, fast & really unpredictable currents. Would have liked a specific dive on the wreck if I did it again as lots to see.
Diving The Brothers in September on the JP Marine
We have really enjoyed the Brothers and had a couple of sightings of hammerhead sharks.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Ocean Lovers
Nice ! Reef sharks, beautiful dive sites
Diving The Brothers in September on the Tillis
Beautiful coral, some decent current, grey reef sharks.
Diving The Brothers in September on the Blue Seas
Great diving, though conditions a little rough
Diving The Brothers in September on the Sea Serpent Grand
Fantastic visibility and amazing colours
Diving The Brothers in September on the Discovery I
It was an amazing experience, although it was really crowded and a bumpy zodiac ride to the dive spots.
Diving The Brothers in October on the Serenity
Only sporadic presence of hammerheads, but treasure sharks and longimanus
Diving The Brothers in October on the Sunshine
Many sharks in brothers island
Diving The Brothers in November on the Sea Serpent Excellence
Beautiful reefs - unfortunately not so lucky in regards to encountering sharks
Diving The Brothers in November on the Discovery I
This I found to be one of the dives of the trip. Love the wreck Nomidea Entered the wreck 30 m. Lots of fish live around the rack, sharks, tunes, jacks, big Napoleon
Diving The Brothers in November on the CU
Challenging but we were gratified by seeing some of the bigger sea creatures
Diving The Brothers in December on the Ocean Lovers
Currents, open Blue, Sharks
Diving The Brothers in January on the Tillis