Rocky Island

Not far from Zabargad, just about one nautical mile to the southeast, a tiny island rises from the Red Sea—Rocky Island.   Many reef guides claim that you’re almost guaranteed to see sharks at Rocky Island. Well, hmm, yes, I’ve seen gray reef sharks, silky sharks, manta rays, dolphins, and hammerhead sharks at Rocky before. But I have to be very clear: On one out of every ten dives at Rocky Island, you really do see big fish, but not all the time. In the southern part of the reef, there are many overhangs in the top 10 meters; you should always look for small white-tipped baby reef sharks beneath them. But they don’t really count as big fish.   But The Rock has much more to offer. The reef drops off steeply but is covered in amazing marine life, and reef groupers frolic among the fan corals and gorgonians; the famous long-nosed tufted grouper is also at home here. In the fringing zone, the experienced observer with a keen eye will find a multitude of different nudibranch species, and many a diver finds themselves more captivated by the microcosm of the Rockies than by the search for big fish.