The Red Sea Governorate on Monday celebrated the opening of the first three man-made diving sites off the beaches of Hurghada, in coordination with the Red Sea Reserves and the Hurghada Environmental Conservation Association.
The inauguration featured the participation of dozens of Egyptian and foreign divers.
This comes to further develop diving tourism, offering a unique experience that combines history with the marine world.
Diving centers participated in organizing trips to these new areas, made up of 15 industrial vehicles and equipment, in order to protect coral reefs from high diving traffic.
The Director of the Northern Islands Reserve Ahmed Ghallab said that these new diving sites aim to preserve coral reefs in the Red Sea, by sinking old war parts and equipment with history behind them.
The project transforms thereby provides an environment for the development of coral reefs, improving the biological diversity of the Red Sea and thereby boosting the natural stock of fish.
This step aims to preserve Egypt’s coral reefs, which are amongst the most important coral shelters in the world.
The Governor of the Red Sea Amr Hanafy said that establishing these diving sites in specific locations took seven years of careful planning and preparation, in order to prevent harming the environmental system in the long term.
The Ministry of Environment expects to cover the cost of establishing the new sites, and that the first year of the project will generate tourism revenues in foreign currency worth five to ten times the investment value.
