Sha’ab Samadai/Dolphin House
Nothing beats the amazing sight of playful and curiousdolphins. This is your chance for an unique and unforgettable life-changing experience ofmeeting and snorkelling with dolphins in their natural environment. Sha’ab Samadai, commonlyknown as the Dolphin House is home to a spectacular pod of residential spinner dolphins.Here’s your likely chance to spot the playful and jolly creatures in theirnatural habitat.
Sha’ab Samadai is some 45 minutes sailing from the mainland. It has the status of a‘national park’ since 2004. The reef reaches depthsup to 130 meters. Thevisibility is excellent and ‘interrupted’. Thecurrent is categorized as ‘medium’. Sha’ab Samadai is perfectly suitable for daydiving, drift diving and snorkeling. Wearing a floating jacket is obligatory for snorkelers. The reef is suitable for all levels. Underwaterphotographers and underwater videographers will love it here.
Sha’abs Samadai’s coral landscape consists mainly offire coral, bubble coral, brain coral, rose coral, table coral, mushroom coraland mountain coral.
Thefish you are most likely to spot are the orangespine unicornfish, the almostinevitable ‘clownfish’, the yellow goatfish, the moon grouper, theyellowspotted burrfish, the napoleon wrasse and the giant squirrelfish.
Theresidential pod of dolphins are of course a treat on their own. On the oddoccasion white tip reefs sharks can be seen patrolling the area, as are barracudaand goldbody trevallies.
Youhave to take into account that Sha’ab Samadai is a national park with severerules and extremely strict regulations. The area has been divided into threesections; one for boating and scuba diving, one for snorkelers with mandatoryfloating vests and one for dolphins only. A suggested, the Dolphin House is adelicate mixture of wonderful coral landscapes and riveting reef life. You maywell anticipate majestic pinnacles, interesting swim-throughs and frighteningdrop-offs.
Thelocal conservationist group HEPCA ( the Hurghada Environmental Protection andConservation Association ), closely operating with Blue Ocean, took over themanagement of the Sha’ab Samadai area in February 2013. This secures themonitoring of the site and the enforcement of rules to limit the number ofvisits. At the end of the day, restrictions have been designed to protect theresidential dolphin families and the delicat reef habitat.
It’sin everyone’s interest, both residents, tourists and locals alike, to preservecontinuity of the quality of life of dolphins in a healthy and steadily growingpopulation, enabling all of us to appreciate the beauty and grace of thedolphin now and for many years to come.