The Red Sea coast

The only feature of its kind

Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay–Mukkawar Island were inscribed together by UNESCO in 2016 — the first and, so far, the only World Heritage site in the Red Sea. UNESCO describes Sanganeb as the only atoll-like feature in the Red Sea. It is not an atoll in the strict geological sense, which is a distinction worth keeping: it is an isolated coral structure rising from deep water, 25 km offshore, surrounded by depths of around 800 metres.

What is down there

The reef holds 13 bio-physiographic zones and supports more than 300 species of fish, along with sharks, rays and turtles. Because Sudan's coast has seen very little tourism and very little coastal development, the reefs are in markedly better condition than most in the region. Visibility of forty metres is ordinary rather than exceptional.

Dugongs at Dungonab

Dungonab Bay, about 125 km north of Port Sudan, is a shallower, quieter system of bays, islands and seagrass. It holds a globally significant population of dugongs, along with manta rays and nesting turtles — the reason the bay was inscribed alongside the offshore reef.

The Umbria

In June 1940, on the day Italy entered the war, the crew of the Italian cargo ship Umbria scuttled her in the shallows off Port Sudan rather than let her cargo be seized. She lies on her side in clear, shallow water with her holds still loaded. She is regularly named among the finest wreck dives in the world, and she is reachable in an afternoon.

Suakin

South of Port Sudan stands Suakin, an island port built almost entirely of blocks cut from coral. For centuries it was the Red Sea's principal harbour and the embarkation point for pilgrims to Mecca, until Port Sudan replaced it after 1905. The coral houses, abandoned, are slowly returning to dust — a ruin of extraordinary atmosphere.

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