Sanganeb

Sanganeb
Photo by Bram de Bruin.

Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay - Mukkawar Island Marine National Park comprise two pristine marine ecosystems in the Red Sea.

These sites centered around a coral reef are known as excellent diving sites for their clear visibility and high coral diversity. Huge schools of manta rays and sharks make common appearances in these waters. Furthermore, Dungonab Bay has a healthy dugong population.

Community Perspective: the only way to visit discovered so far is by an expensive live-aboard diving cruise.

2 Locations 1 Reviews 4 Ratings 26 Connections 5 Visitors Plaques

Map of Sanganeb

Community Reviews

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Bram de Bruin

Netherlands - 27-Jul-16 -

Sanganeb by Bram de Bruin

I visited this site in 2009 as part of a 2 week diving trip in Sudan on board the Royal Evolution. I won this expensive trip with a website contest.

We did 3 or 4 dives a day for 2 weeks! We got our visa in Port Sudan. From there we visited all the magnificent diving sites of Sudan. At Sanganeb reef we visited the lighthouse and had a chat with the guy who works there. After the visit we stayed 2 days at Sanganeb Reef and did several dives at Sanganeb North and Sanganeb South. Everything you can imagine under water was there!

I dived on many nice places in the world but diving at Sanganeb and the rest of Sudan was really amazing and unforgettable!!

Read more from Bram de Bruin here.

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Site Info

Full Name
Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay - Mukkawar Island Marine National Park
Unesco ID
262
Country
Sudan
Inscribed
2016
Type
Natural
Criteria
7 9 10
Categories
Natural landscape - Marine and Coastal
Link
By ID

Site History

2016 Inscribed

2015 Referred

2014 Incomplete - not examined

1983 Deferred

Bureau session: Deferred until receipt of necessary info

Site Links

Unesco Website
Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay - Mukkawar Island Marine National Park

Locations

The site has 2 locations

Sanganeb: Sanganeb Marine National Park (SMNP)
Sanganeb: Dungonab Bay-Mukkawar Island Marine National Park

Connections

The site has

Constructions
Lighthouses: The lighthouse at Sanganeb Atoll is a historic building and is an important part of Sudan’s maritime heritage. Construction of the modern lighthouse was started in 1950, but there was a structure present at this site from at least 1907. See
Ecology
Coral: Coral reef
Mangroves
Siraneans: Dugong
Turtles and tortoises: home to populations of .. marine turtles (AB ev)
Sharks: home to populations of sharks (AB ev) - Hammerheads
Bird Migrations: The African-Eurasian Flyway
Lagoons: The nominated property and its surrounding area include reef systems (13 different bio-physiographic reef zones in SMNP), atoll, lagoon .. (AB ev)
Fish: Crit X: The whale and manta ray seasonal aggregations in DMNP are unique to the entire Western Indian Ocean Region ... SMNP lies in a regional hotspot for reef fish endemism.
Seagrass beds: "some of the most northerly coral reefs in the world associated with species (including seagrass and mangroves) at the limits of their global range and evolutionary expansion" (OUV)
Flamingos: "Several large and charismatic species were observed including the Goliath heron, spoonbills, flamingos" (2006, see link)
Geography
Marine sites
Atoll: Sanganeb Atoll Marine National Park
Individual People
Cousteau: maiden voyage of the Calypso (Bradt travel guide)
Visited by Nicolas Hulot: Émission 22 : Au pays des pharaons noirs (Soudan, 2003)
Timeline
Holocene: the coral reefs we see along the Red Sea today are primarily Holocene
Trivia
Scuba Dive Liveaboard: See example in link
Visiting conditions
One thousand visitors or fewer: DD : “There is an increasing number of large tourist liveaboard vessels (motor sailing yachts) that have been visiting the site in recent years, most of which originate from Egypt”
Do Not Travel: Sudan fully off-limits
WHS on Other Lists
Ramsar Wetlands: Dongonab Bay-Marsa Waiai
WWF Global 200: Marine, Tropical Coral: (231) Red Sea
Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs): Dungonab-Osief Bays: Western Indian Ocean (ISRA Region 07)
World Heritage Process
Inscribed at third attempt or more: (Def 1983, Ref 2015, Ins 2016)
Ten years or more to inscribe: (1983-2016)
Natural sites filling gaps cited by IUCN: Red Sea corals

Visitors

Community Members have visited.

The Plaque

No plaque has been identified yet for this site.