Port Sudan is Sudan's principal seaport, a hot, low-lying city on a flat stretch of the Red Sea coast founded by the British in 1906 as the outlet for the railway from Khartoum. For most of the last century it was the country's economic lifeline — cotton, gum arabic, oil and just about everything else moved through the docks here on its way to the world. Since the outbreak of the Sudanese civil war in April 2023, Port Sudan has taken on an unexpected role as a de facto administrative capital for the internationally recognised government, and much of the foreign diplomatic presence that remains in the country is based here. Tourism, never large, has effectively stopped.
When conditions allow, the main attraction is not the town itself — which is utilitarian and sun-baked — but the coral reefs of the Red Sea, which are among the best-preserved in the world and were made famous by Jacques Cousteau's 1960s expeditions. Sanganeb, a coral atoll rising out of deep water about 30 km offshore, is the marquee dive site: near-vertical walls, hammerheads, and an iconic lighthouse. Shaab Rumi, a little further north, is where Cousteau conducted his Conshelf II experiment — the structures of his underwater habitat still sit on the reef at around 10 metres. Further down the coast, Suakin, an Ottoman-era port city built of coral blocks, was once the main harbour on this coast and has been slowly crumbling since the British moved everything to Port Sudan a century ago; its ruined coral-stone buildings are hauntingly beautiful.
This is not an easy place to travel to. When it is open at all, it requires permits, patience, and a local contact. Before the 2023 war it was mostly visited on liveaboard dive boats — check current travel advisories before planning any trip.