The breakup of continents and the formation of new oceans by plate tectonics has been a fundamental process on Earth for at least 2.5 billion years and is intimately associated with magmatism and hydrothermal activity. A key (possibly the key) location to study all these processes is the Red Sea, as the Red Sea rift is the type-example of a mid-ocean ridge in a young ocean basin, permitting detailed access in space and time to the evidence of magmatic and hydrothermal processes occurring during and shortly after continental breakup. Another distinctive geological feature of the Red Sea is the presence of extensive evaporites resulting from closure and partial dry-up during Miocene times. Dissolution of evaporites led to the formation of brine pools in some of the deepest basins of the Red Sea Rift: the famous Red Sea Deeps. The unique Red Sea geology defines its history, morphology, and ocean physic, resulting in diverse ecosystems with a high rate of endemism. While the Red Sea's shallow coastal ecosystem, featuring remarkable coral reefs, is relatively well studied, and recognized, the deep Red Sea remains largely unexplored due to a combination of technical and logistic challenges of deep-sea research and the abundant presence of salt glaciers covering a large part of the active rift. Here, we present our last ten years of research on the deepest parts of the Red Sea along the active volcanic rift zone. Bathymetry, geophysical data, and rock chemistry are used to understand the geology of the Red Sea and the timing of continental breakup. With high-resolution AUV data, ROV observations, and sampling, we investigated volcanic processes and discovered for the first time active hydrothermal venting along the entire Red Sea rift. The unique environment of the Red Sea rift forms exceptional habitats that host flourishing microbial ecosystems and benthic fauna that we have only just start to discover and understand.