Hamata & Wadi Lahami · Egypt · Reef · Cave & cavern
Shaab Camelia
Coral blocks and small caves over sand at 18 m
Area photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 2.0
Shaab Camelia is the southern half of a two-reef trip, dived together with Shaab Bango on the northern reef. It is built of coral blocks with small caves worked into them, standing on a sandy bottom at a maximum of 18 m. That makes it a shallow, straightforward reef dive that the boat covers as one half of a single outing.
Where it is and how deep
24.2272° N, 35.4267° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Shaab Camelia is dived as one half of a trip that also takes in Shaab Bango on the northern reef, so it usually comes up as one dive of a pair rather than a destination in itself. The reef is coral blocks standing on sand, with a maximum depth of 18 m, which keeps the whole thing inside an unhurried profile and leaves the route open to whatever the guide fancies.
The blocks are what you navigate by. They carry small caves - openings worked into the coral rather than a system to penetrate - and the sand between them gives a clear line back to where you started. With the bottom at 18 m there is nothing to plan around but gas, so the dive tends to be spent slowly, working block to block and looking into the gaps.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Hamata & Wadi Lahami: May to October is the calm window, with much less wind; diving runs all year, but sea state is wind-driven and can reroute a day.
Sources
- Shaab Camelia - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Hamata & Wadi Lahami
Pinnacle
Six coral towers rising from 22 m to the surface
The Fury Shoals' longest reef, with a resident spinner-dolphin pod
A walk-in reef with a 10-minute block and a turtle seagrass meadow
Coral garden
A west side packed with hard- and soft-coral blocks
Pinnacle
An anemone field from 2 m down to the bottom at 17 m
An anemone city at 12 m, on a reef that runs down to 40 m
Reef
A large coral garden on the west side, 17 m at its deepest
Reef
A walkable island with a wall at about 24 m
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