Jeddah, the area around Salhia Beach

Jeddah · Saudi Arabia · Reef · Wall

Salhia Beach

Shore entry onto a 10 m shelf with a coral wall below it

Area photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

A shore dive from Salhia resort on the North Obhur strip, shallow at the start and steep after that. The reef steps through 5 and 7 m before levelling at 10 m, which is the recreational profile, and the coral wall below it carries on past 40 m. Stingrays, squid and the occasional turtle work the shallow water.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Salhia Beach: typical dive 5–10 m (15–33 ft), deepest point 40 m (130 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit5 m10 m40 m maxtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

21.7387° N, 39.0644° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Walk in from the resort beach and drop onto the shallow ground, which steps through 5 and 7 m before it settles at around 10 m. That shelf is the recreational dive and it is worth working slowly: stingrays sit on the sand, squid hang in mid-water, and a turtle turns up in the shallows often enough to be worth watching for. Nothing about this part of the site is demanding, which is why it is dived as ordinary recreational and fun diving.

Beyond the shelf the ground turns into a wall of coral and the depth carries on past 40 m, so the edge is a decision point rather than something to drift over. Deeper down there are schools of fish along the wall and both soft and hard coral on it, but that is deep-training ground and needs planning as its own dive. Recreational divers get the better of the deal by staying on the shelf, following the top of the wall, and coming back to the same beach with plenty of gas left.

Marine life and season

  • Stingrays
  • Squid
  • Sea turtles
Month-by-month season rating for Salhia Beach
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFairFairPrimePrimeGood

Season follows Jeddah: Diveable in any month: winter water near 22C wants a 5 mm suit and hood, and July-September pairs the warmest sea with severe heat ashore.

Know before you go

  • The coral wall drops past 40 m straight off the shallow shelf, so set a maximum depth before you enter and use the 10 m ground as your reference rather than following the slope down.

Questions divers ask

How deep is Salhia Beach?+

The shore-dive profile is 5 to 10 m across a shallow shelf. The wall below it goes past 40 m, which is deep-training ground rather than part of the ordinary dive.

Sources

  1. Salhia Beach - Scubago — Scubago

More dive sites in Jeddah

Wreck

Ann Ann Wreck

Jeddah's biggest wreck, on its side between two reefs since 2022

14–30 mintermediate

Wreck

Chicken Wreck

A cargo ship that hit the reef carrying frozen chicken

10–18 mbeginner

Reef

Coco Beach

Two caves at 3 m, a 5 m platform, and sand at 36 m off one beach

3–36 mintermediate

Coral garden

Coral Gardens 1

Diverse coral between 15 and 20 m, a short boat ride out

15–20 mbeginner

Reef

Crazy Eight

Shallow reef at 7 to 13 m with a drop-off past 60 m alongside

7–13 m · max 60 mintermediate

Reef

Destination Reef

Easy reef averaging 12 m, shared with snorkellers

to 15 mbeginner

Reef

Sol Beach

A 5 m platform off the beach, and diving down to 40 m

5–40 mintermediate

Similar dives elsewhere

Reef

Dolphin Reef

Eilat · Israel

Black Sea bottlenose dolphins that are not trained to perform

to 12 mbeginner

Reef

Dangerous Reef

St John's Reefs · Egypt

Short caverns at 7 m under an overnight mooring

7–30 m · max 100 mintermediate

Reef

Gota Kebir

St John's Reefs · Egypt

Tunnels and fissures cut into an 840 m reef block

15–30 m · max 100 mintermediate