Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib · Egypt · Reef · Pinnacle
Sharm Salman
Coral-covered blocks to 30 m, half an hour south of Port Ghalib
Area photo: David Sanford · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sharm Salman is a boat dive about 30 minutes south of Port Ghalib, a group of coral blocks overgrown with hard and soft corals in water to 30 metres. It is a block-hopping reef dive rather than a wall or a drift: each block is circled in turn, and the depth is set by how far down the base of the blocks you choose to go.
Also known as Halg Salaman.
Where it is and how deep
25.5004° N, 34.6687° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is several separate blocks standing on the bottom, each overgrown with hard and soft corals, and the dive is a tour of them. Drop to the depth you have planned, with 30 metres as the maximum, and circle the first block at its base before moving to the next, so the deepest part of the dive is done early.
As gas and no-stop time come down, move up the blocks rather than along them: the coral cover runs to the tops, and finishing high on a block puts you close to the boat for the ascent. Agree with the guide which block you will finish on, since the group can string out between them.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib: Diving runs all year; early autumn has the warmest sea without the August crowds.
Sources
- Sharm Salman — Scubago
More dive sites in Marsa Alam & Port Ghalib
Reef
Shallow reef to 15-20 m with pinnacles off the southeast
Two resident dugongs graze the seagrass in a bay you wade into
Coral garden
Coral garden to 25 m, a quarter of an hour south of the marina
Best chances of oceanic whitetips run from October to December.
Reef
A horseshoe of reef enclosing a pool of coral gardens
Wall
Starts at a 27 m pinnacle by the drop-off, then drifts shallow
Reef
Canyons cut into a reef table at only 8-10 m
Two resident dugongs grazing a shallow seagrass meadow.
Similar dives elsewhere
Swim-throughs and pinnacles from 10 metres, diveable year-round.
Narrow valleys and deep chasms cut through the reef
An anemone city where hundreds of anemonefish guard their young
Freediving lines to 40 m and a scrap-metal elephant on the sand