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A small black fish with two thin tentacles over its eyes peers out of a hole in pale reef rock flecked with red and yellow — Abu Lou Lou, Nuweiba

Nuweiba · Egypt · Reef · Muck & macro

Abu Lou Lou

Green turtles grazing the seagrass above a reef of cleaning stations

Photo: prilfish from Vienna, Austria · CC BY 2.0

Abu Lou Lou is the house reef of the Hilton at Nuweiba, a shore dive that pairs a seagrass bed in the shallows with a coral reef below. The whole reef works as a chain of cleaning stations that draws underwater photographers back year after year, and the seagrass hides ghost pipefish, pygmy pipehorses and seahorses.

Also known as Abou Lou Lou, Abu Lou Lou House Reef.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Abu Lou Lou: typical dive 5–26 m (15–85 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit5 m26 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

28.9776° N, 34.6760° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The dive starts in seagrass in the shallows, where green turtles often feed. The grass is the place to search slowly for ghost pipefish, pygmy pipehorses and seahorses before moving out to the reef.

The coral reef runs from 5 m down to 26 m (16 to 85 ft), and much of it acts as a series of cleaning stations where cleaner shrimps work over passing fish. Lionfish are common, and stonefish, scorpionfish and several species of frogfish sit among the coral.

Marine life and season

  • Sea turtles
  • Macro critters
  • Frogfish
Month-by-month season rating for Abu Lou Lou
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodGoodGoodPrimePrimeGoodGoodPrimePrimePrimeGood

Season follows Nuweiba: Diving runs all year; May-June and September-November are the best months, though July to October is very hot ashore.

Dive videos

Abou Lou Lou Reef · Roger Eve on YouTube

Questions divers ask

Is Abu Lou Lou in Nuweiba a shore dive?+

Yes. Divers walk in from the beach by the Hilton Hotel, cross the seagrass shallows and reach a reef that runs from 5 m to 26 m.

Sources

  1. Scuba Diving Nuweiba, Egypt — My Scuba Diving Gear Guide
  2. Abou Lou Lou - Nuweiba — Underwater Photography Guide
  3. Nuweiba — X-Ray Mag
  4. Hilton Nuweiba Coral Resort — OpenStreetMap

Photo credits

More dive sites in Nuweiba

Artificial reef

Pipeline

Large jacks and snappers queueing at cleaning stations on the pipe ends

to 20 mbeginner

Reef

Ras Mumlah North

Enormous boulders scattered among broad table corals

10–25 mintermediate

Reef

Ras Shaitan

Narrow valleys and deep chasms cut through the reef

10–30 m · max 40 mintermediate

Artificial reef

The Sinkers

A sunken mooring buoy wrapped in soft corals and circled by fusiliers

8–35 madvanced

Similar dives elsewhere

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Bannerfish Bay

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