Sha'ab Sheer West

Bottom depths on this side of the reef run from 14 m to 30 m, and that spread is what makes the site work for a mixed group: the same drop gives a shallow reef dive and a deeper one, and the plan is set by the certification and the gas in the group rather than by the site. Divers heading deep take the 30 m ground first and step the profile up onto the shallower reef as the dive goes on.

The channel is the decision point. Current there can be strong enough that getting through is close to impossible, and when that is the case the dive is confined to the inside area rather than pushed across. That is not much of a loss — the inside is the sheltered ground and holds the shallow end of the depth range — but it does mean checking the channel before committing to a route that depends on crossing it.