Sharm El Sheikh · Egypt · Wall · Reef · Drift
Ras Umm Sid
A column of gorgonian fans standing from 14 to 28 m
Photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
A wall on the headland south of Na'ama Bay, marked above water by the El Fanar lighthouse and below it by the largest gorgonian forest in Sharm. The wall drops to about 18 m and opens onto a plateau that runs roughly 50 m out to the drop-off, with a column of fans standing from 14 to 28 m. It can be dived from the beach or from a boat.
Also known as Ras Um Sid.
Where it is and how deep
27.8478° N, 34.3166° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wall reaches from the surface to about 18 m, then flattens into a plateau that extends roughly 50 m before the drop-off. The gorgonians are the reason to be here: the main concentration of fans sits between 18 and 25 m, and one column of them stands from 14 m down to 28 m on the face. Depth on the site ranges from 15 to 40 m, and the reef below the plateau keeps going well past that.
Along the wall there is a school of chevron barracuda and a lot of batfish hovering off the face. Scorpion fish sit camouflaged in the coral, blue-spotted stingrays rest on the sandy patches of the plateau, and snappers and nudibranchs fill in the rest of it. Napoleon fish and eagle rays are the larger animals that turn up on this stretch of reef.
Current is the thing to plan around. It tends to whip divers around the corner of the headland, and occasionally pushes them out over the plateau, which is a long swim back to the exit. Since the reef is reachable from the beach below the El Fanar lighthouse as well as by boat, it is easy to end a dive well away from where you meant to leave the water.
Marine life and season
- Barracuda
- Napoleon wrasse
- Eagle rays
- Stingrays
- Nudibranchs
| 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 Sharm El Sheikh: Hammerhead sightings at Tiran peak June–September; winter winds can make Tiran crossings choppier.
Know before you go
- The current whips around the corner of the headland and can push divers out over the plateau, well away from the exit point.
Photos from Ras Umm Sid
Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
giovanni zagaria · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dive videos
Diving Ras um Sid · John Bracewell on YouTube
Night dive at Ras Um Sid, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Red Sea · Kopytsya Bunch on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can you dive Ras Umm Sid from shore?+
Yes. The site is south of Na'ama Bay next to the Temple dive site, and the El Fanar lighthouse headland gives access to the reef from the beach. Day boats also run here, which is the usual option when the current is up.
Sources
- Ras Um Sid dive site — PADI
- Ras Umm Sid - Sharm El Sheikh — Camel Dive Club & Hotel
- Ras Um Sid dive site — Circle Divers
- Sharm El Sheikh Diving & Dive Sites — Emperor Divers
Photo credits
- El Fanar lighthouse tower standing on the cliff edge above Ras Umm Sid. by Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Rocky headland and wooden jetty at the Ras Umm Sid shore entry point. by Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Waves breaking over the rocky reef point at Ras Umm Sid. by giovanni zagaria, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Sharm El Sheikh
Reef
Anemones holding a permanent population of anemonefish
Reef
The freighter Loullia aground on the reef since 1981
Reef
Two enormous caves filled with shoaling glassfish
Scalloped hammerheads off the back of the reef in late summer
A 1984 freighter broken up in 10 to 12 m of water
Lagoon
Shallow hard coral lagoon on the west side of Tiran Island
Wreck
A 175 m bulk carrier aground off Nabq since 1996
Coral blocks from 2 to 40 m on a sea-grass bottom
Similar dives elsewhere
Cousteau's diving-saucer hangar still on the sand at 13 m
An open-top cave in the northwest wall of a limestone island
Two plateaus on the Red Sea's only atoll, hammerheads at 45 m
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Hook into the plateau lip and let the sharks stack up off the edge