Reef

Umm Gamar

Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Umm Gamar is mother of the moon, and the name is a description rather than a poem: the island at the top of the reef is a thin crescent, and that is the moon it is named for.…

Find a dive center Show on map

Type

Reef

Max depth

N/A

Level

All levels

LocationNorth of Hurghada in open water, about 4.6 km northwest of Shabruhr Umm Gamaar.

ConditionsOpen water, so the site depends on the weather. The northern tip is only reachable when conditions are very good.

Overview

Umm Gamar is mother of the moon, and the name is a description rather than a poem: the island at the top of the reef is a thin crescent, and that is the moon it is named for. It lies north of Hurghada and is dived on the shallow plateau at its south end, where the moorings are. East of the plateau the ground drops away, and following the wall north leads to three pinnacles standing close together, each shot through with chimneys running up toward the surface. Those chimneys are the feature of the site.

Dive plan

The standard route for a first dive here starts on the plateau, runs east to the drop-off and then north along the wall. A short swim against the current reaches the three pinnacles and their chimneys. From there the same current carries the diver back to the corner of the plateau, where three small ergs stand covered in glassfish, and the dive finishes on the plateau among coral heads and reef fish. The east and west sides both make good drifts, and the northern tip holds a coral garden.

What to see

Giant morays are the animal most often photographed here. The pinnacle walls carry spiral wire coral, sulphur leather coral, black sun coral and soft sea fans, with bluecheek butterflyfish and titan triggerfish working over them. Red Sea clownfish hold anemones on the plateau.