---
title: Umm Gamar
type: Reef dive site
location: Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt
coordinates: 27.35580062866211, 33.890499114990234
published: 2023-11-25T21:59:56.557Z
updated: 2026-09-06T15:01:53.836Z
tags: Umm Gamar, Reef, Red Sea, Dive site, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/diving/dive-sites/umm-gamar
---

# Umm Gamar

## Quick facts

- **Type:** Reef
- **Location:** Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt
- **Coordinates:** 27.35580062866211, 33.890499114990234
- **Level:** All levels

## 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.

## Location

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

## Conditions

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

## 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.

## Species recorded here (8)

- Black Sun Coral (*Tubastraea micranthus*)
- Bluecheek Butterflyfish (*Chaetodon semilarvatus*)
- Giant Moray (*Gymnothorax javanicus*)
- Red Sea Clownfish (*Amphiprion bicinctus*)
- Soft Sea Fan Coral (*Annella mollis*)
- Spiral Wire Coral (*Cirrhipathes cf. spiralis*)
- Sulphur Leather Coral (*Rhytisma fulvum*)
- Titan Triggerfish (*Balistoides viridescens*)

---

*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/diving/dive-sites/umm-gamar)*
*Updated: September 6, 2026*