Question 1

How deep is Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

The dive starts at the reef edge around 12 to 15 m, then follows a plateau that sits at roughly 20 to 25 m and slopes out to about 35 m. At the end of the plateau the ground turns into a vertical wall that drops well past recreational limits. Most operators work it in the 12 to 40 m band, and depth creep along the sloping plateau is the thing to watch.

Question 2

Is Abu Ramada North suitable for beginners?

Accepted Answer

Most sources say no. Funny Divers and Divers Hurghada both describe strong current on an exposed tip and ask for experience beyond entry level, and Scuba World Divers rates it advanced and names drift, wall and deep skills. One Hurghada operator, DiveRED, does list it as an 18 m beginner site, but that is a minority view against three. Treat it as an AOW-level drift.

Question 3

How do you get to Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

It is a day-boat dive, about 75 to 80 minutes from central Hurghada and 20 to 25 minutes from Makadi Bay. If the sea allows, the boat moors on the buoy in the halg, a neck in the reef on the east side, and the dive is run out and back. If it is too rough to moor, the boat drops you at the north end and follows for a one-way drift.

Question 4

Is there current at Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

Usually, and it is the main reason the site is run as a one-way drift. The tip juts into open water, so it catches whatever is moving; the flow around Abu Ramada generally sets north to south, which is the direction the drift is normally run along the east wall. Divers Hurghada describes the currents as very strong and says the site is drifted whenever the boat cannot hold the mooring.

Question 5

What is the chimney at Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

It is a vertical swim-through at the point where the plateau ends and the wall begins, running roughly from 30 m up to 24 m. Funny Divers describes it as a chimney; Divers Hurghada logs the same feature as a cave at about 31 m. Inside it, glassfish and sweepers hold in the shelter, and a large grouper is sometimes sitting there waiting on them.

Question 6

What will I see at Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

Off the wall, operators report barracuda schools, bigeye trevally and yellowfin tuna hunting fusiliers, plus reef sharks and eagle rays, which have been reported on the plateau in groups of up to twelve. Turtles graze the soft coral on the plateau and the wall carries gorgonian sea fans. On the reef, recorded species include giant and yellow-edged morays, blackspotted sweetlips, Red Sea bannerfish, sea goldies, lionfish, crocodile fish and blue-spotted ribbontail rays.

Question 7

Can you snorkel Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

Not sensibly. The reef edge starts at 12 to 15 m and immediately runs out to a plateau and a wall, so there is nothing shallow to look at, and the exposed tip carries current that a snorkeller cannot hold against. Boats running the Abu Ramada programme put snorkellers on Gota Abu Ramada, the shallow Aquarium reef nearby, which sits in about 12 to 15 m of water.

Question 8

Do boats anchor at Abu Ramada North?

Accepted Answer

They should not. HEPCA names Abu Ramada North among the first dive sites it fitted with mooring buoys precisely to stop boats anchoring on the coral, and its buoy network now covers the Hurghada offshore group including Giftun, Abu Ramada and Magawish. If it is too rough to pick up the buoy, the correct answer is a drift with the boat following, not an anchor on the reef.

Species	How often	Records
Gymnothorax javanicus	occasional	21
Pseudanthias squamipinnis	occasional	12
Pterois miles	occasional	9
Heniochus intermedius	occasional	6
Amphiprion bicinctus	occasional	6
Stenopus hispidus	occasional	5
Epibulus insidiator	occasional	5
Plectorhinchus gaterinus	occasional	5
Arothron diadematus	rare	4
Fistularia commersonii	rare	4
Taeniura lymma	rare	4
Arothron hispidus	rare	4
Heterocentrotus mamillatus	rare	4
Paracirrhites forsteri	rare	4
Pomacentrus sulfureus	rare	4
Priacanthus hamrur	rare	4
Chaetodon semilarvatus	rare	4
Cheilinus lunulatus	rare	4
Cheilinus undulatus	rare	4
Chromodoris quadricolor	rare	4
Abudefduf sexfasciatus	rare	3
Canthigaster cyanospilota	rare	3
Chaetodon fasciatus	rare	3
Cyclichthys spilostylus	rare	3
Gymnothorax flavimarginatus	rare	3
Myripristis murdjan	rare	3
Papilloculiceps longiceps	rare	3
Scarus ferrugineus	rare	3
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	3
Chaetodon austriacus	rare	3
Chaetodon paucifasciatus	rare	2
Scarus fuscopurpureus	rare	2
Gomophia egyptiaca	rare	2
Aluterus scriptus	rare	2
Torpedo panthera	rare	2
Tripneustes gratilla	rare	2
Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) purpurea	rare	2
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	2
Trapezia bidentata	rare	2
Zebrasoma desjardinii	rare	2
Acanthurus sohal	rare	2
Arothron stellatus	rare	2
Chlorurus sordidus	rare	2
Chlorurus gibbus	rare	2
Pardachirus marmoratus	rare	2
Pteria aegyptiaca	rare	2
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis	rare	2
Asthenosoma marisrubri	rare	2
Cheilinus quinquecinctus	rare	2
Gymnothorax griseus	rare	2
Clathria (Clathria) arbuscula	rare	1
Siganus luridus	rare	1
Tridacna maxima	rare	1
Diodon hystrix	rare	1
Trapezia digitalis	rare	1
Linckia multifora	rare	1
Pedum spondyloideum	rare	1
Pseudocheilinus evanidus	rare	1
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia	rare	1
Tridacna squamosa	rare	1

Abu Ramada North

Abu Ramada North

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Rules and permits

Season

Conditions

Questions & answers

Life recorded at Abu Ramada North

Nearby sites in Giftun Islands

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