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El Gilwa
Egypt · reef · intermediate
2–30 mintermediateOWboat entry
El Gilwa
The broken side of Siyul island: coral blocks and pinnacles standing on sand, with three moorings so the dive can be replanned around whichever way the current is running.
Max depth2–30 m
Required levelintermediate
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
El Gilwa, also written El Gelwa, is a second dive on the same island as Siyoul Kebir, about 800 m from that pin on the island's western and southern side. It is not a separate reef and not a wreck site: the four Abu Nuhas wrecks lie roughly 5 km northeast and none of the sources we read associates them with this pin. What makes El Gilwa its own dive rather than a repeat of the island's main reef is that the reef here is not continuous. It breaks up into large coral blocks and pinnacles standing on open sand, which is the point of the dive.
Three mooring lines serve the site, and Dive Trek says plainly that the guide picks one according to the dive planned that day. The current usually sets from the east, so the standard run goes with it. Swiss Wellness Dive Club describes the alternative from the mooring: head west into the coral garden, adjust north at the first pinnacle, follow the next two which lie in a straight line, then work north over the garden and slightly east back to the main reef and finish shallow, which that operator rates as the best part of the dive. Both describe the site as equally good moored or drifted.
The features people come back for are specific. A few minutes from the mooring, at about 16 m, sits a large coral block carrying hard and soft corals, glassfish, stonefish and cleaner shrimps, and beside it an old fishing cage that often holds a crocodilefish or a scorpionfish. Swiss Wellness reports nudibranchs, glassfish, pufferfish, clownfish and ordinary reef fish across the blocks, with feathertail and eagle rays as the larger sightings; Dive Trek adds turtles and stingrays and lists eagle rays too. Regal Diving, which sells the area as a wall and drift destination, describes the Siyul island sites generally as carrying stingrays and leopard sharks.
The last part of the dive is unusual enough to plan for. On top of the reef, near the surface, are small sand-floored pockets at one to two metres that Dive Trek describes as looking like miniature lagoons, and which its guides use after the safety stop rather than before the dive. Our occurrence records for the pin are consistent with the reef-fish end of the operators' lists: twoband anemonefish, blue-spotted ribbontail rays, grey and giant morays, coral hind, masked puffer, spotbase burrfish, bluecheek and blacktail butterflyfish, and the striped pyjama nudibranch.
- Three moorings, so the dive can be replanned around the direction of the current
- A large coral block at about 16 m with hard and soft corals, glassfish and cleaner shrimps
- An old fishing cage beside that block, often holding a crocodilefish or a scorpionfish
- A line of pinnacles west and north of the mooring, worked as a coral garden
- Sand-floored pockets at one to two metres on top of the reef, dived after the safety stop
Please note before you go
- Current can be strong and one operator warns explicitly that it can catch you out
- The reef shelters the site from waves but not from wind, so the surface can be worse than the dive
- Stonefish and scorpionfish around the coral blocks, including inside the old fishing cage
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Day boat. Swiss Wellness Dive Club puts it about 110 minutes north of El Gouna, and Hurghada boats reach the same island group. There are three mooring lines and the guide chooses one on the day according to the current and the dive planned, so the entry point is not fixed.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Season
No source names a season for this site, so the months are empty. Wind is what decides it: the reef blocks the swell but not the wind, the crossing from El Gouna takes the best part of two hours, and the current has to be read before the guide picks which of the three moorings to use.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentmoderate
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range2–30 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsnot sourced
Coral blocks and pinnacles on sand off an offshore island, with a current that usually sets from the east and is sometimes strong. The moorings sit in the lee of the reef, so the water is protected from waves but not from wind. We found no source giving a visibility figure for this site and have not recorded one.
On current: Current is what the dive is planned around. Dive Trek says it usually sets from the east, which is why the standard profile runs with it, and that the choice between the three moorings depends on the dive planned. Swiss Wellness Dive Club is blunter: there can be strong current here, the reef is protected from waves but not from wind, and it warns that the current can catch you out. Depth is where the two disagree. Swiss Wellness gives an 18 m maximum for the dive as it describes it; Dive Trek publishes 11.2 m average with a 30 m maximum. We have recorded the deeper figure so nobody is surprised by the sand around the blocks, but the dive as both operators describe it is worked between roughly 10 and 18 m, and finishes at one to two metres on top of the reef. Difficulty splits the same way, beginner from Dive Trek against beginner-to-advanced from Swiss Wellness, and we have taken the middle reading because the easy version of this dive depends entirely on the current behaving.
Questions & answers
How deep is El Gilwa?
The two operators that describe it disagree. Swiss Wellness Dive Club gives a maximum of 18 m for the dive as it runs it, while Dive Trek publishes an 11.2 m average with a 30 m maximum. In practice the coral blocks that make up the dive sit around 16 m and the profile finishes at one to two metres on the reef top, so most of the dive is shallow even though the sand around the blocks goes deeper.
Where exactly is El Gilwa?
On the western and southern side of the Siyul island group in the Strait of Gubal, about 800 m from the Siyoul Kebir pin and around 5 km southwest of Shaab Abu Nuhas. Swiss Wellness Dive Club places it roughly 110 minutes north of El Gouna and gives a position just west of the island. It is a separate named dive on the same island as Siyoul Kebir, not a duplicate of it.
Is there a wreck at El Gilwa?
No. The wrecks people associate with this area are the four on Shaab Abu Nuhas, about 5 km northeast: the Giannis D, the Carnatic, the Chrisoula K and the Kimon M. No source we read puts a wreck at El Gilwa. The only man-made thing on the site that operators mention is an old fishing cage lying beside one of the coral blocks.
Is there current at El Gilwa?
Often. Dive Trek says the current usually sets from the east and that the dive is run to follow it, and this is why the site has three mooring lines to choose from. Swiss Wellness Dive Club warns that the current can be strong here and that it can catch you out. The reef shelters the moorings from waves but not from wind.
Can beginners dive El Gilwa?
On a calm day, yes. Dive Trek rates the site beginner and Swiss Wellness Dive Club rates it beginner to advanced, and both describe the same easy profile between the coral blocks. We have rated it intermediate because the easy version depends entirely on the current, which both operators warn can be strong, and because the site is a long boat ride from shore.
What will I see at El Gilwa?
Coral blocks and pinnacles carrying hard and soft corals, glassfish, nudibranchs, clownfish, pufferfish and ordinary reef fish, with stonefish and a crocodilefish or scorpionfish usually somewhere around the old fishing cage. Both operators list rays as the bigger sightings: feathertail stingrays and eagle rays, with turtles reported as well. Our own records for this pin add blue-spotted ribbontail rays, grey and giant morays and coral hind.
Can you snorkel at El Gilwa?
From the boat, yes, and the reef top is worth it: Dive Trek describes small sand-floored pockets at one to two metres that look like miniature lagoons and uses them after the safety stop. You still have to get there on a day boat, and the site can carry strong current, so it is snorkelling under the boat's eye rather than an independent swim.
How is El Gilwa different from Siyoul Kebir?
Siyoul Kebir is the island's main reef, with a sheer wall on the north side and a plateau running east and south. El Gilwa is the broken side of the same island: the reef is not continuous there, and the dive is spent among large coral blocks and pinnacles standing on open sand. El Gilwa also has three moorings, so the entry point changes with the current.
Life recorded at El Gilwa
60 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmaoccasional · 6 recordsGymnothorax javanicusrare · 3 records
Amphiprion bicinctusoccasional · 12 records
Coris aygulaoccasional · 7 records
Gymnothorax griseusrare · 4 records
Canthigaster cyanospilotarare · 4 records
All 60 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 12 |
| Coris aygula | occasional | 7 |
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 6 |
| Gymnothorax griseus | rare | 4 |
| Canthigaster cyanospilota | rare | 4 |
| Priacanthus hamrur | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | rare | 4 |
| Chromodoris quadricolor | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | rare | 4 |
| Paracheilinus octotaenia | rare | 4 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 4 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | rare | 3 |
| Scarus fuscopurpureus | rare | 3 |
| Scolopsis ghanam | rare | 3 |
| Sufflamen albicaudatum | rare | 3 |
| Synodus dermatogenys | rare | 3 |
| Variola louti | rare | 3 |
| Bodianus anthioides | rare | 3 |
| Caesio striata | rare | 3 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | rare | 3 |
| Cheilodipterus macrodon | rare | 3 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | rare | 3 |
| Abudefduf sexfasciatus | rare | 3 |
| Heniochus intermedius | rare | 3 |
| Hologymnosus annulatus | rare | 3 |
| Koumansetta hoesei | rare | 3 |
| Siganus rivulatus | rare | 3 |
| Pterois miles | rare | 2 |
| Bohadschia vitiensis | rare | 2 |
| Neoniphon sammara | rare | 2 |
| Alticus magnusi | rare | 2 |
| Cephalopholis argus | rare | 2 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | rare | 2 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | rare | 2 |
| Cheilinus abudjubbe | rare | 2 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | rare | 2 |
| Cheilio inermis | rare | 2 |
| Chromis flavaxilla | rare | 2 |
| Cyclichthys spilostylus | rare | 2 |
| Dascyllus trimaculatus | rare | 2 |
| Epinephelus tauvina | rare | 2 |
| Pomacanthus maculosus | rare | 2 |
| Sargocentron caudimaculatum | rare | 2 |
| Sargocentron diadema | rare | 2 |
| Siganus stellatus | rare | 2 |
| Stichopus pseudohorrens | rare | 2 |
| Arothron diadematus | rare | 2 |
| Aethaloperca rogaa | rare | 2 |
| Gymnothorax flavimarginatus | rare | 2 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | rare | 2 |
| Myrichthys maculosus | rare | 2 |
| Lethrinus nebulosus | rare | 1 |
| Coenobita scaevola | rare | 1 |
| Octopus cyanea | rare | 1 |
| Pedum spondyloideum | rare | 1 |
| Phyllidia varicosa | rare | 1 |
| Synodus variegatus | rare | 1 |
| Grammistes sexlineatus | rare | 1 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | rare | 1 |
| Chlidichthys auratus | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in Abu Nuhas
Explore all sitesSiyoul Kebir0.8 km
Abu NuhasThe reef around Big Siyul island: a sheer north wall that runs into a plateau east and south, dived as a drift when the north current allows and from a mooring when it does not.
Siyoul Soraya2.1 km
Abu NuhasA small island in the Strait of Gubal with a disproportionately large reef and a lagoon you can enter through a channel.
Siyoul Lagoon2.3 km
Abu NuhasThe sheltered north end of the Small Siyul reef in the Gubal Strait, where the boat moors behind the reef and the dive runs over sand and coral blocks.
Blind Reef2.5 km
Abu NuhasA Strait of Gubal reef entry we could not verify: no published description of this site under this name.
Umm Usk5.2 km
Abu NuhasA horseshoe reef in the Strait of Gubal whose sheltered lagoon is a safari-boat overnight mooring, which is why most people who dive it do so at night.
Giannis D, wreck5.5 km
Abu NuhasA Greek freighter broken in three on Abu Nuhas, whose stern and engine room sit canted at 45 degrees and disorient everyone who enters.
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