SeaLogEgypt · reef · beginner
A capped, walk-in house reef in a protected bay: 5 m of reef top, then a wall.
El Quadim Bay - 'the old one' - is the house reef of the Movenpick Resort El Quseir, a few kilometres north of the town. Entry and exit are from a jetty directly in front of the Extra Divers base at the top of the beach, which makes this a walk-in dive rather than a boat trip; zodiacs with 4-stroke engines run from the same jetty for divers who want to be dropped further along the reef.
The operator describes the reef as dropping from 5 to 13 m and then falling to 100 m or more in places, with smaller and larger caves along it. We have recorded the 5 m reef top but not the 100 m figure as a dive depth: it describes the wall, not a profile anyone plans. The bay is managed for conservation - the number of divers on the reef at once is capped and booking ahead is recommended - and a December 2025 account of winter diving there reports calm conditions, easy entry and visibility often past 25 to 30 m with water at 22 to 25 C.
The species record is a full northern Red Sea reef community rather than anything exotic: sailfin tang, bluespotted ribbontail ray, common lionfish, sohal surgeonfish, giant moray, masked and diagonal butterflyfish, bullethead parrotfish and Forster's hawkfish all appear in quantity, and the commonest record of all is a land hermit crab, which is what a shore-entry bay looks like in occurrence data. The operator adds clownfish, large batfish, seamoth, ghost pipefish and resident morays, with turtles, eagle rays, reef sharks and schooling barracuda and snapper regularly reported and dolphins, whale sharks and mantas as occasional visitors.
Our catalogue holds this bay three times over. 'El Quadim' and 'El Quadim Nord' are 110 m apart and 'El Quadim South' is another 60 m away; all three fall inside the same bay and return the identical OBIS species list, because a 1.5 km occurrence box cannot tell them apart. We have therefore written the same facts to each rather than inventing a difference between them.
Shore entry from a jetty directly in front of the Extra Divers base inside the Movenpick Resort El Quseir, so access runs through the resort. Zodiacs with 4-stroke engines run from the same jetty to reach further along the reef. Full resort dive-centre facilities.
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
The operator caps the number of divers on the reef at any one time and recommends booking in advance. Whether a guide is required in the water is not stated, so we have not recorded an answer.
Dived year round and marketed particularly as a winter destination, with 22-25 C water and long visibility in the winter months. No month-by-month baseline is published for the bay, so no peak is claimed.
A protected bay with calm conditions and an easy jetty entry. Winter reports put visibility often past 25 to 30 m with water at 22 to 25 C. No published current or surge figure exists for the bay itself.
On current: Extra Divers describe the reef as dropping from 5 to 13 m and reaching 100 m or more in places. We have recorded 5 m as the reef top and left depth_max empty rather than record 100 m, which is the wall and not a dive profile; no source publishes a maximum recreational depth for the bay. Winter visibility is reported as often exceeding 25-30 m and we record the conservative 25. No source publishes a current figure, so current_level is left unset - the bay is described as protected and calm.
The operator describes the reef as dropping from 5 to 13 m and then reaching 100 m or more in places. We record 5 m as the reef top and deliberately do not record 100 m as a dive depth - that is the wall, not a profile. No source publishes a maximum recreational depth for the bay.
Yes. Entry and exit are from a jetty directly in front of the Extra Divers base inside the Movenpick Resort El Quseir, so it is a walk-in dive. Zodiacs with 4-stroke engines run from the same jetty if you want to be dropped further along the reef.
The operator opens the reef to all certification levels, and the combination of a jetty entry, a protected bay and a 5 to 13 m reef top is about as forgiving as it gets. The caveat is the drop-off: it falls away past recreational depth with nothing to stop you.
Yes - snorkellers and non-divers are explicitly catered for. The reef top starts at around 5 m in a calm, protected bay. Keep over the shallow reef and out of the zodiac line running off the jetty.
A December 2025 account of winter diving in the bay reports calm conditions and visibility often exceeding 25 to 30 m, with water at 22 to 25 C. We record the conservative 25 m. No year-round month-by-month baseline is published.
A full northern Red Sea reef community: sailfin tang, bluespotted ribbontail ray, common lionfish, sohal surgeonfish, giant moray, masked and diagonal butterflyfish, bullethead parrotfish and Forster's hawkfish all appear in quantity in the occurrence record. The operator adds clownfish, large batfish, seamoth, ghost pipefish and resident morays, with turtles, eagle rays, reef sharks and schooling barracuda and snapper reported and dolphins, whale sharks and mantas as occasional visitors.
Yes. The bay is managed for conservation and the operator caps the number of divers on the reef at any one time, recommending you book in advance. Whether a guide is mandatory in the water is not published, so ask the base.
Almost certainly not. Our catalogue holds all three within 170 m of each other in the same bay, and they return the identical species record because the occurrence data cannot separate them. We have written the same facts to each rather than invent a difference. Treat them as one site.
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Coenobita scaevola | occasional | 17 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 16 |
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 11 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 10 |
| Bodianus anthioides | occasional | 9 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 8 |
| Priacanthus hamrur | occasional | 8 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | occasional | 8 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | occasional | 8 |
| Acanthurus sohal | occasional | 8 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | occasional | 7 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | occasional | 7 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | occasional | 7 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | occasional | 7 |
| Naso elegans | occasional | 7 |
| Chaetodon auriga | occasional | 7 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | occasional | 7 |
| Amblyglyphidodon flavilatus | occasional | 6 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 6 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 6 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | occasional | 6 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | occasional | 6 |
| Tridacna maxima | occasional | 5 |
| Papilloculiceps longiceps | occasional | 5 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | occasional | 5 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | occasional | 5 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | rare | 4 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | rare | 4 |
| Naso unicornis | rare | 4 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | rare | 3 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | rare | 3 |
| Cephalopholis argus | rare | 3 |
| Diodon hystrix | rare | 3 |
| Echinometra mathaei | rare | 3 |
| Hemimycale arabica | rare | 3 |
| Millepora dichotoma | rare | 3 |
| Mulloidichthys vanicolensis | rare | 3 |
| Ophiocoma scolopendrina | rare | 3 |
| Rastrelliger kanagurta | rare | 3 |
| Scolopsis ghanam | rare | 3 |
| Variola louti | rare | 3 |
| Caesio suevica | rare | 3 |
| Cheilinus quinquecinctus | rare | 3 |
| Oxycheilinus digramma | rare | 3 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 3 |
| Platax orbicularis | rare | 3 |
| Scarus niger | rare | 3 |
| Sufflamen albicaudatum | rare | 3 |
| Arothron hispidus | rare | 3 |
| Stylissa carteri | rare | 2 |
| Clibanarius signatus | rare | 2 |
| Crella (Grayella) cyathophora | rare | 2 |
| Asaphis violascens | rare | 2 |
| Callyspongia crassa | rare | 2 |
| Siganus luridus | rare | 2 |
| Dascyllus trimaculatus | rare | 2 |
| Echeneis naucrates | rare | 2 |
| Grammistes sexlineatus | rare | 2 |
| Grapsus tenuicrustatus | rare | 2 |
| Linckia multifora | rare | 2 |
The southern end of the El Quadim Bay house reef at El Quseir, one of three catalogue pins on the same sheltered wadi-mouth bay.
A capped, walk-in house reef in a protected bay: 5 m of reef top, then a wall.
A resort house reef that is really a wall dive: 200 m of jetty out to a platform, then the reef edge falls away under your fins.
A zodiac drift ten minutes north of El Quseir harbour: down a wall to 18 m, then south into a field of pinnacles.
A well-populated stretch of reef north of El Quseir that nobody has bothered to write up.
The walk-in house reef of the Roots Red Sea camp: a sand bay you swim out of, a coral reef north and a low wall south.
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