Marsa Gabal el Rosas (Ducks center)

The dive

Marsa Gabal el Rosas is a narrow, U-shaped bay about 11 km from Marsa Alam, also listed as Gabal El Rosas Bay or Oriental Bay after the hotel above it, and it is the house reef of the Ducks Diving Superior base - which is why our catalogue carries it under that name. Entry is from the beach over a sandy patch between the two reef arms.

The bottom slopes down the middle of the bay with reef on both sides. Both walls carry heavy coral cover including large fire-coral stands, with steep drop-offs and tall pinnacles further out. The north side holds small caves full of glassfish and small reef species; the south side is where the schools sit - snapper and goatfish - and turtles and barracuda turn up on either. Maximum depth is given as 30 m, the site is rated easy for all levels, and current is reported as none. Because it is a fringing reef with a sandy entrance inside an enclosed bay, it is protected year round and stays divable in bad weather and strong wind.

The OBIS record here is dense and reads as an ordinary, healthy northern Red Sea community: sailfin tang, sergeant major, common lionfish, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, royal angelfish, orange-lined triggerfish, masked butterflyfish, moon-tail bullseye, sohal surgeonfish and giant clam all appear in quantity across 60 taxa. Nothing rare, a lot of it, which matches what a sheltered fringing reef with a sand channel through the middle should look like.

Night dives are run here. Visibility is worst at the start of a dive when there are strong waves and a low tide, which is the one predictable weakness of a shallow sand-floored bay.

• Shore entry over sand into a narrow U-shaped bay with reef on both sides
• Steep drop-offs, tall pinnacles and large fire-coral stands
• Small caves on the north side; snapper and goatfish schools on the south
• Protected year round - divable in wind that closes the offshore sites
• Night diving from the beach

Conditions

A narrow U-shaped bay with a sandy sloping floor and reef on both sides. Current is reported as none. The bay is well protected all year and stays divable in bad weather and strong wind, which is its main practical value on this coast. Visibility can be poor at the start of a dive when waves are up and the tide is low; no typical figure is published.

On current: SeaHorse Diving Club reports no current at this site and rates it easy for all levels. No operator publishes a typical visibility figure, so none is recorded; the same source warns visibility can be poor at the start of a dive when there are strong waves and a low tide. Scuba World Divers notes the bay is well protected all year and remains accessible in bad weather and strong wind.

Dives & underwater footage