Nemo City Gabal El Rosas

The dive

Nemo City is not a reef of its own. It is the northern of the two reefs that make up the Gabal el Rosas house-reef bay, roughly 900 m north of the bay's own pin. Ducks Diving Superior, the dive centre on the bay, describes its house reef as about 700 m of fringing reef made up of a north reef and a south reef split by a lagoon, with a sandy entrance in the middle: the dive from that entrance starts at 5 m and slopes down to about 40 m, the north side carrying a plateau and a steeper wall, the south side caves and caverns. It also says its Zodiac gives access to the outer sides of the bay, where the coral landscape carries a lot of anemones. That outer north side is what other operators sell separately as Nemo City, so the name is a working name for a section of Gabal el Rosas rather than for a distinct site.

SeaHorse Diving Club, which runs it as its own half-day speedboat dive from Marsa Alam, gives the detail: you drop over a small plateau at 22 m and find a large colony of anemones and clownfish, about ten anemone patches, which is where the name comes from. From there the dive follows the reef wall past finger and staghorn coral formations and a patch of green salad coral. SeaHorse rates it a wall and drift dive, maximum 30 m, advanced divers, current medium to strong, and states plainly that snorkelling is not available at this site.

The two operators do not agree on how hard it is, and the disagreement makes sense once you know which piece each is describing. Ducks, working the sheltered inside of the bay, calls the current weak and the bay good for beginners and protected all year round even in bad weather and strong winds. SeaHorse, working the outer northern reef, calls the current medium to strong and restricts the dive to advanced divers. The conservative reading, and the one used here, is SeaHorse's, because this pin sits on the outer north side rather than inside the marsa.

OBIS records within 1.5 km of the pin are dense and typical of a healthy Marsa Alam fringing reef: twoband anemonefish, which is the anemonefish the site is named for, plus sohal surgeonfish, Desjardin's sailfin tang, coral hind, giant moray, titan triggerfish, blue-spotted stingray, bluecheek and crown butterflyfish, purple tang and small giant clam. Ducks lists blue-spotted stingray and crocodile fish as frequently seen on its house reef, and dolphins as rare.

• A plateau at 22 m carrying about ten anemone patches with their clownfish, which is what the name refers to
• Reef wall below the plateau with finger and staghorn coral formations and a patch of green salad coral
• Run as a half-day speedboat dive from Marsa Alam, or reached by Zodiac from the dive centre inside the bay
• The sheltered bay behind it stays diveable in weather that closes offshore sites

Conditions

A boat dive along an exposed reef corner at the mouth of a sheltered bay. Ducks describes the bay itself as protected all year round and accessible even under bad weather and strong winds, which is the reason the site is reliable; the outer north reef where this pin sits is the part that catches the current. No operator publishes a visibility figure for this specific reef, so none is recorded here.

On current: The two operators who describe this bay disagree, and the split is geographic. Ducks Diving Superior, based on the bay, calls the current weak and the bay well protected all year round, even in bad weather and strong wind. SeaHorse Diving Club, which dives the outer northern reef as Nemo City, calls the current medium to strong and limits the dive to advanced divers. This pin is on the outer north side, so the stronger figure is the one to plan for; expect the sheltered water only once you are back inside the marsa.