SeaLogEgypt · reef · intermediate
A zodiac drift ten minutes north of El Quseir harbour: down a wall to 18 m, then south into a field of pinnacles.
Oma Sukan, also written Omu Sukan and Omar Sukan, is the reef about 5 km up the coast from El Quseir town. The one description that circulates puts it 10 to 15 minutes north of El Quseir harbour and says it is reached only by boat; Pharaoh Dive Club, based in El Quseir, carries Omar Sukan in the group of sites it runs as zodiac dives. There is no shore access described anywhere.
The published profile is simple. You drop in and go down the wall to around 18 m. Current, when there is any, runs north to south, so the dive is a drift south with the reef on your right shoulder. Divers with an advanced certification can go deeper, to around 30 to 40 m, where there is an overhang that sometimes holds a whitetip reef shark. Drifting on, the contour changes from steep wall into undulating coral gardens, and the dive normally ends among a field of pinnacles at 10 to 15 m. Because it is one-way, it is a boat-pickup dive rather than one you swim back from.
A family of eagle rays is described as living here and being inquisitive, and the pinnacle ground at the end of the drift is where the small stuff is: morays, bluespotted rays, and a lot of gobies and blennies. That fits what OBIS holds for this pin, which is thin but consistent, 45 taxa each on a single record, among them bluespotted ribbontail ray, common and clearfin lionfish, coral scorpionfish, banded pipefish, warty frogfish, orchid and olive dottybacks, several blennies and cardinalfish. Be clear about how little sits underneath this page: one description of unclear authorship is the source of every published account of Oma Sukan, and the travel listings that repeat it repeat it with different numbers. Confidence is low for that reason.
Boat only. Ten to fifteen minutes north of El Quseir harbour by zodiac; Pharaoh Dive Club, based in El Quseir, lists Omar Sukan among the sites it labels as zodiac dives. The dive is a one-way drift, so the boat follows and picks you up south of the drop-in. No source describes a shore entry.
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
No source gives a season for this reef and no months are recorded here. What is published is only that current, when present, sets north to south, which decides the direction of the drift rather than the time of year.
A wall dive that turns into coral garden and then pinnacles as you drift south. Divescover records average depth 18 m, maximum 30 m, visibility 15 to 30 m and slight current; those are the only conditions figures published for this reef, and the visibility recorded here is the conservative middle of that range.
On current: The one description says that current, when there is any, runs north to south, which is what makes the site a drift; Divescover records the current as slight and no source gives a figure. Because the profile is one-way, from the drop-in south to the pinnacle field, this is a boat-pickup dive. The published numbers also disagree: Divescover records average depth 18 m, maximum 30 m and visibility 15 to 30 m, while a travel listing repeating the same descriptive text gives 12 to 40 m depth and 30 to 60 m visibility. The travel figures are not credible for this coast and are not used. Divescover rates the site easy; it is recorded here as intermediate because the published dive is a one-way drift along a wall with a boat pickup, and the overhang described at 30 to 40 m is beyond recreational limits for anyone without a deep qualification.
The published profile takes you down the wall to about 18 m and ends among pinnacles at 10 to 15 m, with a recorded maximum of 30 m. Below that there is an overhang described at 30 to 40 m which the same description names as advanced-certification ground. A travel listing repeating the text gives 12 to 40 m instead, which does not match the source it copies.
By boat only, 10 to 15 minutes north of El Quseir harbour, normally by zodiac; Pharaoh Dive Club in El Quseir lists it among its zodiac dives. No source describes a shore entry. Because the dive is a one-way drift south from the drop-in, the boat follows and picks you up rather than waiting at a mooring.
Divescover rates it easy, and the main part of the dive, the wall down to 18 m and the pinnacle field at the end, is undemanding. It is recorded here as intermediate rather than beginner because it is a one-way drift with a boat pickup, which asks for surface marker buoy skills and comfort out of sight of shore. The deep overhang is a separate, advanced-only option.
No. There is no shore access described for this reef and it sits about 5 km up the coast from El Quseir harbour, reached by zodiac. The dive is a one-way drift along a wall with a boat pickup, and the shallowest ground, the pinnacles at 10 to 15 m, is at the far end of that drift.
The published description names a resident family of eagle rays that tends to come and look at divers, an overhang at 30 to 40 m with the occasional whitetip reef shark, and morays and bluespotted rays among the shallow pinnacles. OBIS records at this pin add coral scorpionfish, banded pipefish, warty frogfish, orchid and olive dottybacks and a run of blennies and cardinalfish, which is why the site is described as good for macro.
Usually some, and it runs north to south, which is why the dive is planned as a drift south with the reef on your right shoulder. Divescover records the current as slight and no source publishes a figure. Since the profile is one-way, the current is what carries the dive rather than something to fight.
Less than most sites. One description, of unclear authorship, is the source of every published account of this reef, and the pages that repeat it also repeat it with different and less plausible numbers. The dive centre listing corroborates only that El Quseir operators run it as a zodiac dive. Ask your guide for the current briefing rather than planning from this page.
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Stethojulis albovittata | rare | 2 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | rare | 2 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | rare | 1 |
| Antennarius maculatus | rare | 1 |
| Apogon coccineus | rare | 1 |
| Cheilodipterus macrodon | rare | 1 |
| Chromis viridis | rare | 1 |
| Corythoichthys flavofasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Myripristis murdjan | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus littoralis | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | rare | 1 |
| Pterois miles | rare | 1 |
| Pterois radiata | rare | 1 |
| Sargocentron caudimaculatum | rare | 1 |
| Taeniura lymma | rare | 1 |
| Tylosurus crocodilus | rare | 1 |
| Alloblennius jugularis | rare | 1 |
| Amblyglyphidodon leucogaster | rare | 1 |
| Arothron diadematus | rare | 1 |
| Arothron hispidus | rare | 1 |
| Blenniella periophthalmus | rare | 1 |
| Cephalopholis argus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Chrysiptera biocellata | rare | 1 |
| Cirripectes castaneus | rare | 1 |
| Cynoglossus lachneri | rare | 1 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | rare | 1 |
| Halichoeres marginatus | rare | 1 |
| Labroides dimidiatus | rare | 1 |
| Lepidamia multitaeniata | rare | 1 |
| Ostorhinchus cookii | rare | 1 |
| Pardachirus marmoratus | rare | 1 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | rare | 1 |
| Priolepis cincta | rare | 1 |
| Pristiapogon kallopterus | rare | 1 |
| Pseudochromis fridmani | rare | 1 |
| Pseudochromis olivaceus | rare | 1 |
| Scarus niger | rare | 1 |
| Scorpaenopsis possi | rare | 1 |
| Sebastapistes cyanostigma | rare | 1 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | rare | 1 |
| Zebrasoma velifer | rare | 1 |
| Halichoeres nebulosus | rare | 1 |
| Abudefduf sordidus | rare | 1 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | rare | 1 |
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 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 boat drift on the wall just north of El Quseir town: free descent, along the wall, out over the plateau to the drop-off.
A plateau at about 20 m off Ras El Quseir carrying one continuous field of anemones, which is why guides call it Nemo City.
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