Ras Abdallah

Egypt · reef · beginner

0–18 mbeginnerOWboat entry

Ras Abdallah

A quiet point dive on the headland north of Makadi Bay: coral blocks over sand and seagrass, dived for the small things rather than for depth.

reefsandboat

Max depth0–18 m

Required levelbeginner

Entry typeboat

Visibility15 m

The dive

Ras Abdallah is a point on the coast between Makadi Bay and Sahl Hasheesh, dived from a boat — about 25 minutes north out of Makadi, or roughly 35 minutes down from the Hurghada marina. It is a shallow, sheltered site: coral blocks carrying soft and hard corals standing on sand, with seagrass patches between them. Both operators who publish a page for it treat it as a relaxed dive rather than a technical one, and one of them puts it in the same bracket as discover-scuba and open-water training dives.

What people actually go for is macro. The Hurghada centre that lists it calls it a macro site and names ghost pipefish, nudibranchs and the occasional seahorse in the seagrass, with giant morays and day octopus around the blocks. The Makadi centre adds stonefish and, more interestingly, a guitar shark — the bowmouth guitarfish that turns up on sandy ground along this stretch — plus turtles. Neither is a guarantee; both are the kind of animal you find by going slowly over the sand rather than by covering distance.

The occurrence records around this pin are thin, one to three records per taxon, which is the signature of a single survey rather than of a poor reef. They do read as the same ground the operators describe: a tentacled flathead (crocodilefish), banded lizardfish, comet, blackfin dartfish, checkerboard wrasse, bluestreak cleaner wrasse and a Spanish dancer, with emperor angelfish, squaretail coralgrouper, heavybeak parrotfish and a humphead wrasse over the harder patches, and slate pencil and rock-boring urchins and a branched murex on the rubble.

Be aware that the two operators do not agree on the numbers. One gives 18 m and calls it beginner-friendly with mild current and around 15 m visibility; the other gives 12 m but grades the dive medium rather than beginner. That is a smaller reef than either page implies and the difference probably reflects which end of the point each centre works. Take the briefing over both.

A macro dive: ghost pipefish, nudibranchs and occasional seahorses in the seagrass
Coral blocks with soft and hard corals standing on open sand
Guitar shark (bowmouth guitarfish) and turtles reported by the Makadi operator
Giant morays and day octopus around the blocks
Shallow, sheltered and calm enough that one centre uses it for discover-scuba and open-water dives

Please note before you go

Stonefish are specifically named at this site and sit motionless on sand and rubble; nothing goes down on the bottom here without looking first
Ghost pipefish, seahorses and nudibranchs are the point of the dive, which means divers hovering close to the bottom in seagrass — the classic way to silt a macro site out for everyone behind you
The site is a boat dive with no shore reference; surface with a marker on a coast that carries daily dive-boat traffic

Access & rules

Mandatory requirements

Certification required

Getting there

Boat only. About 25 minutes north by boat from Makadi Bay, or roughly 35 minutes south from the Hurghada marina; the point sits between Makadi Bay and the Sahl Hasheesh peninsula, with Ras Disha a little over 2 km further north. There is no shore entry to this pin.

Operator

Access to the site runs through a local operator.

Season

The site itself is described as diveable all year, and being shallow and sheltered it is a reasonable choice when the offshore reefs are blown out. March to May and September to November still give the best of it: settled seas for the 25 to 35 minute boat run and the clearest water of the year. Winter drops the water to around 21 to 23 C and brings the northerly that decides whether the boat goes.

Conditions

Visibility15 m

Currentlight

Surgenot sourced

WaterSalt water

Depth range0–18 m

Environmentreef

Coralnot sourced

Crowdsquiet

Calm and protected, with mild current and visibility around 15 m — noticeably less than the 25 to 30 m of the offshore reefs, which is normal for a shallow inshore point over sand. Water on this coast runs about 21 to 23 C in winter and up to roughly 30 C at the end of summer. One operator describes the site as diveable year-round.

On current: The Hurghada centre that dives it describes a mild current and calls the site calm and protected, suitable for discover-scuba and open-water certification dives; it gives about 15 m visibility. The two published depth figures disagree — 18 m from that centre and 12 m from a Makadi centre — and the same two also disagree on grade, beginner against medium. We have carried the deeper of the two figures because planning for the shallower one is the mistake that costs you, but neither is deep, and the honest reading is a shallow point where the profile depends on which end of it your boat works.

Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov

Questions & answers

How deep is Ras Abdallah?

Shallow, but the two operators who publish it disagree: one gives 18 m and the other 12 m. We have carried 18 m because under-planning a dive is the more expensive mistake, and because the centre giving that figure also publishes visibility and current for the site. Either way it is a shallow point dive with long bottom times, not a deep one.

How do you get to Ras Abdallah?

By boat, and only by boat. It is about 25 minutes north out of Makadi Bay, or roughly 35 minutes south from the Hurghada marina, on the piece of coast between Makadi and the Sahl Hasheesh peninsula. Ras Disha, a similar shallow point, lies a little over 2 km further north. There is no shore entry to this pin.

Is Ras Abdallah good for beginners?

One of the two operators says clearly yes: it grades the site beginner-friendly, calls it calm and protected with mild current, and uses it for discover-scuba and open-water certification dives. The other grades the same site medium. Given the depth and the sheltered position, the beginner reading is the more plausible one, but ask your centre which end of the point they work.

What will you see at Ras Abdallah?

Small things, mostly. The operators name ghost pipefish, nudibranchs and occasional seahorses in the seagrass, plus giant morays, day octopus and stonefish around the coral blocks, and a guitar shark and turtles as the bigger possibilities. Occurrence records at this pin add a crocodilefish, comet, blackfin dartfish, cleaner wrasse, a Spanish dancer, emperor angelfish and a humphead wrasse — though the records here are thin.

Is there current at Ras Abdallah?

Mild, according to the Hurghada centre that dives it, which describes the site as calm and protected and runs training dives on it. That is consistent with a shallow inshore point rather than an exposed reef. It is not a drift site and nothing published suggests it needs current-diving experience, but the coast as a whole carries a northerly, so take the briefing.

How is the visibility at Ras Abdallah?

Around 15 m, according to the operator that publishes a figure. That is noticeably less than the 25 to 30 m you get on the offshore reefs, which is normal for a shallow inshore site over sand and seagrass — the same fine sediment that makes it good macro ground is what limits the visibility. Spring and autumn are the clearest months on this coast.

Can you snorkel at Ras Abdallah?

It is a poor choice for it. There is no shore access, so you would be snorkelling off a dive boat, and the things the site is dived for are centimetre-scale animals on the bottom — ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, seahorses, stonefish — that are invisible from the surface. The coral blocks and reef fish are pleasant enough, but there are better snorkelling reefs on this coast.

Life recorded at Ras Abdallah

52 species within 1.5 km · OBIS

Hexabranchus sanguineusrare · 1 records Cheilinus undulatusrare · 1 records

Pterois milesrare · 3 records

Amblyglyphidodon indicusrare · 3 records

Chlorurus gibbusrare · 2 records

Scarus nigerrare · 2 records

All 52 species recorded in this area

Species	How often	Records
Pterois miles	rare	3
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	3
Chlorurus gibbus	rare	2
Scarus niger	rare	2
Abudefduf sexfasciatus	rare	2
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis	rare	2
Pygoplites diacanthus	rare	2
Calloplesiops altivelis	rare	1
Chaetodon auriga	rare	1
Chaetodon austriacus	rare	1
Chaetodon paucifasciatus	rare	1
Chaetodon semilarvatus	rare	1
Chanos chanos	rare	1
Cheilinus lunulatus	rare	1
Cheilio inermis	rare	1
Coenobita scaevola	rare	1
Cryptocentrus caeruleopunctatus	rare	1
Echinometra mathaei	rare	1
Halichoeres hortulanus	rare	1
Heniochus intermedius	rare	1
Hexabranchus sanguineus	rare	1
Millepora dichotoma	rare	1
Monotaxis grandoculis	rare	1
Papilloculiceps longiceps	rare	1
Paracirrhites forsteri	rare	1
Parupeneus forsskali	rare	1
Plectropomus areolatus	rare	1
Pomacanthus imperator	rare	1
Pomacentrus sulfureus	rare	1
Pseudobalistes fuscus	rare	1
Ptereleotris evides	rare	1
Rastrelliger kanagurta	rare	1
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	1
Synodus dermatogenys	rare	1
Chicoreus ramosus	rare	1
Dascyllus abudafur	rare	1
Ostracion cubicum	rare	1
Phyllidia undula	rare	1
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	1
Zebrasoma desjardinii	rare	1
Cheilinus undulatus	rare	1
Fistularia commersonii	rare	1
Heterocentrotus mamillatus	rare	1
Labroides dimidiatus	rare	1
Naso elegans	rare	1
Scarus ferrugineus	rare	1
Fromia ghardaqana	rare	1
Amblyglyphidodon flavilatus	rare	1
Amblygobius albimaculatus	rare	1
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	1
Balistapus undulatus	rare	1
Caesio suevica	rare	1

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