Question 1

How do you get to Ras Abu Galum?

Accepted Answer

There is no road, so every route starts at the Blue Hole north of Dahab. Most operators now run a speedboat from the Blue Hole dock, about 20 minutes, at roughly 175 EGP return, and Daniela Diving Resort runs its own daily boat at about 275 EGP per person. The traditional alternative is a camel, an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, with the camels carrying the tanks and gear. You can also walk the shoreline in 50 to 60 minutes and put your luggage on a camel.

Question 2

How deep is the diving at Ras Abu Galum?

Accepted Answer

Circle Divers gives the range as 0 to 30 metres, with a hard coral plateau in the shallows and the pinnacles and rock formations further out and deeper. No operator publishes a maximum for individual sites along the stretch, and there are around six of them, so the profile depends on which one the boat picks that day. Ask at the briefing rather than planning a fixed depth from home.

Question 3

Do I need a permit or a passport for Ras Abu Galum?

Accepted Answer

You do not need a diving permit, but both the Blue Hole and Abu Galum sit on national protectorate ground with checkpoints, and a printed scan of your passport is expected at them. The area is declared protected under Egyptian law and is managed in practice with the Mezaina Bedouin, who run the camps and the camels. Diving is arranged through a Dahab dive centre as an organised trip rather than independently.

Question 4

Is Ras Abu Galum good for beginners?

Accepted Answer

Operators take all certified levels and H2O Divers rates the site open-water-and-up, so a newly certified diver is welcome. Circle Divers still rates the diving overall as intermediate, and the honest reason is the setting rather than the reef: no road out, a boat or camel transfer each way, and a fixed last ride back in the late afternoon. If you are on your first few dives, go with a centre that runs the trip regularly.

Question 5

Can you snorkel at Ras Abu Galum?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is a genuine snorkelling destination rather than an afterthought. The shallow hard-coral plateau is the snorkelling ground, Circle Divers lists the site as suitable for snorkellers, and Sea Dancer takes non-divers along on the same day trip. You still have the same access problem as the divers, so budget for the boat or the camel either way.

Question 6

What will I see at Ras Abu Galum?

Accepted Answer

The pinnacles work as cleaning stations, and the operators who dive them name turtles, eagle rays, barracuda coming in from open water, and cleaner wrasse. Occurrence records at this pin include spotted eagle ray, emperor and royal angelfish, coronation trout, Picasso triggerfish, several parrotfishes, twoband anemonefish and Spanish dancer. The records here are sparser than at Dahab's town reefs, which mostly reflects how rarely surveyors get this far up the coast.

Question 7

Is Ras Abu Galum one dive site or several?

Accepted Answer

Several. Dive centres describe around six sites along this stretch, naming Haggar, Khoramat, Abu Galum and the Blue Lagoon to the north, and they choose between them on the day based on conditions and trip length. Our own catalogue also carries Coral Forest, Ras Abu Galum North, Ras Abu Galum South and Red Tooth Trigger Bay as separate pins within a kilometre of this one. Treat this entry as the stretch, not a single reef.

Question 8

When is the best time to dive Ras Abu Galum?

Accepted Answer

March to May and September to November are the months Dahab operators recommend, with air around 25 to 30 C and calmer seas. Water on this coast runs roughly 23 to 25 C from December to February and 27 to 29 C from June to September. Sea state matters more here than at a town shore dive because the whole trip depends on a small boat on an exposed coast, and a 90-minute camel leg in midsummer heat is its own reason to avoid July and August.

Species	How often	Records
Pseudanthias squamipinnis	rare	4
Chlorurus sordidus	rare	3
Arothron stellatus	rare	3
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	3
Tridacna maxima	rare	3
Chaetodon fasciatus	rare	3
Scarus niger	rare	2
Heniochus intermedius	rare	2
Aetobatus ocellatus	rare	2
Acanthurus nigrofuscus	rare	2
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	2
Epinephelus fasciatus	rare	2
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	2
Chaetodon austriacus	rare	2
Pomacentrus sulfureus	rare	2
Pterois miles	rare	2
Pygoplites diacanthus	rare	2
Lethrinus nebulosus	rare	1
Millepora dichotoma	rare	1
Myripristis murdjan	rare	1
Paracirrhites forsteri	rare	1
Parupeneus forsskali	rare	1
Phyllacanthus imperialis	rare	1
Siganus luridus	rare	1
Synanceia verrucosa	rare	1
Variola louti	rare	1
Arothron diadematus	rare	1
Cheilinus lunulatus	rare	1
Chlorurus gibbus	rare	1
Coris aygula	rare	1
Ctenochaetus striatus	rare	1
Cyclichthys spilostylus	rare	1
Hexabranchus sanguineus	rare	1
Parapercis hexophtalma	rare	1
Plagiotremus tapeinosoma	rare	1
Pleurobranchus grandis	rare	1
Pomacanthus imperator	rare	1
Pseudodax moluccanus	rare	1
Scarus ferrugineus	rare	1
Sufflamen albicaudatum	rare	1
Zebrasoma xanthurum	rare	1
Abudefduf sexfasciatus	rare	1
Callyspongia crassa	rare	1
Mulloidichthys flavolineatus	rare	1
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	1
Heniochus diphreutes	rare	1
Chaetodon auriga	rare	1
Abudefduf vaigiensis	rare	1
Bodianus anthioides	rare	1
Callyspongia (Callyspongia) siphonella	rare	1
Chaetodon paucifasciatus	rare	1
Chromis pembae	rare	1
Chromodoris quadricolor	rare	1
Conus textile	rare	1
Dascyllus marginatus	rare	1
Dascyllus trimaculatus	rare	1
Fistularia commersonii	rare	1
Genicanthus caudovittatus	rare	1
Gorgasia sillneri	rare	1
Inimicus filamentosus	rare	1
Lambis truncata	rare	1

Ras Abu Galum

Ras Abu Galum

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Restrictions

Rules and permits

Season

Conditions

Dives & underwater footage

Questions & answers

Life recorded at Ras Abu Galum

Nearby sites in Sinai

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