Ras Abu Soma Drift

The dive

This is the same headland as our Ras Abu Soma page, and the two entries are very probably the same site recorded twice. The coordinates are 1.3 km apart along the same reef, and PADI describes Ras Abu Soma as roughly 2 km of reef with more than five distinct dive spots along it - so both positions fall inside what operators call 'Ras Abu Soma'. The dive-guide entry for the headland explicitly recommends running it as a drift dive, which is what this second name records. Treat this page as the drift version of the headland, not as a separate reef, and read the Ras Abu Soma page alongside it.

As a dive, that means the point is worked one way with the current rather than swum out and back. The main set across the headland comes from the north and is usually slight; a dive-guide account notes it can strengthen on the outer wall, which is exactly where the drift plan makes sense. The reef itself is a steep wall on the seaward side dropping onto a plateau at around 25 m, with the drop-off generally between 25 and 30 m and shallower coral-block ground above it. The headland shape means one side is normally sheltered whatever the wind is doing.

Our OBIS records for this position are ordinary northern Red Sea reef fauna and read almost identically to the neighbouring Soma Bay sites: giant moray, yellow boxfish, bluespotted ribbontail ray, blackback and masked butterflyfish, broomtail wrasse, two-band anemonefish, blotcheye soldierfish, Red Sea bannerfish and royal angelfish, with snowflake moray and cornetfish on the sand.

• The drift plan for the Ras Abu Soma headland rather than a separate reef
• Wall dropping to a plateau at about 25 m, drop-off between 25 and 30 m
• Northerly set that can strengthen on the outer wall - one-way dive, boat pickup
• A sheltered side of the point whatever the wind is doing

Conditions

The seaward face of the Ras Abu Soma headland, dived one-way with the northerly set. Wall onto a plateau at about 25 m, drop-off between 25 and 30 m, coral blocks over sand above. One side of the point is normally in the lee whatever the wind does. No published visibility figure, so none is recorded.

On current: The main set across the headland is from the north and is usually slight, but a dive-guide account for Ras Abu Soma notes it can strengthen on the outer wall, and the same guide recommends diving the point as a drift. Because the plan is one-way, a moderate current is the working assumption here rather than the light one recorded on our Ras Abu Soma page. No source publishes a visibility figure for the headland - it is described qualitatively as excellent - so none is recorded. Depth is inherited from the headland: 5-40 m overall, with the plateau at about 25 m and the drop-off between 25 and 30 m.