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Ras El Arab
Egypt · reef · advanced
0–25 madvancedAOWboat entry
MEDIA5 items
Ras El Arab
The headland off the south end of Makadi Bay: a ten-minute boat hop, a one-way drift along a broken wall, and a drop-off that keeps falling to 80 m.
Max depth0–25 m
Required leveladvanced
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Ras El Arab is a headland reef about 3.5 km from the Makadi Bay hotel strip, reached in roughly ten minutes by boat. Being a ras — a point rather than a bay — is the character of the dive. It sits out in open water, it collects current, and it is run as a one-way drift with the boat dropping divers on the up-current side rather than as a there-and-back from a mooring.
The two dive centres that publish descriptions of it disagree, and it is worth knowing where. Extra Fun Divers place it in the south of Makadi Bay, ten minutes by boat, and describe a relaxed dive along a plateau and a drop-off that falls to 80 m, grading it beginner at a 25 m dive depth. Scuba World Divers place it at the northern tip of the bay, make the current the defining feature, and recommend it for divers holding PADI Advanced Open Water or the Drift Diver specialty, with the deeper sections for Deep Diver holders — while their own facts box says 27 m and beginner, which does not match their prose. Our pin sits south of the Makadi resorts, which agrees with Extra Fun on geography. On the diving, the conservative reading is Scuba World's: treat it as a current-exposed drift, not a gentle bay dive.
The reef is not a flat wall. Scuba World Divers describe small overhangs, ledges and deep crevices along a sloping wall, gorgonian fans in the deeper sections, and moray eels and cleaning stations in the cracks, with tuna and jacks passing in the blue. Extra Fun Divers list soft and hard corals and a good chance of nudibranchs, eagle rays, turtles and squid.
The OBIS record inside 1.5 km of the pin is thin — nothing there was recorded more than a handful of times, which is what you would expect at a site nobody surveys from the shore — but what is there matches those descriptions: giant moray and grey moray, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, tentacled flathead, false stonefish, banded pipefish, a Goniobranchus nudibranch and diamond squid.
- One-way drift with the boat dropping you up-current
- Broken wall of overhangs, ledges and deep crevices rather than a flat face
- Gorgonian fans in the deeper sections
- Tuna and jacks in the blue off the point
- Ten minutes by boat from the Makadi Bay hotel jetties
Please note before you go
- Variable current on an exposed headland, dived as a one-way drift with a boat pick-up
- The drop-off runs to about 80 m below the plateau, so there is no floor to stop a descent
- The published grades contradict each other — one operator's own facts box says beginner while its prose recommends Advanced Open Water or Drift Diver
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Boat only. Extra Fun Divers reach it in about ten minutes from Makadi Bay, and Scuba World Divers describe the boat positioning divers at the up-current side of the reef to start the drift. There is no shore entry and no mooring-and-return profile: the boat follows you and picks you up down-current.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Season
No source gives a season for Ras El Arab. Because it is an exposed headland rather than a sheltered bay reef, the constraint is the wind: the Makadi centres run it as a short boat trip when conditions allow and stay inside the bay when they do not. That is a day-by-day call, not a monthly one, and nothing we read supports naming best months.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentstrong
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range0–25 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsnot sourced
Open-water conditions off a point rather than bay conditions. A sloping, broken wall running from a plateau down past recreational depth, current running along it often enough that both operators build the dive around it, and no shelter if the wind gets up. No source publishes visibility or temperature figures for this site, so there are none here.
On current: Current is the site. Scuba World Divers call it a classic one-way drift, have the boat position divers on the up-current side of the reef, describe the currents as variable, and point at the PADI Drift Diver specialty as the way to handle them. Extra Fun Divers describe the same dive as relaxed. Where they disagree, take the stronger reading: this is an exposed headland catching open-sea current, and it is not a site to plan a return swim on.
Dives & underwater footage
Questions & answers
How deep is Ras El Arab?
The two operators who publish figures give 25 m (Extra Fun Divers) and 27 m (Scuba World Divers) for the dive itself, so plan around 25 m. That is not the bottom: Extra Fun describe the drop-off below the plateau as falling to about 80 m, and Scuba World note that the deeper sections are for divers holding PADI Deep Diver. There is nothing underneath you to stop a descent.
How do you get to Ras El Arab?
By boat, and only by boat. Extra Fun Divers reach it from Makadi Bay in about ten minutes. Because it is run as a one-way drift, the boat drops you at the up-current side of the reef and then follows to collect you further along rather than waiting on a mooring, so you dive it with an operator and their boat rather than independently.
Is Ras El Arab suitable for beginners?
The sources contradict each other and we would not send a new diver here. Extra Fun Divers grade it beginner, and Scuba World Divers' own facts box also says beginner, but Scuba World's actual description recommends PADI Advanced Open Water or the Drift Diver specialty and calls the site a step up from the gentler drifts inside the bay. Given it is an exposed headland with variable current, take the cautious grade.
Is there current at Ras El Arab?
Yes, and it defines the dive. Scuba World Divers describe the headland as exposed to the open sea, which brings in current and nutrients, and run it as a classic one-way drift with the boat positioning divers up-current. They also call the currents variable and point at the Drift Diver specialty as the way to handle them. Extra Fun Divers describe the same dive as relaxed, which is the more optimistic of the two readings.
Can you snorkel Ras El Arab?
No. There is no shore access, the site is a boat drop on an exposed point, and the whole dive is planned around drifting with the current down a wall. Snorkellers are far better served by the sheltered house reefs inside Makadi Bay a few kilometres north, which have walk-in entries and shallow flats.
What will I see at Ras El Arab?
The wall itself is the draw: overhangs, ledges and crevices holding moray eels and cleaning stations, with gorgonian fans deeper down. Look out into the blue for tuna and jacks. Extra Fun Divers list nudibranchs, eagle rays, turtles and squid as good chances, and the OBIS records within 1.5 km of the pin include giant and grey moray, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, tentacled flathead, false stonefish and diamond squid.
Is Ras El Arab north or south of Makadi Bay?
The operators disagree. Extra Fun Divers say it is in the south of Makadi Bay; Scuba World Divers say it is at the northern tip. Our own pin sits about 3.5 km south of the Makadi Bay hotel reefs, which agrees with Extra Fun. Either way it is a ten-minute boat ride from the bay, so the discrepancy matters for reading the descriptions rather than for finding the site.
Life recorded at Ras El Arab
51 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmarare · 4 recordsGymnothorax javanicusrare · 1 records
Zebrasoma desjardiniioccasional · 6 records
Tridacna maximarare · 4 records
Terapon jarbuarare · 3 records
Ophiocoma scolopendrinarare · 3 records
All 51 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 6 |
| Tridacna maxima | rare | 4 |
| Taeniura lymma | rare | 4 |
| Terapon jarbua | rare | 3 |
| Ophiocoma scolopendrina | rare | 3 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | rare | 2 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | rare | 2 |
| Acanthopleura vaillantii | rare | 2 |
| Pterois miles | rare | 2 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 2 |
| Lambis truncata | rare | 1 |
| Lethrinus mahsena | rare | 1 |
| Lutjanus kasmira | rare | 1 |
| Neoniphon sammara | rare | 1 |
| Octopus cyanea | rare | 1 |
| Papilloculiceps longiceps | rare | 1 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 1 |
| Pearsonothuria graeffei | rare | 1 |
| Plicomugil labiosus | rare | 1 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | rare | 1 |
| Sargocentron diadema | rare | 1 |
| Scarus niger | rare | 1 |
| Scorpaenopsis diabolus | rare | 1 |
| Thysanoteuthis rhombus | rare | 1 |
| Acanthurus sohal | rare | 1 |
| Arothron stellatus | rare | 1 |
| Canthigaster pygmaea | rare | 1 |
| Gibberulus gibberulus | rare | 1 |
| Goniobranchus annulatus | rare | 1 |
| Gymnothorax griseus | rare | 1 |
| Naso elegans | rare | 1 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | rare | 1 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | rare | 1 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | rare | 1 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | rare | 1 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | rare | 1 |
| Dascyllus abudafur | rare | 1 |
| Clanculus pharaonius | rare | 1 |
| Ocypode saratan | rare | 1 |
| Plectorhinchus gaterinus | rare | 1 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | rare | 1 |
| Acanthurus nigrofuscus | rare | 1 |
| Clibanarius signatus | rare | 1 |
| Calcinus latens | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon larvatus | rare | 1 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | rare | 1 |
| Corythoichthys flavofasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Dardanus woodmasoni | rare | 1 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | rare | 1 |
| Heniochus intermedius | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in Makadi Bay
Explore all sitesRoyal Azur Makadi Bay2.6 km
Makadi BayThe hotel house-reef entry at the Royal Azur end of Makadi Bay: sandy walk-in, a short swim, then a fringing wall to about 15 m.
Sharm El Rashed3.1 km
Makadi BayShab Tag Makadi bay3.3 km
Makadi BayOld House Reef Makadi Bay3.3 km
Makadi BayOne named stretch of the mile-long fringing reef along Makadi Bay's north shore, on the Grand Makadi frontage, worked one-way toward Gota Abu Makadi.
Grand Makadi house reef3.4 km
Makadi BayThe northern end of the Makadi Bay fringing reef, entered off the resort jetty because the reef flat here is too shallow to wade across.
Fort Arabesque Makadi bay3.4 km
Makadi BayThe house reef in front of the Fort Arabesque at the north end of Makadi Bay: walk-in over a 40 m sand flat, coral garden at 13-20 m, then a wall that keeps going to 80 m.
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