SeaLog
Getting there
One account describes reaching the site by a short boat ride and calls it easily accessible. No operator page we found publishes an entry point for this headland, and we have not assumed a shore entry.
Ras El Quseir
Egypt · reef
Ras El Quseir
The headland below El Quseir's Ottoman fort - a name covering several dives, and thin on published detail.
The dive
Ras El Quseir is the headland at El Quseir itself - 'ras' is Arabic for head, and the reef pushes out into the water like one. Our position sits on the town's waterfront: 170 m from our El Mina record, 500 m from Anemone Garden, 900 m from a second 'Ras Qusier' entry in our own catalogue and just under a kilometre from Aquarium. That cluster is the first thing to know about this name - it is a stretch of the town's headland carrying several dives, not one fixed site.
The dive itself is barely described. The one account we found reaches it by a short boat ride and describes coral formations, sandy patches and coral bommies, with moray eels, lionfish and turtles, calling it suitable for all levels. No depth, visibility or current figure is published anywhere we could find, so all three are empty here. We also rejected a widely-repeated description of a shore entry through a rope-guided cave: that text belongs to a site in the hamlet of Hamrawen well north of the town, not to this headland.
The occurrence data is thin to the point of uselessness as a species guide - sixty taxa but only two or three records each, and the list is dominated by small cryptic reef fish (a Red Sea fanged blenny, shrimp gobies, a mimic blenny, sand perches) rather than anything you would plan a dive around. That is the signature of a single opportunistic survey, not of a poor reef.
The town above it is worth an afternoon in its own right: El Quseir has been a working port for over five thousand years, and its restored Ottoman fort and old harbour are the reason people stay here rather than at the resort strips north and south. That is context, not a dive briefing.
- The headland at El Quseir town, below the restored Ottoman fort and the old harbour
- Our catalogue holds several separate entries within a kilometre - treat the name as a stretch, not a spot
- Coral bommies over sand, with morays, lionfish and turtles reported
- No published depth, visibility or current figure
Please note before you go
- The position sits on the seaward side of a working harbour town - assume boat traffic
Access & rules
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentnot sourced
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth rangenot sourced
Environmentreef
Coralrecovering
Crowdsnot sourced
On current: No source publishes a depth, visibility or current figure for this headland. One account reaches the site by a short boat ride; other pages describe a shore entry through a rope-guided cave, but that text belongs to a site at Hamrawen well north of the town, so we did not use it and left entry_type empty rather than choose between them.
Questions & answers
What does 'Ras El Quseir' mean, and where is it?
'Ras' is Arabic for head, and the name refers to the headland at El Quseir town, where the reef pushes out into the water. Our position sits on the town's waterfront, 170 m from our El Mina record and within a kilometre of Anemone Garden, Aquarium and a second 'Ras Qusier' entry in our own catalogue.
How deep is it?
We do not know. No dive guide or operator we could find publishes a depth, visibility or current figure for this headland, and we have not borrowed one from the sites a few hundred metres along the same shore.
Is it a shore dive or a boat dive?
The one account we found reaches it by a short boat ride. A rope-guided cave entry from shore is often attached to this name online, but that description belongs to a site at Hamrawen well north of the town, so we rejected it and left the question open.
What will I see?
The published account gives coral formations, sandy patches and coral bommies with moray eels, lionfish and turtles. The occurrence record is too thin to add much - sixty taxa at two or three records each, dominated by small cryptic reef fish like shrimp gobies and blennies, which reflects one light survey rather than what actually lives on the headland.
Is it suitable for beginners?
The one account calls it suitable for all levels, but publishes no depth, current or visibility to back that up, so treat it as an operator's judgement rather than a specification. Confirm the profile before you book.
Is there anything to do on land?
Yes, and it is part of why divers base themselves here. El Quseir has been a working port for over five thousand years; the restored Ottoman fort, the old harbour and the traditional town are what distinguish it from the resort strips north and south.
Life recorded at Ras El Quseir
64 species within 1.5 km · OBISGymnothorax javanicusrare · 1 recordsTaeniura lymmarare · 1 records
Haliophis guttatusrare · 3 records
Paracirrhites forsterirare · 3 records
Monotaxis grandoculisrare · 3 records
Gnatholepis caudimaculatarare · 2 records
All 64 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Haliophis guttatus | rare | 3 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | rare | 3 |
| Monotaxis grandoculis | rare | 3 |
| Gnatholepis caudimaculata | rare | 2 |
| Amblyeleotris steinitzi | rare | 2 |
| Myripristis murdjan | rare | 2 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | rare | 2 |
| Siganus luridus | rare | 2 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 2 |
| Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos | rare | 2 |
| Ctenogobiops crocineus | rare | 2 |
| Ecsenius gravieri | rare | 2 |
| Pomacentrus trichrourus | rare | 2 |
| Pterois miles | rare | 2 |
| Dascyllus abudafur | rare | 2 |
| Dascyllus marginatus | rare | 1 |
| Dascyllus trimaculatus | rare | 1 |
| Epibulus insidiator | rare | 1 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | rare | 1 |
| Lutjanus ehrenbergii | rare | 1 |
| Malacanthus latovittatus | rare | 1 |
| Mulloidichthys flavolineatus | rare | 1 |
| Mulloidichthys vanicolensis | rare | 1 |
| Neoglyphidodon melas | rare | 1 |
| Platax orbicularis | rare | 1 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | rare | 1 |
| Pseudochromis fridmani | rare | 1 |
| Stegastes nigricans | rare | 1 |
| Synodus dermatogenys | rare | 1 |
| Synodus variegatus | rare | 1 |
| Taeniura lymma | rare | 1 |
| Tridacna maxima | rare | 1 |
| Amblygobius albimaculatus | rare | 1 |
| Amblygobius nocturnus | rare | 1 |
| Blenniella periophthalmus | rare | 1 |
| Cryptocentrus caeruleopunctatus | rare | 1 |
| Eviota guttata | rare | 1 |
| Petroscirtes mitratus | rare | 1 |
| Plagiotremus tapeinosoma | rare | 1 |
| Pseudodax moluccanus | rare | 1 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | rare | 1 |
| Cypraea pantherina | rare | 1 |
| Heniochus intermedius | rare | 1 |
| Neopomacentrus miryae | rare | 1 |
| Tripneustes gratilla | rare | 1 |
| Aetobatus ocellatus | rare | 1 |
| Glossodoris hikuerensis | rare | 1 |
| Pomacanthus maculosus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Rhombosepion prashadi | rare | 1 |
| Fromia ghardaqana | rare | 1 |
| Mauritia arabica | rare | 1 |
| Astroboa nuda | rare | 1 |
| Bodianus anthioides | rare | 1 |
| Callechelys marmorata | rare | 1 |
| Callyspongia crassa | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | rare | 1 |
| Chromis viridis | rare | 1 |
| Chromis weberi | rare | 1 |
| Chrysiptera unimaculata | rare | 1 |
| Conus catus | rare | 1 |
| Conus nussatella | rare | 1 |
| Conus tessulatus | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in El Quseir
Explore all sitesEl Mina0.2 km
El QuseirA five-minute speedboat hop off El Quseir's harbour, dived for a seagrass patch among the coral rather than for any one formation.
Anemone Garden0.5 km
El QuseirA plateau at about 20 m off Ras El Quseir carrying one continuous field of anemones, which is why guides call it Nemo City.
Aquarium1.0 km
El QuseirA boat drift on the wall just north of El Quseir town: free descent, along the wall, out over the plateau to the drop-off.
Oma Sukan4.8 km
El QuseirA zodiac drift ten minutes north of El Quseir harbour: down a wall to 18 m, then south into a field of pinnacles.
El Quadim South6.8 km
El QuseirThe southern end of the El Quadim Bay house reef at El Quseir, one of three catalogue pins on the same sheltered wadi-mouth bay.
El Quadim6.9 km
El QuseirA capped, walk-in house reef in a protected bay: 5 m of reef top, then a wall.
Been here? Log it.
SeaLog imports your dives from your dive computer or Apple Watch, tracks every animal you see, and keeps your logbook safe forever.
Download SeaLog