Question 1

Where is Ras Torombi?

Accepted Answer

On the coast north of Port Ghalib, at the northern end of the range that Port Ghalib day boats work. Published distances do not agree: a dive-log directory puts the site 25 km north of Port Ghalib and 2 km offshore, while the catalogue pin sits roughly 15 km up the coast and close in. What every source does agree on is that it is the furthest north of the Port Ghalib sites and reached by boat.

Question 2

How deep is Ras Torombi?

Accepted Answer

There is no operator-published figure for the headland itself. A dive-log directory gives a 40 m maximum, while the Port Ghalib operator that describes the adjacent sandy Trombi site puts that one at 5 to 30 m. The conservative reading used here is 30 m, over hard coral fields, small lagoons and rock. Take the real limit from your briefing.

Question 3

How do you dive Ras Torombi?

Accepted Answer

By boat only, from Port Ghalib, Marsa Alam or one of the centres between them, either on a day boat or as a stop for a liveaboard using it as a check dive or an easy last dive. There is no shore access. Port Ghalib centres otherwise run a mix of jeep and minibus shore dives and daily boat trips, and Torombi sits at the top of the boat range.

Question 4

What is the difference between Ras Torombi, Marsa Torombi, Torombi Garden and Torombi Pinnacles?

Accepted Answer

They are parts of one complex that operators dive differently. Ras Torombi is the headland, named for a reef shaped like a head going into the water, with small rocks and canyons around it. Marsa Torombi is the bay, where deep seagrass means divers keep to the reef walls. Torombi Garden is a small lagoon south of the main bay. Torombi Pinnacles is the pinnacle structure where barracuda school. Ask which one you are booked on.

Question 5

Is Ras Torombi suitable for beginners?

Accepted Answer

It is rated easy and open to all levels, and liveaboards use the area for check dives, which is about as clear a signal of an undemanding site as there is. The caution is topographic rather than published: a headland is exactly where current picks up around a corner, and no operator page rates the current here, so a newer diver should be on a guided profile.

Question 6

What will you see at Ras Torombi?

Accepted Answer

Turtles, eagle rays and snappers are what the Port Ghalib operator names for the headland, over fields of hard table corals and small lagoons. On the pinnacles alongside, schools of barracuda and rays. The OBIS record around this pin adds twinspot snapper, dogtooth tuna, elegant unicornfish, giant moray, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, orangespotted trevally, batfish and a broad spread of butterflyfish, groupers and triggerfish.

Question 7

Is there current at Ras Torombi?

Accepted Answer

Nobody publishes a proper answer. The only rating available is a dive-log directory's limited to none, and no operator page rates it at all. Given that the site is a headland pushing out into open water, the sensible assumption is that it can run around the corner even if the bay behind it does not, so treat the briefing as the source and carry a delayed SMB.

Question 8

Is Ras Torombi the same as Ras El Torfa?

Accepted Answer

No, and the names are easy to confuse in a Port Ghalib booking list. Ras El Torfa is a separate group of sites, including Etnin Galawa, Abu Siyal, Kora Kebir and Shaab Salata, roughly 30 km down the coast to the south of Torombi. Torombi is the northernmost group in the same programme. They are at opposite ends of the same operator's range.

Species	How often	Records
Heniochus intermedius	occasional	7
Halichoeres hortulanus	occasional	5
Chaetodon austriacus	rare	4
Cheilinus lunulatus	rare	4
Paracirrhites forsteri	rare	4
Gymnothorax javanicus	rare	4
Sufflamen albicaudatum	rare	4
Parapercis hexophtalma	rare	4
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	4
Chaetodon paucifasciatus	rare	3
Epibulus insidiator	rare	3
Chaetodon semilarvatus	rare	3
Chlorurus sordidus	rare	3
Coris aygula	rare	3
Arothron diadematus	rare	3
Naso elegans	rare	3
Parupeneus forsskali	rare	3
Parupeneus macronemus	rare	3
Platax orbicularis	rare	3
Priacanthus hamrur	rare	3
Pterois miles	rare	3
Pygoplites diacanthus	rare	3
Taeniura lymma	rare	3
Gymnosarda unicolor	rare	2
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	2
Chaetodon auriga	rare	2
Cyclichthys spilostylus	rare	2
Zebrasoma xanthurum	rare	2
Aethaloperca rogaa	rare	2
Cephalopholis miniata	rare	2
Chromis viridis	rare	2
Dascyllus marginatus	rare	2
Dascyllus trimaculatus	rare	2
Epinephelus tauvina	rare	2
Grammistes sexlineatus	rare	2
Lutjanus bohar	rare	2
Myripristis murdjan	rare	2
Scolopsis ghanam	rare	2
Tridacna maxima	rare	2
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	2
Chaetodon fasciatus	rare	2
Ctenochaetus striatus	rare	2
Flavocaranx bajad	rare	2
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis	rare	2
Pomacanthus maculosus	rare	2
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	2
Tursiops aduncus	rare	2
Abudefduf vaigiensis	rare	2
Octopus cyanea	rare	1
Cheilodipterus macrodon	rare	1
Pomacentrus sulfureus	rare	1
Scorpaenopsis diabolus	rare	1
Synodus dermatogenys	rare	1
Chromis flavaxilla	rare	1
Fistularia commersonii	rare	1
Cypraea pantherina	rare	1
Siganus luridus	rare	1
Abudefduf sexfasciatus	rare	1
Amblyeleotris steinitzi	rare	1
Neoniphon sammara	rare	1

Ras Torombi

Ras Torombi

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Season

Conditions

Questions & answers

Life recorded at Ras Torombi

Nearby sites in Port Ghalib

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