SeaLog
Getting there
We have found no published account of how this site is dived - shore, boat, or from which base. Its neighbours on this coast are reached by day boat from Safaga and Soma Bay, but we are not recording that as fact for this position.
Ras Umm Hesiwa
Egypt · reef
Ras Umm Hesiwa
A cape about 5 km north of Ras Abu Soma - barely documented, and honestly so.
The dive
Ras Umm Hesiwa is a cape on the Safaga coast roughly 5 km north of the Ras Abu Soma headland, on the stretch running up towards Sharm El Naga. Our own catalogue agrees with that placement: the position sits 6.0 km north of our Ras Abu Soma record and 3.4 km south of Sharm El Naga.
Beyond its geography, almost nothing about the cape itself is published. The dive guides that cover this coast name it mainly as a landmark for the reef next door - Shaab Saiman, 1.1 km to the north-west of our position, a lesser-known reef with a canyon at about 8 m, a reef ridge whose shallowest point is around 2 m and a wide plateau at 15 to 20 m running seaward, divable only in calm weather, with barracuda, groupers, eagle rays and sharks reported. Those figures belong to Shaab Saiman and we have not recorded them as this site's numbers, because a neighbouring reef 1 km away is not the same dive.
We have therefore left depth, visibility, certification, difficulty and entry type null. One dive guide does list a Ras Umm Hesiwa entry with a depth figure, but its own text describes a different site under that heading, so we have not used it. OBIS has recorded only two species at this position, one record each - bicolour parrotfish and speckled sandperch - which tells you how little anyone has surveyed here rather than what lives here.
If you are booking this, ask the operator what they actually mean by the name: on this coast a cape name frequently covers several distinct spots, exactly as 'Ras Abu Soma' does 5 km to the south.
- A cape roughly 5 km north of the Ras Abu Soma headland, towards Sharm El Naga
- Shaab Saiman, a lesser-known reef, lies about 1 km to the north-west
- Very little is published about the cape itself - treat the name as a stretch of coast, not a fixed dive
Access & rules
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentnot sourced
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth rangenot sourced
Environmentreef
Coralrecovering
Crowdsnot sourced
On current: No source publishes a current, depth or visibility figure for the cape itself. The nearby Shaab Saiman reef is described as divable only in calm weather, which is a general caution about this piece of coast rather than a measurement of this site. One dive guide lists a depth for a 'Ras Umm Hesiwa' entry, but the text under that heading describes a different site, so we have not used the figure.
Questions & answers
Where is Ras Umm Hesiwa?
It is a cape on the Safaga coast, roughly 5 km north of the Ras Abu Soma headland on the stretch running up towards Sharm El Naga. Our own catalogue puts the position 6.0 km north of our Ras Abu Soma record and 3.4 km south of Sharm El Naga.
How deep is it?
We do not know, and we have not guessed. No source publishes a depth for the cape itself. One dive guide lists a figure under a 'Ras Umm Hesiwa' heading, but the text beneath it describes a different site, so we rejected it rather than record it.
Is it a shore dive or a boat dive?
No source says. Its neighbours along this coast are worked by day boat from Safaga and Soma Bay, but we are not recording that as a fact for this position. Ask the operator.
What is Shaab Saiman, and is it the same place?
No - it is a separate, lesser-known reef about 1 km north-west of this position, between the cape and Sharm El Naga. It is described with a canyon at around 8 m, a reef ridge coming up to about 2 m and a wide plateau at 15 to 20 m running seaward, divable only in calm weather, with barracuda, groupers, eagle rays and sharks reported. Those are Shaab Saiman's numbers, not this site's.
What will I see?
There is almost no data. OBIS holds two species for this position, one record each: bicolour parrotfish and speckled sandperch. That reflects how little anyone has surveyed this cape rather than what actually lives on it - the neighbouring reefs 5 km south hold the full northern Red Sea reef assemblage.
Should I book a dive here?
If an operator offers it, ask what they mean by the name and what the profile is before you say yes. On this coast a cape name routinely covers several distinct spots - 'Ras Abu Soma', 5 km to the south, is documented as roughly 2 km of reef carrying more than five separate dive sites.
Life recorded at Ras Umm Hesiwa
2 species within 1.5 km · OBISCetoscarus bicolorrare · 1 records
Parapercis hexophtalmarare · 1 records
Nearby sites in Safaga
Explore all sitesShaab Saiman1.1 km
SafagaA hard-coral ridge running parallel to the shore northwest of Ras Umm Hesiwa, split from the main reef by a sandy canyon where whitetips sleep, and divable perhaps one day in ten.
Sharm El Naga3.4 km
SafagaA private bay between Hurghada and Safaga where you walk down a jetty staircase onto a house reef that steps off in stages.
Ras Abu Soma Drift4.7 km
Soma BayThe drift entry for the Ras Abu Soma headland - almost certainly the same reef as our Ras Abu Soma page, listed twice.
Robinson Club Soma Bay Pool5.9 km
Soma BayRas Abu Soma6.0 km
Soma BayThe headland that closes Soma Bay: a wall down one side, a 25 m plateau at the tip, and table corals the size of a car.
Robinson Club Soma Bay House Reef6.3 km
Soma BayThe shore reef off ROBINSON Club's own beach on the Soma Bay peninsula, dived from the sand rather than from the famous jetty a kilometre and a half away.
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