Ras Umm Sid

The dive

Ras Umm Sid is the headland at the southern end of Sharm el-Sheikh, directly below the El Fanar lighthouse. This is the Sharm site, not the Um Sid pin further north near Dahab, which is a different dive under a similar name. The reef plate here pushes out into the bay in shallow turquoise water, then stops and drops away into the main wall. Camel Dive describe the wall running from the surface down to 18 m and forming a plateau that runs about 50 m out to the drop-off; Sharm Scuba Service put the top of the colourful section at 8 m and say it carries on into the blue.

The reason people come is the gorgonians. Camel Dive describe a column of fans from 14 to 28 m, Sharm Club call it one of the best collections of giant sea fans known to Sharm, and the shallower reef either side is hard coral and porites on one hand and soft coral and small pinnacles on the plateau on the other. One of our own divers logged 26.5 m here in September, which is about the depth the fans and the drop-off pull you to.

There are two ways in. From shore you go down at the lighthouse and cross the reef plate on foot, starting level with the row of sun loungers under the cliff. From a boat it is run as a drift along the headland, with a mooring on sand at 25 m. Either way the current does the work and the standard advice is to let it push you off the headland rather than fight back around it.

The corner is the part to plan for. Sharm Scuba Service warn that the current changes direction unexpectedly on the north part of the site where the corner is, and Camel Dive place the pelagic chances exactly there, where the currents meet. In summer, operators list whale sharks, whitetip reef sharks and hammerheads as possible off the corner; treat those as the exception rather than the plan. Barracuda schools, jacks, tuna and a resident cast of Napoleon wrasse, batfish, snappers, scorpionfish and blue-spotted stingrays are the everyday version.

• A column of gorgonian sea fans from about 14 to 28 m on the wall
• The reef plate ending in an abrupt drop-off into the main wall
• A plateau running roughly 50 m out to the edge, with soft coral and small pinnacles
• The corner where the currents meet, and the pelagic traffic that goes with it
• Shore access straight off the headland under the El Fanar lighthouse

Conditions

A drift along a town headland, entered either from the shore below the lighthouse or off a day boat that moors on sand at 25 m. Circle Divers give Sharm sites a year-round visibility band of 15 to 40 m plus, so 25 m is a reasonable middle rather than a best day. Water runs about 20 to 25 C from January to March and 25 to 27 C in November and December by the same centre's figures, with a 5 mm suit the winter standard.

On current: Current is the normal state, not the exception, and it is what the dive is planned around. Sharm Club say it generally runs one way and is sometimes strong, and that the right answer is to let it push you off the headland. Sharm Scuba Service add the important caveat: on the north part of the site, at the corner, the direction changes unexpectedly. That corner is also where Camel Dive place the pelagic sightings, where the currents meet, so the interesting water and the awkward water are the same water. Circle Divers rate the site intermediate and normally run it as a drift.

Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct