SeaLog
Certification required
AOW
Um Hal Hal (Shaab Quais)
Egypt · reef · advanced
3–30 madvancedAOWboat entry
Um Hal Hal (Shaab Quais)
Two ergs at the edge of a plateau 400 m southeast of Middle Reef, with a wall dropping away at 30 m and a current that keeps divers out of the water most days.
Max depth3–30 m
Required leveladvanced
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Um Hal Hal, also written Umm Hal Hal and known as Shaab Quais, sits about 400 m southeast of Middle Reef on the offshore Safaga ground. The structure is compact and easy to picture: two ergs stand at the edge of a plateau and come up to about 3 m short of the surface. On the inside, to the west, the plateau lies at 16 m. On the outside, to the east, it steps down to a wide ledge at 22 to 24 m. Roughly 80 m further east a steep wall starts at 30 m and drops away, broken by overhangs. Because the site is small you dive it by circling the ergs at different depths rather than by covering ground.
The name is the warning. Hal Hal translates as troubled or restless sea, and it is earned: the ergs are shallow enough to get no shelter at all from wind and swell. Blue Submarine and Diving-top both rate the site 5 on their five-step scale, the top of their range, and both say current is almost always present and often strong. Swiss Wellness Dive Club is blunter, putting it at nine times out of ten too strong to get in the water at all. Ducks Safaga lists it as needing very good conditions. Boat time from Safaga is about 80 minutes.
When it goes, it goes well. Swiss Wellness Dive Club reports leopard grouper, turtles, goatfish, whitetip reef sharks and schooling bannerfish on the reef, with schools of small tuna and large solitary tuna out on the drop-off and Spanish mackerel in season. Seawolf's account adds mullet, script filefish and surgeonfish, and describes soft coral and sea fans as the dominant growth with table corals scattered through; Blue Submarine and Diving-top both single out the gorgonians. Red Sea leopard grouper, sohal surgeonfish, purple tang, giant clam and slate-pencil urchin are among the taxa recorded near this pin.
Two things to keep straight. The wall does not stop where your dive does: Blue Submarine and Diving-top quote 80 m for this site, which is the drop-off and not a plan. Thirty metres is the working maximum for the reef, and the 22 to 24 m ledge is where most of the dive happens. And Um Hal Hal is not Middle Reef, its neighbour 1 km northwest, whose plateau runs east towards this one; nor is it the Um Halhalla of the deep south near Hamata, which is a different reef entirely and shows up in the same searches.
- Two ergs rising to 3 m below the surface at the edge of the plateau
- The plateau at 16 m inside and a wide ledge at 22 to 24 m outside
- A steep overhung wall starting at 30 m about 80 m further east
- Soft coral, sea fans and gorgonians rather than hard-coral garden
- Tuna schools and solitary tuna on the drop-off, Spanish mackerel in season
- Leopard grouper, whitetip reef shark and turtles on the reef
Please note before you go
- Current is almost always running and frequently too strong to enter; Swiss Wellness Dive Club puts that at nine days in ten
- The ergs come to within 3 m of the surface with no shelter from wind or swell, which is what the name Hal Hal refers to
- The wall east of the plateau starts at 30 m and keeps going far past recreational limits, and there are big fish out there to follow down
- Seawolf notes the site asks for good air management and navigation, particularly on the deeper wall section
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Boat only, about 80 minutes from Safaga per both Blue Submarine and Diving-top, on the offshore ground about 400 m southeast of Middle Reef. Treat it as a site your centre offers when the weather allows rather than one you book. Both operators rate it 5 of 5 for difficulty, their top bracket, so expect to be asked about your experience.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Rules and permits
Safaga's diving ground is managed as a protected marine area. Divernet reports that local authorities, NGOs and international bodies have worked on it since 1995, that dive centres are required to follow strict environmental procedures, and that monitoring maintains mooring buoys on all the main dive sites, so boats moor rather than anchor.
Season
March to May and September to November are the calmest and clearest windows in the Egyptian Red Sea, and calm is the whole question at Um Hal Hal, which needs exceptional conditions to be dived at all. Spanish mackerel schools are reported on the drop-off seasonally. Water sits at about 21 C in February and 29 C in August, so a short suit works in high summer and 5 mm or more from January to April.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentstrong
Surgemoderate
WaterSalt water
Depth range3–30 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsquiet
There is no typical day here, only the rare workable one. Expect current, expect chop over the ergs, and expect the trip to be called off more often than it runs. On a good day: clear offshore water, a 16 m plateau on the inside, a 22 to 24 m ledge outside and the wall lip at 30 m. Water runs from about 21 C in February to 29 C in August.
On current: Current is the defining feature. Blue Submarine and Diving-top both say it is almost always present and often strong; Swiss Wellness Dive Club puts it at nine times out of ten too strong to enter the water, and describes the site as needing exceptional conditions to reach at all. On top of that the ergs top out only 3 m below the surface with nothing upwind of them, so the water above the reef is choppy even on days that are workable. Nobody publishes a measured figure, and nobody needs to: the operators simply do not go when it runs.
Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov
Questions & answers
How deep is Um Hal Hal?
The ergs top out about 3 m below the surface, the plateau sits at 16 m on the inside and steps down to a wide ledge at 22 to 24 m on the outside, and a wall starts at 30 m roughly 80 m further east. Blue Submarine and Diving-top quote 80 m for the site, but that is where the drop-off goes, not a dive plan. Thirty metres is the working maximum.
Why is Um Hal Hal so hard to dive?
Current and exposure. Blue Submarine and Diving-top both say current is almost always present and often strong, and Swiss Wellness Dive Club reckons it is too strong to enter the water nine times out of ten. The two ergs come to within 3 m of the surface with nothing upwind to shelter them, which is where the name comes from: Hal Hal means troubled or restless sea.
What certification do you need for Um Hal Hal?
Bring depth experience. Blue Submarine and Diving-top both rate it 5 on their five-step scale, their hardest bracket. The ledge outside the ergs is at 22 to 24 m and the drop-off lip is at 30 m, both past Open Water limits, so Advanced with a deep qualification is the realistic entry point. Seawolf also flags air management and navigation on the wall section.
How do you get to Um Hal Hal?
By day boat from Safaga, about 80 minutes according to both Blue Submarine and Diving-top. The reef lies roughly 400 m southeast of Middle Reef on the offshore ground. In practice it is not a site you book: your centre decides on the morning whether the sea and the current allow it, and most days they do not.
What will you see at Um Hal Hal?
Leopard grouper, turtles, goatfish, whitetip reef sharks and schooling bannerfish over the reef, with schools of small tuna and large solitary tuna out on the drop-off and Spanish mackerel schools in season. Seawolf adds mullet, script filefish and surgeonfish. The growth is soft coral, sea fans and gorgonians rather than a hard-coral garden, with scattered table corals.
Is Um Hal Hal the same as Middle Reef?
No, though they are close and often dived on the same day. Middle Reef is a large circular reef about 1 km northwest with dozens of shallow ergs on its southeast corner and a wide plateau running east towards Um Hal Hal. Um Hal Hal itself is just the two ergs at the plateau edge and the wall behind them. It is also not Um Halhalla in the deep south near Hamata, which is a different reef.
When is the best time to dive Um Hal Hal?
March to May and September to November, when the Egyptian Red Sea is calmest and clearest, because calm is the only thing standing between you and this dive. Spanish mackerel are reported on the drop-off seasonally. Water runs from about 21 C in February to 29 C in August, so a short suit in high summer and 5 mm or more with a hood from January to April.
Can you snorkel Um Hal Hal?
No. The tops of the ergs are only 3 m down, so in theory there is something to see, but this is a reef 80 minutes offshore whose defining property is a current that is often too strong for divers to get in at all, over water that stays choppy because nothing shelters it. It is not a snorkelling site and no operator treats it as one.
Life recorded at Um Hal Hal (Shaab Quais)
50 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmarare · 2 records
Chlorurus gibbusoccasional · 5 records
Arothron diadematusrare · 3 records
Halichoeres hortulanusrare · 3 records
Pseudanthias taeniatusrare · 3 records
Pseudobalistes fuscusrare · 3 records
All 50 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Chlorurus gibbus | occasional | 5 |
| Arothron diadematus | rare | 3 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | rare | 3 |
| Pseudanthias taeniatus | rare | 3 |
| Pseudobalistes fuscus | rare | 3 |
| Heterocentrotus mamillatus | rare | 2 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | rare | 2 |
| Chaetodon melannotus | rare | 2 |
| Taeniura lymma | rare | 2 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | rare | 2 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | rare | 2 |
| Fusigobius neophytus | rare | 1 |
| Hologymnosus annulatus | rare | 1 |
| Lutjanus ehrenbergii | rare | 1 |
| Monotaxis grandoculis | rare | 1 |
| Neopomacentrus miryae | rare | 1 |
| Novaculichthys taeniourus | rare | 1 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | rare | 1 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | rare | 1 |
| Pseudodax moluccanus | rare | 1 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | rare | 1 |
| Scarus frenatus | rare | 1 |
| Siganus luridus | rare | 1 |
| Tridacna maxima | rare | 1 |
| Tridacna squamosa | rare | 1 |
| Gnatholepis caudimaculata | rare | 1 |
| Acanthurus sohal | rare | 1 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | rare | 1 |
| Caesio striata | rare | 1 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | rare | 1 |
| Plectropomus marisrubri | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus trichrourus | rare | 1 |
| Ptereleotris evides | rare | 1 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | rare | 1 |
| Stegastes lacrymatus | rare | 1 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | rare | 1 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | rare | 1 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | rare | 1 |
| Pedum spondyloideum | rare | 1 |
| Amblyeleotris steinitzi | rare | 1 |
| Anampses twistii | rare | 1 |
| Calcinus rosaceus | rare | 1 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon trifascialis | rare | 1 |
| Chromis viridis | rare | 1 |
| Dascyllus trimaculatus | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in Safaga
Explore all sitesMiddle Reef Safaga1.1 km
SafagaA big circular reef east of Safaga dived for its hard coral, with a plateau of sand lanes and coral ridges running half a kilometre east toward Hal-Hal.
Abu Kafan North4.7 km
SafagaThe north end of Safaga's narrow offshore pinnacle: a negative entry onto a 25 m plateau, then a drift northeast to the eastern drop-off.
Abu Kafan5.1 km
SafagaA 300 m sliver of reef standing up out of deep water off Safaga, with a plateau at each end and a wall between them that goes down past 100 m.
Abu Kafan South5.4 km
SafagaThe south end of the Abu Kafan reef: a mooring dive out past a large erg that meets the main reef at 18 m, and the end that still runs when the north drift does not.
Panorama Reef, Safaga6.4 km
SafagaThe main Panorama dive: a mooring on the sheltered southwest corner, an anemone field and a gorgonian drop-off on the south plateau, and a wall under it.
Panorama Reef North7.0 km
SafagaThe north plateau of Panorama Reef: a one-way drift off the beacon end, with a northerly current that decides whether the dive happens at all.
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