Umm Gamar South

Overview

Umm Gamar South is the gentler, sun-drenched end of the "Mother of the Moon" reef off North Hurghada — a broad coral plateau at the island's southern tip, sloping easily into the blue and famous for its turtle-grazed coral garden. Where the northern point is all walls, pinnacles and current, the south is welcoming and forgiving, which makes it a brilliant all-levels dive and a favourite second dive after working the north. It is a boat dive, around 90 minutes from Hurghada, and one of the most reliably enjoyable plateaus in the area.

The Dive

The southern plateau sits at roughly 14–24m and is the heart of the dive: a healthy coral garden over a gently sloping bottom, easy to explore at a relaxed pace. Smaller coral pinnacles and outcrops break up the plateau and give the fish somewhere to school, and a sandy slope leads off toward deeper water. There is no need to push depth — keep a sensible recreational floor around 30m and spend the dive grazing the garden and the plateau edge, where the light is good and the coral is dense. The southern position offers natural shelter, so conditions here are typically calmer than at the northern tip.

Current on the plateau is usually mild to moderate, making this an approachable dive for newer divers as well as a relaxed option for the experienced. Good buoyancy keeps you safely off the coral as you potter through the garden.

Marine Life

The plateau's coral garden is a turtle magnet — green and hawksbill turtles are regularly seen cropping the soft corals — alongside batfish, moray eels and Napoleon wrasse. Schools of colourful reef fish swirl over the coral heads: butterflyfish, angelfish, parrotfish, anthias and glassfish in clouds around the pinnacles. The sheltered, shallow setting and clear water make it a lovely site for unhurried fish-watching and photography.

Good to Know

North Hurghada dives year-round, most comfortably April to November, with water from about 21°C in winter to 28°C in summer; visibility is usually a clear 20–30m. As an offshore site it is a full day-boat outing of roughly 90 minutes each way, and its calm, shallow plateau makes it well suited to all levels — a natural pairing with the more demanding northern pinnacles for a complete day on the reef.