Careless Reef
Also known as: Carless Reef
Two coral pinnacles rising from a plateau between Giftun and Umm Gamar, famous for big morays, turtles and shark sightings in the blue — an advanced site that lives and dies by the current.
Photo: Derek Keats (CC BY 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
- Max depth
- 40 m
- Visibility
- 30 m
- Current
- strong
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Boat time
- 70 min
- Suitable for
- advanced
Site map
Location
Careless Reef is two coral towers rising off a plateau in open water between Giftun and Umm Gamar. Its reputation rests on big animals: bold free-swimming moray eels, turtles, schooling jacks and barracuda, and reef sharks patrolling the blue when conditions line up. Because it sits exposed, current is the deciding factor — when it runs, it runs.
Site highlights
- Two dramatic coral pinnacles on a plateau
- Famously bold free-swimming moray eels
- Grey reef and whitetip sharks in the blue
- Turtles, groupers and big fish schools
Marine life on this site
Nearby dive sites
Small Giftun
The dramatic eastern side of Small Giftun island — a steep wall and plateau swept by current, with gorgonian fans, big Napoleons and the chance of tuna and sharks in the blue.
Umm Gamar
A crescent-shaped island reef north of Hurghada with a sheer eastern wall, three coral towers off the south tip and a glassfish-packed plateau — one of the area's classic deeper reef dives.