Umm Gamar
Also known as: Umm Gammar, Mother of the Moon
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.
Photo: Derek Keats (CC BY 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
- Max depth
- 30 m
- Visibility
- 25 m
- Current
- moderate
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Boat time
- 75 min
- Suitable for
- open-water, advanced
Site map
Location
Umm Gamar — 'Mother of the Moon' — is a long crescent island whose reef drops away sharply on the eastern side. The southern plateau holds three coral towers riddled with caves and overhangs that fill with shimmering glassfish, often shadowed by hunting groupers and lionfish. Drop down the wall and you are in classic Red Sea blue-water territory, with turtles and the occasional passing pelagic.
Site highlights
- Three coral towers ("the Three Sisters") off the south plateau
- Sheer drop-off on the eastern wall
- Caves and overhangs packed with glassfish
- Groupers, morays and visiting turtles
Nearby dive sites
Careless 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.
Shabruhr Umm Gamar
A line of submerged ergs and a coral ridge just south of Umm Gamar island, scattered with small wreckage — a quieter, deeper alternative to its famous neighbour.