Dive site
Sha'ab Rumi (Conshelf II)
Red Sea, Sudan
- Typical depth
- 30 m
- Type
- Wreck
- Level
- Advanced
Notes
Cousteau's 1963 underwater habitat ruins.
Marine life
- Rays
- manta ray (occasional), eagle ray
- Corals
- coral encrusting Conshelf II structures, hard coral wall, sea fans
- Sharks
- scalloped hammerhead (schools Mar–Jun on south plateau), grey reef shark (resident on plateau), silvertip, whitetip reef shark, occasional oceanic whitetip
- Turtles
- hawksbill, green
- Pelagics
- barracuda schools, jacks, tuna, wahoo
- Reef fish
- napoleon wrasse, snapper, grouper, anthias
Site features
- Historic Site
- Conshelf II Ruins
- Plateau
- Wall
- Drift
- Hammerhead Aggregation
- Liveaboard Only
- Remote
When to dive
- Best
- Mar–Jun, Oct–Nov
- Avoid
- Jan, Jul–Aug, Dec
Sha'ab Rumi (Roman Reef) is a remote atoll ~50 km NE of Port Sudan and the location of Jacques Cousteau's Conshelf II saturation-diving experiment (1963) — the shark cage, fish corral, garage and tool shed remain on the seabed at 10–27 m, encrusted with coral. South Plateau is the headline dive: a sand-and-coral platform at 25 m where scalloped hammerhead schools cruise the incoming current Mar–Jun, with grey reef sharks year-round. Liveaboard-only out of Port Sudan; spring and autumn intershoulder give the calmest seas.
Conditions & access
- Visibility
- 25–40 m
- Water temp
- 24–30 °C
- Current
- Strong
- Access
- Liveaboard only
- Min cert
- Advanced Open Water + Nitrox; 30 logged dives recommended for the south plateau current and depth
Location
19.9333° N, 37.4000° E
Sources
Curated from 2 sources
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