Umm Sid

Also known as: Um Sid · Om Sid

Umm Sid lies below the mountains in the Southern Oasis, about 400 m north of the Caves, and is entered from a small beach through a wide sandy corridor cut into the steep reef. Divers swim around and under a huge coral tongue to a sandy slope colonised by garden eels, then continue down into a coral garden where, at about 30 m, the site's signature giant gorgonian fans stand, sheltering longnose hawkfish. On the way up, large table corals from about 18 m shelter groupers and lemon gobies, followed by a reef wall covered in soft corals, anthias and nudibranchs and a large pinnacle for the safety stop where a giant moray lives. Dwarf lionfish, octopus, stonefish, blue-spotted stingrays and occasionally eagle rays, turtles, dolphins or a manta ray complete the picture. Calm seas are needed for the entry, and currents are often strong and hard to predict, especially deeper down, so the site suits divers who are comfortable in current, while the deep gorgonians call for experience.