This is Egypt
Marsa Alam, Fury Shoals & the Deep SouthIntermediatereef

Umm Aruk (St John's Caves)

Also known as Um Arouk; Umm Kharareem; Umm Chararim; Um El Khararim; St John's Caves; Umm Khararim; Umm Kharareem Caves

A maze-like system of shallow tunnels, caverns and canyons pierced by shafts of light - one of the Red Sea's best-known cavern dives

No detailed dive map yet

A close-up reef map of Umm Aruk (St John's Caves) will appear here when available.

A maze-like system of shallow tunnels, caverns and canyons pierced by shafts of light - one of the Red Sea's best-known cavern dives. 'Swiss cheese' passages lined with soft corals, with a hard-coral garden on top. Depth 0–15 m; liveaboard only. Red Sea Protectorates / Marsa Alam–Wadi el Gemal marine park area; Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) Red Sea Protectorates, with HEPCA involvement in mooring and site management.

Highlights

  • A maze-like system of shallow tunnels, caverns and canyons pierced by shafts of light - one of the Red Sea's best-known cavern dives
  • 'Swiss cheese' passages lined with soft corals, with a hard-coral garden on top

Marine life

  • sea fans
  • soldierfish
  • scorpionfish
  • Napoleon wrasse
  • batfish
  • hard coral garden

Good to know

Protected status
Red Sea Protectorates / Marsa Alam–Wadi el Gemal marine park area; Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) Red Sea Protectorates, with HEPCA involvement in mooring and site management.
Fees
Red Sea marine park / environmental fees have been levied intermittently; HEPCA records that as of January 2011 'no fees collection at all except the entrance fees to Samadai reef'. Day-boat operators commonly bundle a marine-park charge into the trip price.

More sites in Marsa Alam, Fury Shoals & the Deep South

Abu Bassala

Sickle-shaped reef with coral columns, gullies and cracks running down to a sandy bottom at 15-20 m

Abu Dabbab I

Coral garden with pinnacles and a cave

Abu Dabbab II

Caves and swim-throughs

Abu Dabbab III

Hard-coral reef with a cave crossing and a coral garden

Helwa Ya Baladi

Dalida