Gotta Abu Ramada West

It is probably the most popular reef of Hurghada, offering an excellent diving conditions for both beginners and experienced diver. It consist of a huge coral block, located close by the Abu Ramada Island from which the name Gotta (“a piece”) Abu Ramada comes from. Due to its size, the reef was divided into two diving sites: East and West. The place is often called “aquarium” – why? Find out yourself!

The mooring is located on the southern, least interesting side of the reef. The whole sandy plateau, on which the reef is plateau, on which the reef is placed, is filled with clusters of corals hiding many secrets. East part: we begin our dive from the east-southern side of the reef with about 10-12 m under the boat. On the way we keep the reef on the left side. At about 20 m from the reefs’ wall should run into three ergs completely covered with soft corals attracting massive amount of fishes. The ergs are located in the line from the south to the north, one after another, parallel to the reefs main wall. Their shapes are most peculiar, as it they were made out of lava. After seeing the third erg we turn back keeping this time closer to the reefs main wall.

Wet part: the boat will be moored to the south-west side of the reef, exactly in the straight line to the smaller erg where we begin our diving. One can often spot a Turtle feeding on some soft corals covering the peak of the erg. Then, we take direction north and in about 15 m from the reefs main wall we will run into two grown together bog ergs forming a saddle. It is very attractive place with very rich underwater life. You can dive around the erg even few times, passing through the saddle and making figure “eight”. Afterwards, we head to the reefs main wall and depending on the level of the air we are either continue north or return to the boat.

This place is famous for its huge amount and variety of soft and hard corals with dominance of Brain Corals, the largest and most beautiful in the region. Moreover, as the nickname of the reef – aquarium – shows, it is home of many kinds of fish in huge quantities. The main reef is flooded with species of Goat Fish, Banner Fish, Batter fly and Sweet lips. Not so far away from the reef we can spot hunting species of Barracudas and Trevallies, as well as schools of Fusiliers passing by. Also magnificent samples of Scorpion Fish, Stone Fish, Crocodile Fish, Lion Fish can be found at the bottom of the reef. In the coral garden surrounding the reef we will encounter a lot of Stingrays, Moray Eels and sometimes Turtles as well. At the eastern side of the reef one should look out for Eagle Ray residing there.