Staying Home Sucks, home
Thuwal ruins - panoramio
Thuwal, the nearest town, 16 km away. Photo: juhotski, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Al Fahal South

Dive site · Saudi Arabia

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

75Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Sat 7: Sea 0.3 m, Visibility about 10 m, Water 30 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 75 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
9kn
Air
30°C

Tue 3 · 75 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
9 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
31°C

Wed 4 · 76 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
9kn
Air
30°C

Thu 5 · 75 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
5kn
Air
30°C

Fri 6 · 75 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
30°C

Sat 7 · 77 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
30°C

Sun 8 · 74 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
14kn
Air
30°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 183, good
  2. Mon 275, good
  3. Tue 375, good
  4. Wed 476, good
  5. Thu 575, good
  6. Fri 675, good
  7. Sat 777, good
  8. Sun 874, good
  9. Mon 959, fair
  10. Tue 1066, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 20 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 30 °Crash vest or 1 to 2 mm
  • Faces Wswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Al Fahal South
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov83, good0.4 m6 kn10kn31°C
Mon 2Nov75, good0.4 m6 kn9kn30°C
Tue 3Nov75, good0.3 m9 kn13kn31°C
Wed 4Nov76, good0.3 m6 kn9kn30°C
Thu 5Nov75, good0.5 m1 kn5kn30°C
Fri 6Nov75, good0.4 m4 kn10kn30°C
Sat 7Nov77, good0.3 m2 kn6kn30°C
Sun 8Nov74, good0.5 m6 kn14kn30°C
Mon 9Nov59, fair1.2 m15 kn22kn29°C
Tue 10Nov66, good1.1 m11 kn19kn29°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovLow 05:30 −0.3 mHigh 12:02 −0.0 mLow 18:13 −0.1 mHigh 23:26 −0.0 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 06:45 −0.2 mHigh 13:37 +0.0 mLow 19:36 −0.2 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 01:33 −0.0 mLow 07:57 −0.2 mHigh 14:45 +0.0 mLow 20:46 −0.2 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May7of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov7of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More diving near here

4 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Al Fahal South

A reef dive. It goes down to 20 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces W: swell from the W reaches it, and wind from the E blows out to sea. No dive centre within 50 km on the map: book a liveaboard or a boat from further off. The sea is about 26°C in February, its coldest month (3 mm wetsuit), and 32°C in August, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Thuwal. Within 5 km we also list 1 dive site.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 20 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 50 km on the map: book a liveaboard or a boat from further off.

Water about 30°C: rash vest or 1 to 2 mm. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 10 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Nov and Dec (about 10 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,230–US$2,390 each

about US$1,230–US$2,390 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to JED, estimated from distance and season, changing at LHR, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$710–US$1,470
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$100–US$174
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$201–US$328
Food7 days eating outabout US$221–US$415
Totalabout US$1,230–US$2,390

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Thuwal

Closest

Thuwal

29 min by car · 1 place to stay

See 1 place to stay in Thuwal · Booking.com

About Thuwal its beds, food and every spot near it

Nearest town: Thuwal, 16 km. We have not checked places to stay in Thuwal yet. The nearest beds we have counted are in Rābigh, 64 km away. Search before you plan on staying there.

Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 23h 20m

About 23h 20m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → JED, changing at London Heathrow Airport (LHR), then 1h 25m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

No dive centre mapped within 50 km.

Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 20 m, clearer than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.