Staying Home Sucks, home
Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh R17
Sahl Hasheesh, the nearest town, 17 km away. Photo: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Erg Somaya Drift

Dive site · Egypt

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

85Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 83 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
13 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
28°C

Wed 4 · 84 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
13 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
29°C

Thu 5 · 87 out of 100

Sea
0.2 mflat
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
27°C

Fri 6 · 87 out of 100

Sea
0.2 mflat
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
26°C

Sat 7 · 85 out of 100

Sea
0.2 mflat
Wind
13 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
25°C

Sun 8 · 82 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
15 kn
Gusts
21kn
Air
24°C

Mon 9 · 86 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
23kn
Air
25°C

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

Forecast: next 9 days

Full forecast
  1. Tue 383, good
  2. Wed 484, good
  3. Thu 587, good
  4. Fri 687, good
  5. Sat 785, good
  6. Sun 882, good
  7. Mon 986, good
  8. Tue 1079, good
  9. Wed 1185, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 20 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 27 °C3 mm wetsuit
  • Faces Eswell 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 Erg Somaya Drift
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Tue 3Nov83, good0.3 m13 kn19kn28°C
Wed 4Nov84, good0.3 m13 kn17kn29°C
Thu 5Nov87, good0.2 mflat11 kn17kn27°C
Fri 6Nov87, good0.2 mflat11 kn17kn26°C
Sat 7Nov85, good0.2 mflat13 kn20kn25°C
Sun 8Nov82, good0.3 m15 kn21kn24°C
Mon 9Nov86, good0.3 m11 kn23kn25°C
Tue 10Nov79, good0.5 m16 kn26kn24°C
Wed 11Nov85, good0.3 m12 kn25kn24°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

  • Tue 3 NovHigh 00:36 +0.1 mLow 06:47 −0.3 mHigh 13:21 +0.2 mLow 19:41 −0.3 m
  • Wed 4 NovHigh 01:53 +0.2 mLow 08:01 −0.3 mHigh 14:26 +0.2 mLow 20:48 −0.4 m
  • Thu 5 NovHigh 03:00 +0.2 mLow 09:05 −0.4 mHigh 15:24 +0.3 mLow 21:44 −0.4 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.

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

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Erg Somaya Drift

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 E: swell from the E reaches it, and wind from the W blows out to sea. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 13 km away. The sea is about 23°C in January, its coldest month (5 mm wetsuit), and 29°C in August, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Sahl Hasheesh. Within 5 km we also list 17 dive sites.

  • 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 10 km, the nearest 13 km away.

Water about 27°C: 3 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 25 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep and Oct (about 30 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$792–US$1,600 each

about US$792–US$1,600 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 2 November 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to SSH, estimated from distance and season, changing at IST, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$664–US$1,380
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$27–US$40
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$47–US$81
Food7 days eating outabout US$54–US$101
Totalabout US$792–US$1,600

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: Sahl Hasheesh

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Sahl Hasheesh

about 30 min by car · 10 places to stay

about US$20/nightcountry average

See 10 places to stay in Sahl Hasheesh · Booking.com

About Sahl Hasheesh its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$20 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

Getting there: about 22h 55m

About 22h 55m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → SSH, changing at İstanbul Airport (IST), then 2h by road

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

In the water

Dive centres nearby

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.

  • Bluespotted ribbontail ray Taeniura lymmaRay

    Seen in 5 records.

  • Sea goldie Pseudanthias squamipinnis

    Seen in 9 records.

  • Giant moray Gymnothorax javanicus

    Seen in 8 records.

  • Red Sea clownfish Amphiprion bicinctus

    Seen in 6 records.

  • Annella mollis

    Seen in 4 records.

  • Sling-jaw wrasse Epibulus insidiator

    Seen in 4 records.

  • Redtoothed triggerfish Odonus niger

    Seen in 4 records.

  • Whip coral Cirrhipathes anguina

    Seen in 3 records.

  • Whitetail dascyllus Dascyllus aruanus

    Seen in 3 records.

  • Crystal coral Galaxea fascicularis

    Seen in 3 records.

  • Litophyton arboreum

    Seen in 3 records.

  • Parapercis hexophtalmaSandperches

    Seen in 3 records.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO) and GBIF.org (1 November 2026, doi:10.15468/dl.jeesns), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS and GBIF; common names from the Catalogue of Life, the GBIF Backbone and Wikidata. Largest datasets here: Programme BioObs: observations naturalistes en milieux aquatiques-Observations de BioObs.; Programme CROMIS: carnet de plongée en ligne de la FFESSM-Observations d'espèces subaquatiques collectées par les utilisateurs de CROMIS; iNaturalist Research-grade Observations. Credits

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