Sand Island
Dive site · Saudi Arabia
Advanced divers and up
Is it worth the trip?
76Good out of 100 for your dates
2 days tie for best
Tue 3 · 77 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.2 mflat
- Wind
- 6 kn
- Gusts
- 9kn
- Air
- 30°C
Wed 4 · 76 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.2 mflat
- Wind
- 7 kn
- Gusts
- 10kn
- Air
- 30°C
Thu 5 · 76 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.5 m
- Wind
- 3 kn
- Gusts
- 7kn
- Air
- 30°C
Fri 6 · 76 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 6 kn
- Gusts
- 12kn
- Air
- 30°C
Sat 7 · 77 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.3 m
- Wind
- 2 kn
- Gusts
- 10kn
- Air
- 30°C
Sun 8 · 75 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 9 kn
- Gusts
- 14kn
- Air
- 30°C
Mon 9 · 69 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.0 m
- Wind
- 12 kn
- Gusts
- 21kn
- Air
- 29°C
Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Mon 276, good
- Tue 377, good
- Wed 476, good
- Thu 576, good
- Fri 676, good
- Sat 777, good
- Sun 875, good
- Mon 969, good
- Tue 1073, good
- Wed 1173, 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.
| Day | Score | Sea | Wind | Gusts | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2Nov | 76, good | 0.3 m | 5 kn | 8kn | 31°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 77, good | 0.2 mflat | 6 kn | 9kn | 30°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 76, good | 0.2 mflat | 7 kn | 10kn | 30°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 76, good | 0.5 m | 3 kn | 7kn | 30°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 76, good | 0.4 m | 6 kn | 12kn | 30°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 77, good | 0.3 m | 2 kn | 10kn | 30°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 75, good | 0.4 m | 9 kn | 14kn | 30°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 69, good | 1.0 m | 12 kn | 21kn | 29°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 73, good | 0.9 m | 5 kn | 13kn | 29°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 73, good | 0.9 m | 4 kn | 15kn | 29°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
- 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
- Wed 4 NovHigh 03:16 +0.0 mLow 09:00 −0.2 mHigh 15:35 +0.1 mLow 21:43 −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.
Map
the site and its town
Sand Island on Google Maps · Directions
Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.
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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
- Al Fahal South 6.6 km away
- Al Fahal East 6.9 km away
- Al Fahal vis Wreck 7.3 km away
- Al Fahal North 8.1 km away
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About Sand Island
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 25°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.
- 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, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, 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
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return ORD to JED, estimated from distance and season, changing at LHR, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$710–US$1,470 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$100–US$174 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$201–US$328 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$221–US$415 |
| Total | about 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
Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn
about 20 min by car · 1 place to stay
About Thuwal its beds, food and every spot near it
Nearest town: Thuwal, 10 km. We have not checked places to stay in Thuwal yet. The nearest beds we have counted are in Rābigh, 61 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 30m by road
Flights ORD → JED on your dates · AviasalesAdeSIM for your phone · Search on AiraloAd
An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.
In the water
Dives and courses in Thuwal · GetYourGuideDive gear hire in Thuwal · GetYourGuide
Dive centres nearby
No dive centre mapped within 50 km.
Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits
What you might see
Too few records at this site itself, so these are the animals divers and surveys have recorded at other sites within 25 km in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it there, not that you will.
Pseudanthias squamipinnis
Seen in 4 records.
Pygmy Toby Canthigaster pygmaea
Seen in 3 records.
Dusky Cherub Centropyge multispinis
Seen in 3 records.
Six-line wrasse Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
Seen in 3 records.
Pseudochromis fridmani
Seen in 3 records.
Pycnochromis dimidiatus
Seen in 3 records.
Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: d6af0fac-8a21-4d77-8872-f10d471fc0cf; e4dacf5c-6bfa-493e-8699-d65c31435107. Credits
This week's visibility and the current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.
Saved: this link opens the same trip
The link holds the trip itself: nothing about you is kept. Check the forecast again before you book.