Advanced divers and up
Is it worth the trip?
81Good out of 100 for your dates
Best on Fri 6: Sea: flat, Visibility about 20 m, Water 27 °C
Tue 3 · 83 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.2 mflat
- Wind
- 9 kn
- Gusts
- 11kn
- Air
- 29°C
Wed 4 · 76 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.5 m
- Wind
- 16 kn
- Gusts
- 21kn
- Air
- 29°C
Thu 5 · 80 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 13 kn
- Gusts
- 18kn
- Air
- 27°C
Fri 6 · 84 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.2 mflat
- Wind
- 4 kn
- Gusts
- 15kn
- Air
- 25°C
Sat 7 · 83 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.3 m
- Wind
- 9 kn
- Gusts
- 13kn
- Air
- 25°C
Sun 8 · 75 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.5 m
- Wind
- 16 kn
- Gusts
- 23kn
- Air
- 24°C
Mon 9 · 80 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 13 kn
- Gusts
- 19kn
- Air
- 24°C
Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast
Forecast: next 9 days
Full forecast- Tue 383, good
- Wed 476, good
- Thu 580, good
- Fri 684, good
- Sat 783, good
- Sun 875, good
- Mon 980, good
- Tue 1071, good
- Wed 1176, 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.
| Day | Score | Sea | Wind | Gusts | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3Nov | 83, good | 0.2 mflat | 9 kn | 11kn | 29°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 76, good | 0.5 m | 16 kn | 21kn | 29°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 80, good | 0.4 m | 13 kn | 18kn | 27°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 84, good | 0.2 mflat | 4 kn | 15kn | 25°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 83, good | 0.3 m | 9 kn | 13kn | 25°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 75, good | 0.5 m | 16 kn | 23kn | 24°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 80, good | 0.4 m | 13 kn | 19kn | 24°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 71, good | 0.7 m | 19 kn | 28kn | 25°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 76, good | 0.6 m | 16 kn | 26kn | 24°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 06:44 −0.3 mHigh 13:18 +0.2 mLow 19:42 −0.3 m
- Wed 4 NovHigh 01:56 +0.2 mLow 08:01 −0.3 mHigh 14:24 +0.2 mLow 20:47 −0.4 m
- Thu 5 NovHigh 03:04 +0.2 mLow 09:06 −0.3 mHigh 15:21 +0.3 mLow 21:42 −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
Shaab Hamdallah 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
5 places
- Middle Reef 9.2 km away
- الإسم العربي ؟ 9.4 km away
- Middle Reef (2) 9.7 km away
- Spit Reef 11.1 km away
- Panorama Reef 13.8 km away
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About Shaab Hamdallah
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 30°C in August, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Soma Bay. Within 5 km we also list 7 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 20 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Aug, Sep and Oct (about 25 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$805–US$1,630 each
about US$805–US$1,630 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
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return ORD to RMF, estimated from distance and season, changing at ZRH, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$678–US$1,410 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$27–US$40 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$47–US$81 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$54–US$101 |
| Total | about US$805–US$1,630 |
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: Soma Bay
Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn
about 45 min by car · 11 places to stay
about US$20/nightcountry average
About Soma Bay 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 23h 40m
About 23h 40m door to door from Chicago
Fly ORD → RMF, changing at Zürich Airport (ZRH), then 2h 35m by road
Flights ORD → RMF 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 Soma Bay · GetYourGuideDive gear hire in Soma Bay · GetYourGuide
Dive centres nearby
Dive Center 13 km
Diving Medicine Center 18 km
Fred Lombard 19 km
Nemo 19 km
Freedom Divers 19 km
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
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.
Bluespotted ribbontail ray Taeniura lymmaRay
Seen in 168 records.
Aetobatus ocellatusRay
Seen in 9 records.
Hawksbill sea turtle Eretmochelys imbricataSea turtle
Seen in 52 records, mostly Jun to Nov.
Common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatusWhale or dolphin
Seen in 6 records.
Day octopus Octopus cyaneaOctopus
Seen in 34 records, mostly Sep to Feb.
Common octopus Octopus vulgarisOctopus
Seen in 5 records.
Striped pyjama nudibranch Chromodoris quadricolorNudibranch
Seen in 28 records, mostly Dec to May.
Spanish dancer Hexabranchus sanguineusNudibranch
Seen in 10 records, mostly Nov to Feb.
African rainbow dorid Chromodoris africanaNudibranch
Seen in 8 records.
Variable wart slug Phyllidia varicosaNudibranch
Seen in 7 records.
Warty wart slug Phyllidiella pustulosaNudibranch
Seen in 7 records.
Dottyback split-tooth dorid Hypselodoris pulchellaNudibranch
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; NABU|naturgucker. 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.