Ras Ghozlani

The dive is a drift along the outer side of the northern tip of Marsa Bareika. Anchoring is prohibited, so the boat follows the group and the guide sets the route on the day. The reef drops steeply from the surface for the first 10 to 15 metres, then eases into a gently sloping sandy plateau scattered with large rocks and coral blocks. Soft corals in pink, green and violet cover the blocks, gorgonians stand among them, and glassfish gather in schools on the towers.

Towards the edge of the plateau the table corals get larger. Where the plateau ends in its drop-off, at 20 to 25 metres, the towers rise from the sand wrapped in soft coral. Clownfish, shrimps and nudibranchs live on the reef, and schools of batfish and groupers move over it.

Turtles are among the animals listed for the site, and the nesting beach just inside the bay makes a sighting plausible.

Table corals are the signature here: broad Acropora plates in numbers that operators call extraordinary, standing beside coral towers draped in glassfish. One Ras Mohammed guide names the site as the first choice when the outer reefs are too rough to dive.

The turtle nesting beach shapes the whole site. The inner bay is closed to divers, and the site itself was closed for many years before it was released, so the dive skirts a protected shoreline.

Dive only the permitted outer sides and keep out of the bay interior; the green and red markers are the boundary.

The current is weak to moderate and flows north to south, so the dive is a drift and the group moves with it. Plan the ascent with the guide.

The table corals break easily. Hold neutral buoyancy over the plateau and keep fins well above the coral.