Suited to advanced divers and freedivers, Um Bloud features varied terrain and depths. The topography of this site makes for an interesting dive with plenty of marine life. It’s a must for photography enthusiasts! It will also entice technical divers wanting to test themselves at depths beyond 40m. The site is teeming with the resident ‘tarabani’, which is the name given by Arabic fishermen for the Napoleon wrasse. You’ll see plenty of these intelligent yet suspicious fish at Um Bloud, along with anthias, lionfish, schools of yellowstripe goatfish, clownfish and triggerfish with their distinctive blue tails.

At 30m, a sheer wall plunges to depths of more than 50m. It could be the perfect spot for freedivers looking to test their mettle. As with any diving, caution and preparation is essential. Further out, large shoals of jackfish and trevally flit past.

Anella, also known as the Venus fan, might be a regular sight around the region, but the enormous, tree-like corals are particularly impressive at Um Bloud, with graceful branches that span 2 to 3m. The Venus fans dominate the site, along with fire corals and fuchsia-pink carnation corals.

It’s possible to take one of two dive routes at this site, both starting near the sandy, southern platform at 20m. The first offers a beautiful swim along a gently sloped reef wall, and the second breaks away around a pinnacle over a deep drop-off. The routes come back together to loop around a series of column-like coral formations at 12m, which are a gathering point for reef fish. Rays, too, tend to congregate in the shallows beneath these columns.