Sha'ab Osam

Sha'ab Osam is named after a young sailor who, in 1994, on one of the first cruises to southern Egypt, spotted from afar the waves breaking over the reef. The reef is a small, circular coral column rising from the bottom to the surface, and it can be circled entirely in a single dive. It became known for a large school of hammerhead sharks, seen regularly for a time, made up of small, curious animals that came close to divers. On the small plateau to the northeast, multicolored soft corals cover the base, and schools of jacks and tuna pass by in the blue. A swim-through cave often shelters schools of reef fish.