Torfet Ali

Torfet Ali, also called Torfet Ghalib, was discovered by Vanessa Ronecker in spring 2008 and named after the boat captain Ali Bakar. One of the five sites in the group, Halg Nigma, is a cut in the reef whose name comes from a fishermen's fable about a star that fell from the sky and severed the reef. It is a dive guide favourite and has a red anemone and a large individual coral colony, a wall of staghorn coral tumbling from the surface to 15 m. Halg Nigma's large pinnacle has swarms of glassfish and sweepers, trevallies and groupers, fang blennies in worm holes, and pipefish.

The group also includes Torfet Abu Shash, a large sandbank with coral blocks and a large pinnacle at its northern point, teeming with fish and shrimp. Large schools of unicornfish swim along the reef at Torfet Abu Shash. At Shaab Ghalib, schools of fusiliers accompany the dive over coral beds and sand strips, and there are whip coral gobies and plenty of butterflyfish, angelfish and goatfish. Villa (Kharafi) has one of the most diverse hard coral gardens in the area. Tuna, amberjack, clownfish, sweetlips and turtles also appear in the group.