Sheleniat

Current: Morning N / W, N noon, afternoon N / W
Visibility: J, F, M, A 25-35m, M, J, J, A 20-35m, S, O, N, D 40m
Temperatures: J, F, M 23-25 ° C, A, M, J 26-28 ° C, J, A, S 28-30 ° C, O, N, D, 28-24 ° C
Difficulty: With current very demanding / between the hills very often changing currents
Depth: 3m to 16m

Overview

Sheleniat I is a pearl among the reefs in the area of Wadi Gimal: hills full of corals and on the west side two beautiful lagoons teeming with young barracudas, turtles, octopuses and porcupine fish. And a place where even leopard sharks can be found. What more could a diver's heart desire?

Description

The reef has a width of 150m and a length of 200m. With a depth of 16m it belongs to the very shallow dive sites. The corals here are mostly only 50cm high. The 2 to 4m high hills are the optimal area for damselfish.
On the west side there are two big lagoons, which are connected inside at 6m depth. They are overgrown with stag and mountain corals. On the sandy bottom you will find gobies and crabs living there symbiotically.

The north is bordered by a long block. On the west side, on the other hand, there are four coral mounds from 2 to 8m high.

The east side has an elongated reef wall with single fields of mountain corals and in the outer area isolated 2m high towers. The variety of corals and fish here is indescribable!

To the south are individual lagoons and ancient coral that is home to batfish, large groupers and moray eels.

This is a good night mooring and night diving site.

Around the hills the current often changes and forms swirls.

Hotspots

young barracudas, turtles, octopuses and porcupine fish

Dive Plans

1.Northwest 2.Northeast 3.Night dive

Northwest

After dropping off in the north, dive towards the west. Then through the channel to the main reef and into the first lagoon. There you will find snub nosed dart. Follow the reef and the lagoons further south. In the outer area, with a little luck, you may see a leopard shark.

Northeast

Behind the transverse block we head west. On the north side of the main reef there is a small groove with blue mackerel. Also, scorpion fish or crocodile fish often cavort here. With the reef right shoulder always further back to the boat.

Night dive

Due to the current you should dive at night on the southern side. From Spanish dancers to durban shrimps and from batfish to snake eels everything is possible: shrimps and crabs, sleeping parrotfish or even rabbitfish with their poison spines.