Sha'ab Rumi

Sha'ab Rumi is a reef north of Port Sudan with a lagoon inside it, and in 1963 Jacques Cousteau built Conshelf II on the seabed there, an underwater village where a team lived for a month at depth as an experiment in human habitation of the sea. The onion-shaped garage for the diving saucer still stands on the bottom along with tool sheds and fish pens, encrusted after sixty years and dived regularly.

What you actually see

• The Conshelf II remains - the garage, sheds and fish pens still on the seabed.
• The 1963 experiment - the month a team spent living underwater at the site.
• The reef wall - the outer drop where sharks patrol the current.
• The lagoon - the sheltered water inside the reef ring.

When to go

November to April has the best conditions. Sharks are most reliable on the outer wall in the cooler months. Liveaboards work the reef through the season.

Honest expectations

The structures are encrusted and less recognisable than photographs suggest. The outer wall has strong currents and is not a beginner dive. Dive operations out of Port Sudan are limited and must be arranged.

Nearby

Port Sudan is south, and Sanganeb is southeast.