Location - North of Gota Abu Ramada (between 45 and 75 minutes from Hurghada) a wide swathe of ergs stand on a 12m seabed like a field of mushrooms. They stretch from southwest to northeast and fall into three main zones, Aruk Diana (southwest), Aruk Giftun (central), Aruk Gigi (northeast). ‘Aruk” is simply the Arabic plural for ”erg” but they also go by three other names - Aruk Tweil, Shaab Kweiss or The Magic Mushrooms. The illustration shows Aruk Diana.

Sea Conditions - In the lee of Giftun Kebir they are well protected but they do catch a strong current from time to time.

 Dive Plan - Any which way you like but take care not to get lost. If you have a poor sense of direction then choose an erg central to the area (e.g., the split erg in the illustration) and use it as a reference, passing by it each time you leave one erg and head to the next. Most people tend to dive around the base of the ergs (the least interesting part). Don’t be afraid to go shallow where the life and colour are most vivid.

Aruk Diana is composed of 7 ergs (6 are illustrated) centred around a central split erg. Aruk Giftun is a group of seven on a rocky seabed. One of the smaller ones has a cavern full of glassfish, lionfish and scorpionfish. Aruk Gigi is an almost straight line of eleven. They are close together and each one is easy to see from the next.

 Marine Life - There are the usual parrotfish, triggerfish and rabbitfish plus blue-spotted rays, morays, various yellowfish and an unusual amount of snowflake morays.