Ras Abu Galum

Ras Abu Galum is a coastal protected area in South Sinai, extending along the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba north of the town of Dahab in the direction of Nuweiba. Here granite mountains descend directly to the sea, so that the area combines a desert mountain environment and dry wadis with a narrow coastal strip fringed by coral reefs.

The area was declared a protectorate in the early 1990s, one of a series established along the Gulf of Aqaba coast to conserve the reefs, marine life and desert vegetation. A number of Bedouin families live within it, working in fishing and in services for visitors. No paved road enters the protectorate from the Dahab side, so most visitors arrive on foot or by camel along the coastal track that starts at the Blue Hole, or by boat.

Visitors snorkel and dive on the reefs, walk along the shore and in the wadis, and stay in simple huts and camps run by Bedouin. The protectorate is significant because it preserves a section of coast that dense urban development has not reached, and because it is a source of income for the local Bedouin community.