Al Lith is the gateway port to the Farasan Banks, a vast, lightly-dived complex of offshore reefs, pinnacles and coral atolls scattered for hundreds of kilometres along Saudi Arabia's southern Red Sea coast, reached almost exclusively by liveaboard. The nearby reef of Shib Habil hosts a scientifically documented seasonal whale-shark aggregation, peaking in spring.
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Water and air temperature across the year.
Al Lith is a small port town about 210 km south of Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's southern Red Sea coast, and the launch point for the Farasan Banks (not to be confused with the Farasan Islands further south near Jizan). The Banks are a sprawling field of submerged coral reefs, pinnacles and atoll-like structures stretching for hundreds of kilometres offshore — a genuine frontier: Saudi Arabia only opened to tourist visas in 2019, and most of these reefs remain barely dived, with no fixed mooring infrastructure and sparse, inconsistent site naming. Diving is almost entirely by liveaboard (the MY Almonda / 'Saudi Explorer' has run Al Lith departures), with itineraries built around wall and 'blue-water' dives on exposed plateaus, drift dives along outer reefs, and macro-rich shallow gardens. The region's headline marine attraction is Shib Habil, a submerged reef platform about 4 km off Al Lith where juvenile whale sharks aggregate seasonally — a site studied extensively by KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) researchers and documented in peer-reviewed work (Berumen, Cochran et al.). Water is warm year-round, peaking around 31–32°C in summer with brutal topside heat, and at its most comfortable (24–29°C) and clearest from roughly October to April. Honest expectations matter here: shark numbers in parts of the Saudi Red Sea have been heavily depleted by fishing, whale-shark encounters are seasonal and never guaranteed, and infrastructure is minimal — this is expedition diving for self-sufficient, experienced divers, not a polished resort destination.
What makes this dive worth the trip.
28 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
6 signature sites at this destination.
Reefs around Dohra Island feature canyon swim-throughs and dramatic reef architecture, with reef sharks frequently seen resting on the sand between coral structures. A regular stop on Al Lith liveaboard routes (sites named locally as 'Dohra Nord' and 'Southeast Dohra'), combining swim-through topography with healthy hard and soft coral cover.
The reefs near Malathu Island are a macro-lover's area, with soft corals and a wealth of small critters on the shallow and mid-depth structures. A gentler, photography-oriented stop relative to the outer drift sites, named on standard Al Lith itineraries as 'South West Malathu'.
A submerged reef platform roughly 4 km off Al Lith — about 5 km long and 600 m wide with an eastward branching reef — and the scientifically documented seasonal aggregation site for juvenile whale sharks, which gather here to feed on spring plankton. Peak abundance is April–May; the sharks are mostly absent July–December. Outside whale-shark season this is a relatively ordinary nearshore reef, and even in season encounters are weather- and plankton-dependent and never guaranteed. Typically snorkelled or shallow-dived around the feeding aggregations rather than dived as a wall.
Reefs around Abu Latt — the only rocky, elevated island in the Banks, ringed by emerald lagoons and seabird colonies — offer a well-developed shallow coral slope from about 3–4 m to 12 m with high cover of Millepora and Acropora, and a deeper Porites framework with up to ~10 m of relief. A 2009 Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation survey found the reef recovering from past disturbance (broken Acropora, partial mortality) but rich in reef fish, with grouper, snapper, abundant giant clams and the occasional shark.
An outer Farasan Banks reef known among operators for thrilling drift dives along its flanks, where current carries divers past hard- and soft-coral walls and schooling reef fish. One of the named sites on standard Al Lith liveaboard itineraries; conditions are exposed and current-dependent, suiting experienced divers comfortable with blue-water drift profiles.
An outer-banks reef named for its gorgonian sea-fan growth, dived as part of the Al Lith liveaboard circuit. Like most Farasan Banks sites it combines coral-covered slopes and walls with the chance of pelagic passage — barracuda, trevally, tuna and reef sharks — in the clear outer water.
Local dive centers, resorts, and hotels.
Verified dive centers, resorts, and hotels around Al Lith (Farasan Banks) will list here — pricing, photos, and direct contact.
