This is the most northerly reef in the Straits of Tiran and is easily identifiable from the visible wreck on its surface of the merchant ship, Lara, which sank in 1985. Here one can expect to see gorgonian and fire corals. One may spot turtles here and the sharks which frequent this area include the Whitetip and Grey Reef Sharks and Hammerheads, particularly in the summer months from July to September.
This is a long narrow reef with no fixed moorings so only drift dives can be performed here and in good weather. You are likely to see jackfish, turtles, sharks and a variety of different corals. The sharks to be seen here include Whitetip and Grey Reef Sharks, Leopard and Hammerhead Sharks.
Believed to be one of the best dive sites in the northern Red Sea, only drift dives are possible here as there are no moorings. Here you will see a variety of corals including gorgonians, colonies of black coral and large Alcyonarians. It is possible to circumnavigate the entire reef on your dive, weather and currents, permitting. You can expect to see many reef fish including Angelfish and groupers as well as pelagic fish e.g. barracuda and the Whitetip Reef Shark.
The most southerly in the Strait of Tiran, Gordon Reef is known for the Lovilla wreck which ran onto the reef in 1981. There is a fixed mooring on the southern side and a rather shallow and wide plateau over which you can dive, making this site easier and safer than the other reefs in Tiran. At this dive site you can expect to see a variety of coral species, Nudibranches, Whitetip Reef Sharks, Hammerheads and spotted eagle rays.
Ras Katy is located at only few minutes from Travco Jetty, the main harbor of Sharm el Sheikh, and from where all our boats in Sharm are departing.
Is a very nice and easy shallow dive, ideal for the first dive in the Red Sea. It is ideal as well for night dives.
Just around the promontory of Ras Um Seid lies Temple dive site. Temple is so-named because here you will find three coral pillars resembling the columns of a classical temple. The pillars descend to a depth of 30m. Reef fauna commonly seen here include butterfly fish, parrot fish, bat fish and lionfish. You may also see a Napoleon Wrasse.
Ras Umm Sid is the name of the promontory with a high lighthouse that marks the beginning of the Strait of Tiran on the western coast. The diving site, easily accessible by land, is immediately east of the lighthouse, opposite the famous Italian restaurant El-Fanar and the African Divers centre. It is renowned for the extraordinary proliferation of gorgonians (Subergorgia hicksoni) that create a veritable forest here, the most beautiful in all the northern Red Sea.
Lying some 31 miles from Sharm El Sheikh, the Thistlegorm is a popular site often visited by divers on day trips as well as liveaboard boats. Built in 1940, the Thistlegorm was a sizeable British transport ship. Early one morning in October 1941 while moored at Sha’ab Ali, she was struck by German bombers and sank. She was carrying a cargo of munitions, anti-tank mines, motorcycles, Bedford trucks, spare parts, tyres and medicines amongst other things for the...
Ras Za’atar is a rocky outcrop of land which plunges almost vertically into the sea. You can descend at the start of your dive to around 28 – 30 metres to enjoy some gorgonian fan corals. There are also some colonies of black coral. Rising back up to a depth of about 15 metres, you will see the reef wall covered with red and pink Alcyonarians. You will also see two splits in the coral which give rise to rather impressive chimneys in which you will...
A dive at Jackfish Alley will give you the opportunity to see some caves and watch the fantastic light effects they produce. As well as Jackfish, you may well see Bluespotted stingrays, Triggerfish, Whitetip Reef Sharks and Manta rays.
This site takes its name from the piece of headland that overlooks this stretch of water. It is a great wall dive and you can enjoy the Alcyonarians and caves and gullies with all their reef life, while still keeping an eye on what may be lurking out in the blue! Whale sharks have been spotted in this area.
Small Crack is a small break in the Sha’ab Mahmud reef system and is navigable by small dive boats only. The passage is 6m deep and 2-3m across with reef walls on both sides. Both hard and soft corals abound here – you can see Gorgonian fans, porites, salad coral and Acropora as well as anemones and their omni-present anemonefish. There is also a small eel garden at a depth of 19m and many species of reef fauna. Pelagic fish also frequent the site.
Some 3 miles west of Ras Mohammed lies a fringing reef (a chain of coral pinnacles) within which you will find a sheltered lagoon with maximum depths of between 10 and 15m. The area has been named The Alternatives as it serves as an alternative for diving when the seas are rough at the more exposed dive sites in the vicinity. There is a mooring (shamandura) on the sheltered side of two of the middle pinnacles so dives are usually conducted around here.
Ras Mohammed is a peninsula of land jutting out into the Red Sea at the southernmost point of the Sinai Peninsula. Most of the Ras Mohammed Peninsula is, in fact, a raised reef plate, indicating that the sea level was once higher than it is today. In 1983 Ras Mohammed was given National Park status, the area the park covers was increased in 1989 to include much of the surrounding seas. There are some 1,000 species of fish and 150 species of coral to be found in the...
Built in Newcastle in 1873, this British steamer met her end in 1876 while bound for Bombay with a cargo of timber and cotton, which were lost in the ship wreck when the ship caught fire. She lies upside-down in 15 – 29.5 metres depth. The dive starts at the stern and takes you inside the hull where yo
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