The eastern arm of the Red Sea, which separates the Sinai from Saudi Arabia, is known as the Gulf of Aquaba. It is a huge rift in the sea floor that plunges down thousands of meters into the deep. At the mouth of the gulf is Tiran Island, and it is between Tiran Island and the Sinai that the Straits of Tiran are located. The Straits consist of four reefs, named Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson after the British Cartographers that first mapped the area. These four reefs rise up from the deep all the way to the surface, and are swept daily by fierce currents that occur as the waters from the Gulf flow back and forth through the narrow channel. It is these currents that bring nutrients to corals of the four reefs, and it is the abundance of reef fish that bring in the pelagic fish such as Snappers, Tuna and Barracuda, then come the sharks. White-tip, Grey Reef, Silver-tip, Leopard, Thresher, Tiger and schooling Hammerhead sharks can be found cruising around the walls and across the beautiful deep water coral gardens of these reefs.

Jackson Reef, Tiran:

Thomas Reef, Tiran:

Ras Ghozlani, Ras Mohammed:

This is possibly the simplest of dive sites in the National Park. The currents here are never strong and the diversity of life that can be seen here is outstanding. The shore reef descends down to a plateau that then proceeds out into the sea and then drops away. The topography of the plateau varies between rolling coral gardens and large coral bommies. The most significant features to this site are its huge table corals and Gorgonian fan corals. A huge variety of reef fish live among the corals, turtles come into the site to nest on the shoreline above and Manta Rays glide through the blue.

Shark and Yolanda Reef, Ras Mohammed:

The most famous of the National Parks dive sites is Shark and Yolanda Reef. Here, the variety of all the Parks dive sites is combined to create a dive that is hard to beat. Shark Reef is an 800m wall, with crystal blue water that, during the height of summer, fill with thousands of schooling Snapper and Barracuda, which are hunted by marauding Sharks. It sits on the tip of the Sinai next to Yolanda Reef, which takes its name from a ship that hit the reef and sank in the early ‘80s. Around the outer edge of Yolanda is a beautiful coral garden full of vibrant soft corals and thousands of Anthias. To the west of Yolanda, in the shallows, is what remains of the ships cargo. Toilets and bathtubs lie encrusted in corals and have become home to Giant Morays and a variety of reef fish taking shelter from the currents. Linking Shark and Yolanda together is a saddle, which runs up from the depths onto a shallow plateau between the two reefs and the shore, where turtles can often found feeding on soft corals.

Ras Mohammed National Park:

On the very tip of the Sinai, where the Gulf of Aquaba and the Gulf of Suez meet with the main body of the Red Sea, there is a high cliff wall. It is on this cliff that it is said you can see the outline of the Prophet Mohammed's face looking south over the Red Sea. This is where the Sinai's oldest National Park takes its name. Established in 1983 the Park covers all of the land starting from the tip of the Sinai all the way north to Sharm el Sheikhs main port, and all the waters along the coastline. There are several dive sites in the Park, which vary from sleep wall dives and fast currents to mild drift dives past fabulous coral pinnacles and gardens.

Thistlegorm:

In the Gulf of Suez, between the reefs system of Sha'b Ali and the Sinai Peninsula is where MV Thistlegorm finally came to rest. She was sunk by German bombers in World War 2 while she was entering the Suez Canal. The Thistlegorm was carrying supplies for the Allied troops in North Africa. Her cargo ranges from rifles to steam engines, motorbikes to airplane wings, and it is this extraordinary amount of equipment that makes this dive so interesting. The wreck sits upright on the seabed and has become home to schools of Snapper and Barracuda, and many smaller reef fish. Much of the wreck is encrusted in sponges as well as hard and soft corals. It is possible to penetrate almost all of the wreck and it is in the front two holds that much of the cargo can be found still in tack. This dive is one of the best wreck dives in the world and is a must see for any wreck dive enthusiast.

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