Top attractions in Sharm el-Sheikh

Discover the best of Sharm El Sheikh

 RasMohamed National Park

The great underwater photographer, Nick Caloyianis was also instrumental in bringing the beauties of Ras Mohammed to the people of Egypt and the world through his underwater filming for the movie made by the Telmassani brothers called “The Treasures of Ras Mohamed".

Located about 30 km south of Sharm El Sheikh in the southernmost part of Sinai Ras Mohamed, with its extraordinary beauty, is one of the most interesting sites in Sinai. Marsa Bareika is a small bay inlet in Ras Mohamed and Marsa Ghozlani is a very small inlet located across from the park visitor's center.

Coral reefs of the fringing and phenotypic types exist along the coast around Ras Mohamed close to the shoreline. More than 220 species of coral can be found in the Ras Mohamed area, 125 of the soft coral. The coral reefs are located 50 to 100cm below the sea surface and they are 30 to 50m wide in most places.

Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef are popular areas of coral reef in the park for divers. Other coral reef sites include South Bereika, Marsa Ghozlani, Old Quay and Shark Observatory.

 Jackson Reef

Jackson Reef is the most northerly reef in Tiran and is known for the wreck, partially demolished in 1996, of the Cypriot merchant ship Lara which sank there in December 1981. Diving here usually begins on the southern side which is sheltered from the waves and wind and there is some fixed mooring line. The reef on the southern side in the shallows is cut with sandy splits and then descends steeply to the sandy seabed at 45m where you can see some Garden eels. Going westwards you will see some gorgonians and a splendid Red Sea anemone at 28m. This is followed by a plateau which connects to the Woodhouse reef by a saddle. The southwest corner, where numerous fire corals can be seen, is subject to a current which can be extremely violent; if conditions are right you can drift dive on the eastern part of the reef. Here, about 15m down is a sandy ledge which sinks into the blue to the north. It is quite easy to spot turtles and large pelagic fish in this zone. Whitetip reef sharks, Grey reef sharks, and scalloped hammerhead are especially common at this point from July to September, so, too, are regular sightings of them on the northern side of the reef out in the blue from the wreck of the Lara.

  Kormoran

This dive site previously had a wreck called Kormoran which sank in 1984; she was lying in the shallows less than 12m down, however, there are only some parts remaining. Nevertheless, you can still enjoy numerous coral gardens surrounded by Shoal surgeonfish and yellow goatfish but you can only dive here in very calm sea conditions.