Sharm El Sheikh: Your Destination To Scuba Diving

Sharm El Sheikh is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. It is a popular Egyptian resort town, which is filled with some of the world’s wonders. The city has recently been a preferred tourist destination with visitors coming from all over the world; as the unique biodiversity of the marine world increases the number of visitors to the region, turning it into a popular destination for snorkeling. It is home to hidden gems with its popular beach resorts, rich underwater habitat, beautiful coral reefs, and unique diving spots.

Sharm El Sheikh has become one of the best dive destinations in the world as a result of its underwater scenery; crystal-clear waters and an incredible variety of exotic fish darting in and out of the colorful coral reefs.

The best sites to dive in Sharm el Sheikh are:

1. SS Thistlegorm Wreck Dive Site

The SS Thistlegorm Wreck is one of the best Wreck dive sites in the world. It is a World War 2 shipwreck located in the North of the Red Sea in the Strait of Gubal. It is a former 128m long British transport ship sunk in 1941 after a German air attack. Despite its time underwater, the wreck remains intact enough to provide breakthrough opportunities for recreational divers. Visitors can see the remains of trucks, motorcycles, and rubber boots. The wreck attracts great marine life. You can encounter all the usual reef fishes of the Red Sea.

You will usually go there on a day trip for 2 dives as it takes 4 hours to reach it from Sharm El Sheikh. Most trips will include a dive around the outside of the wreck, usually at slack tide. The second dive lets divers explore the inside of the wreck with its two distinct decks. It is the perfect spot if you like wreck diving.

2. The Straits of Tiran Dive Site

The Straits of Tiran lie at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba and are bordered on the west by the coast of Sinai and on the east by the island of Tiran. In the middle of this channel are four reefs lying in a northeast-southwest direction that were named after the 19th-century English cartographers who drew the first nautical map of this region: JACKSON REEF, WOODHOUSE REEF, THOMAS REEF, and GORDON REEF. All of them offer colorful, pristine coral reefs and a chance to see pelagic species, including reef sharks, jackfish, and many more.

3. Temple Dive Site

The Temple dive site is located in the northern part of Sharm El Sheikh harbor in Egypt. It is a nice easy dive with interesting topography which can keep you exploring for ages. The sight as its names suggest is made up of several massive coral blocks which rise from the sea bed to within meters of the surface. The main block is surrounded by smaller pinnacles making it look like an ancient underwater temple. The colorful soft and hard corals there offer protection and comfort to a huge variety of marine life including lionfish, stonefish, and parrotfish.

4. Ras Mohammed Dive Site

The Ras Mohammed National Park is one of the best scuba diving sites in the Red Sea and Egypt. Ras Mohammed dive sites are located at the South tip of the Sinai Peninsula about 12km from Sharm El Sheikh making it a very popular scuba diving place for day trips.

Here are some of the Best dive sites of Ras Mohammed National Park:

Shark and Yolanda Reef

These two are rated as some of the most famous dive sites of the Ras Mohammed National Park. Shark Reef is a vertical wall dropping to 700 meters, covered with fantastic corals. The Yolanda Reef has a wide plateau with a coral garden and lots of pinnacle corals. This spot offers a great reef with beautiful coral and teeming reef life. There are many pelagic fishes such as shoals of Barracudas, Jacks, and Trevallies. No trip to Sharm would be complete without diving here.

Ras Ghozlani

A beautiful dive site to dive in the Ras Mohamed Nationa Park. This is a great dive site if you like to observe small reef species. It has a superb array of beautiful table corals, glassfish-covered pinnacles, and a wonderful coral landscape.

Jackfish Alley

Jackfish Alley dive site is a steep wall with several small caves to explore. During June, July, and August, this site is home to spectacularly large schools of jackfish. There are two sandy plateaus where you can find many stingrays giving this spot its second name: Stingray Alley. The marine life there is teeming and the coral is beautiful.

 Ras Za’atar

Situated at the southern entrance of the large bay Marsa Bareika, this dive combines a vertical wall, impressive chimneys, and blue water. It is a good place to find large tuna, Barracudas, Jackfish, and in summer, cruising grey reef sharks. It is a very interesting site if you like to explore small cracks to take nice underwater pictures.

Also: see our tours to Sharm El Sheikh from Here