The Red Sea corridor between Sinai and Saudi Arabia holds the world's second-longest barrier reef system after Australia, and Sharm El Sheikh sits at its northern apex where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Gulf of Suez.
Ras Mohammed National Park, established in 1983 as Egypt's first marine reserve, protects 480 square kilometers of coastline where sheer drop-offs plunge to 800 meters and pelagic currents deliver hammerheads, manta rays, and seasonal whale sharks to vertical walls thick with soft corals. Water temperature holds between 21 and 28 degrees Celsius year-round, visibility averages 30 meters, and the desert climate eliminates runoff that clouds tropical reef systems elsewhere.
Sharm el sheikh diving package tours consolidate access to two core zones: Ras Mohammed's southern tip, where Shark and Yolanda reefs form a confluence point for deep-water species, and Tiran Island's four named reefs — Jackson, Woodhouse, Thomas, and Gordon — that guard the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba with strong tidal flows and steep walls. The Thistlegorm wreck, a British armed freighter torpedoed in 1941, lies 30 meters down in the Straits of Gubal and remains the region's most photographed dive site, its holds still packed with Bedford trucks, Norton motorcycles, and Lee-Enfield rifles. Commercial dive operators run daily departures from Naama Bay and Shark's Bay marinas, typically offering two-tank morning dives, single-tank afternoon trips, and full-day combinations that include White Island — a sandbar lagoon used for surface intervals and lunch stops.
The park's terrestrial zone extends inland across fossil beaches and mangrove stands where acacia and desert broom stabilize dunes that predate the last glacial maximum. Conservation fees, set at 15 USD per foreign adult and payable in cash at the gate, fund ranger patrols and mooring-buoy systems that prevent anchor damage to coral heads. Entry hours run 07:00 to 16:00 daily, with morning arrivals between 07:00 and 10:00 capturing cooler air temperatures and fewer boats at popular moorings. Multi-day packages bundle Ras Mohammed, Tiran, and the Thistlegorm into sequential itineraries, often adding White Island snorkeling for non-divers traveling in mixed groups.
9 hr
