Ras Mohammed, which means “Mohammad’s Head”, is an incredible Egyptian national park, located at the southern edge of the Sinai Peninsula. This national treasure, which was established as a marine reserve in 1983, overlooks the Gulf of Qqaba to the east, and the Gulf of Suez to the west. The park is an essential part of Egypt’s Red Sea Riviera, and is located just 12 kilometers from Sharm-el-Sheikh. Of the entire 480 square kilometers that make up its’ boundaries, an astonishing 345 square kilometers is water.
Natural Features and Marine Life
Ras Mohammad, with its’ small bays, inlets, and islands, as well as an abundance of intriguing underwater features, is a diver’s paradise. Thanks to warm temperatures with winter daytime highs at 73 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime lows of just 56 degrees Fahrenheit, marine life thrives in amazing abundance. Divers can see whales and dolphins, interact with over one thousand species of fish, and see some of the most incredibly healthy coral reefs in the world.
Of the more than 220 coral species found within Ras Mohammad, 125 are soft coral. The reefs in the area are both hermatypic and fringing, and in some places along the western coast, the reef, which is thousands of years old, is up to nine kilometers wide. In most places though, the reef is between thirty and fifty meters wide, and begins very close to the surface.
There are more than 150 species of crustaceans within the park, over 100 species of mollusks, and plenty of pelagics and reef fish. The park is also home to at least twenty-five species of sea urchins, as well as forty species of starfish. Both green sea turtles and elegant hawksbill turtles frequent the area, and it is not uncommon to see schools of jack and barracuda as you drift, propelled by the ever-present current, along the incredibly steep sea walls that drop toward vertical overhangs that are more than one hundred meters deep in some places.
Top Ras Mohammad Dive Sites
Ras Mohammad contains enough dive sites to last anyone a lifetime. Here are some highlights of the park’s unforgettable dives.
Shark Reef
Shark Reef is home to an extraordinary variety of pelagic and reef life, alike. It is, by far, the most popular Ras Mohammad dive site, and is at its best during the warmer months of the year. Prepare yourself for this dive by obtaining experience with diving in strong currents, since the huge schools of batfish, barracuda, bluespine unicorn fish, and jacks that swirl through the water in this area are here in part because of the current, which can be extremely powerful.
Anemone City can be considered a dive in and of itself; however, it is on the way to Shark Reef. This carpet of anemones lies at just twelve to twenty meters, on a ledge that juts out from the shoreline. There are plentiful Red Sea Anemone Fish here, which are vibrant orange, with white and black bands.
Yolanda Reef
A shallow, sandy bottomed saddle connects Yolanda Reef with Shark Reef, and some divers do both these sites within a single dive. Yolanda Reef is marked by massive gorgonians, a marvelous coral garden with bright rose-colored Alcyonarians along its eastern wall, and a sandy lagoon between two enormous coral outcroppings, which is inhabited by napoleons, crocodile fish, blue-spotted stingrays, and well camouflaged stonefish.
The wreck of the Yolanda, a Cypriot merchant ship which sank in 1980 and gives the reef its name is here, too. Today, fish make their homes in the mass of upended British standard toilets. Bathtubs add a strange element of elegance to the underwater scenery, and an old BMW 320 that was once the personal automobile of Yolanda’s captain is home to even more fish and reef creatures.
Yolanda Reef’s most prominent features lie between 10 and 40 meters, and visibility is generally excellent, sometimes exceeding twenty-five meters. Like Shark Reef, Yolanda Reef has a powerful current much of the time, and is not recommended for novice divers.
Shark’s Observatory
This wall dive allows you to gaze into the depths far below you, and watch large pelagics pass. Hawksbill turtles are quite common here, and Whale Sharks are sometimes seen in the area as well. The wall is covered in vibrant rose-colored alcyonarians and gorgonians, and is textured with small caves and rocky shelters which house small reef fish and the occasional shark. Watch for schooling glassfish and batfish, as well as massive shoals of black-fin barracuda and trevally.
Although the wall here descends to ninety meters, most of the prominent features are visible at depths between five and forty meters. The current can be swift, so this dive is reserved for intermediate to advanced divers.
Jackfish Alley
The wide sandy bottom that divides the coral ledge from the coastline here looks just like a road, which is travelled by jackfish and other large pelagics as they search for their prey. This site is populated by white tip reef sharks, manta rays, blue triggerfish, and blue spotted stingrays, and is punctuated with caves and coral outcroppings, as well as a coral pinnacle that is truly mesmerizing thanks to the swirling mass of glassfish that normally surrounds it. This is a drift dive that can be fairly fast moving at times, but with most features being at five to twenty meters, it is normally suitable for divers of every level.
Ras Za’atar
This rocky promontory features table coral and gorgonians, as well as a sharply descending wall with more gorgonians and brilliantly colored alcyonarians. Healthy colonies of black coral decorate the wall and make the other colorful features appear to be even brighter than they really are. There are chimneys along the outcropping as well, which begin at just ten to fifteen meters and become narrower as they approach the surface and open into the coral-covered reef platform. This area is home to pygmy sweepers, massive groupers, lionfish, and bigger pelagics like tuna and barracuda.
With most prominent features being at less than twenty meters and a maximum depth of thirty meters, this is a dive that can be enjoyed by all.