NORTHERN RED SEA

The Northern Egyptian Red Sea is where the Red Sea is divided by the Sinai Peninsular and the Gulf of Suez, creating a unique diving enviroment that has captured the imagination of scuba divers through out the world.

The Sinai Desert, legendary from biblical times stories, is an area of outstanding natural beauty. Jagged red mountains rise from the barren hinterland, a stark contrast to the extravagant excesses of life and colour beneath the surrounding crystal clear waters of the Red Sea. For many centuries the Sinai was largely unpopulated except for ininerant Bedouin tribes and small fishing communities, but over the last 20 years the area surrounding Naama Bay, near the fishing community at Sharm el Sheikh, has blossomed into a bustling resort.

Initially European dive enthusiasts set up camp along the beach, which developed in time to be small diving operations or dive “clubs”. This was soon followed by resort hotels and flights from Europe and the UK. Now the bay boasts 5 star hotels, sophisticated shopping and nightclubs, every conceivable watersport, and even a golf course. However Sharm el Sheiks “raison d’etre” remains the rich world beneath the waves.Where the Red Sea spilits at the very Southern Tip is known as Ras mohammed national park. Shark Reef, Ras Mohammed is probably the best known Reef dive in the world. Sheer vertical wals ladden with soft corals plunge into the abyss, towers of snapper and jacks ascend from the purple depths. Coral gardens, walls and remains of a wreck, this site has it all. East and West of the Sinai are contrasting diving enviroments.
To the West the reef complexes of Shab Mahmoud, Shab Ali, Abhu Nuhas and Gubal Island border the Gubal Straits, the seaway leading to Suez and the Mediterranean. Over the centuries this has been an important trade route even before the opening of the canal and many ships have floundered on the reef. Fortuitously this area is comparatively shallow and many of the wrecks are easily accessed by scuba divers. The Thistlegorm, unknown until the mid nineties, is now a name known to divers all over the world, but there are many other wrecks to explore, and still more yet to be discovered.

To the East of the Sinai the waters are considerably deeper, up to 2 kilometers in places. Between Sanafir Island and the Ras Nastrani promontory in the narrow straits of Tiran there are four astonishing coral reefs that rise from incredible depths, Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse, and Jackson. As the current is funnelled around these reefs the conditions created form a spectacular diving enviroment, walls festooned with soft corals, deep canyons and coral gardens. These reefs also attract a large variety of marine life, including white tip and grey reef shraks, and hammerheads in the summer months.