Ras Mohammed Dive Site DescriptionsRas Za’atar:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/5 minutes
Description: Ras Za`atar is formed where the steep wall, stretching from Ras Mohammed meets the bay of Marsa Bareka. In spite of the nearby crowds, it remains seldom visited and has retained an atmosphere of virgin beauty. Start your dive on the outside wall at point A and head northwards. At 30 m are huge overhangs, caves and dark gullies, swathed in seafans, black corals and gorgonians. This scene becomes increasingly colourful and dramatic towards the corner. At the corner it is worth doubling back to take in the shallow part of this wall. Between 15 m and the surface is a large chimney which should not be missed. It is home to a malabar grouper, which always seems to be idling away its time under the attention of cleaner wrasse. Outside is a school of glassfish which swirl and sweep under the hungry gaze of lionfish. The colours here are Red Sea perfection, coral pinks, and orange clouds of anthias against a backdrop of deep blue. Jacks and barracuda hunt here amongst the schools of blue fusiliers. Eagle rays and turtles occasionally cruise by. After leaving the wall, you can turn the corner into Marsa Bareka. The wall gives way to a sandy slope scattered with coral pillars. Picasso fish and many kinds of triggerfish can be seen along with the more delicate relative, the scrolled filefish. The shape of the headland dictates that currents on the outer wall run northwards if at all. In such a case you will not be able to do both deep and shallow sections on the same dive. Make your choice. Either way you will not be disappointed. Jackfish Alley:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/10 minutes
Description: Jackfish Alley is the traditional afternoon choice after a morning at Ras Mohammed. It is shallow and fairly well sheltered from current. It lacks a mooring so must be drift dived. The best part of the dive is the glassfish caves, so jump in here. The white patch on the high cliff is a good marker. The small bay beneath has a crack at the back. This is the entrance to the first set of caves. It is easiest to enter shallow, about 5 m. The cave forks immediately. The right hand option is a cul-de-sac. It has a sandy floor and steep walls on either side, shafts of light pierce the roof. At the back is a narrow chamber full of hatchet fish and occasionally large groupers. The left hand fork leads to an exit at 8 m. As you leave the cave, put your right shoulder to the reef and follow the reef wall. As you turn the prominent shoulder at 15 m into the sandy bay, you will come across another set of caves. The entrance is opposite a large isolated coral outcrop. The caves are home to one of the most photographed schools of glassfish in the Red Sea. Work your way upwards through the chambers. The furthest back is at about 3 m. You can waste a happy ten minutes here, watching the glass fish sweep back and forth and the rays of light breaking through the roof and dancing across the sand beneath. Outside the cave is the prominent coral outcrop. Use this to line yourself up with the glassfish bommie at the other side of the bay. Most photographers can spend the rest of the dive and their remaining film here. Glassfish crowd the holes of the coral. Bluefin and bigeye trevallies occasionally dart in to snatch one away. About 100 m south of here is a sandy road at about 17 m. This is the alley. Sometimes stingrays or white-tips are seen basking here. In the late summer months titan triggerfish fiercely guard their eggs. In winter it is also good for manta rays. Eel Garden:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/15 minutes
Description: Situated between Shark Observatory and Jack Fish Alley, right in front of a small beach. Mainly a gentle sandy slope, starting from the fringing reef at a depth of 12 m till the main drop off at 35 m. The perfect home for an impressive colony of garden eel s(Gorgasia sillneri) endemic in the Red Sea. The eels emerge from the sand for about two-thirds of their length, swaying in the curent in search for plankton. As they are very timid, always aproach carefully, otherwise they will slip quickly back into their lairs, which they never abandon, at first sign of danger. Shark Observatory:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/20 minutes
Description: In spite of its name Shark Observatory is not noted for sharks. Nevertheless it is still a marvellous dive. Beneath the surface the towering cliffs continue at much the same angle to eventually fade into the deep blue beneath. This place defines the term "blue water". The wall is smothered, especially at its northern end, in all colours of soft corals. In the shallow water are numerous small caves, gullies and canyons. These host colonies of glassfish and hatchetfish which constantly sweep and turn, herded by groups of lionfish. Beneath them scorpionfish sometimes lie in wait. On the corner at 10 m a large overhang is fringed with gorgonians. Here you can hide and watch groups of bluefin and giant trevallies cruising through. Even sailfish have been seen here. At the south end, close to Anemone City turtles are often seen. The colours are brighter in the morning with the sun on the wall. Many people prefer an afternoon dive. At this time of day the reef is dark, moody and mysterious. To dive Shark Observatory from a boat jump in at the north end beneath the more northerly of the two sets of clifftop railings. Put your right shoulder to the reef and head south. In the afternoon a strong current will often help you along. Once you have rounded the corner this will abate. A counter current often develops in this bay. It may slow your progress but is rarely a problem. Alternatively jump in at Anemone City and ride this counter current northwards towards the Observatory. Shark Observatory can be shore dived. Park at the Shark Observatory carpark and snorkel across the lagoon to the dive site. Alternatively take a left just before the carpark and park in the small cove beneath the Observatory cliffs. Anemone City:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/23 minutes
Description: Anemone City is a broad shoulder of reef that juts out at a depth of 20 m from the wall of Ras Mohammed. On the outside of the shoulder is deep blue water. In conditions of strong current giant trevallies, bluefin trevallies and big eye trevallies can be seen here in great numbers. In the shallow water of Anemone City are the anemones after which it is named. This is-the only place that they form such dense colonies. Anemone City is usually dived in conjunction with Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef or with Shark Observatory to the north. It can be either drift dived from the boat or shore dived from Hidden Bay. Shark Reef:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/25 minutes
Description: Shark and Yolanda Reef are situated at the very southern most tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Here, two vast bodies of water meet, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez. A unique environment is created of nutrient rich water and strong currents, in which marine life thrives. Over the month of July and August the water is at its warmest and it is then that huge schools of pelagics arrive to feed in these waters. With them come several species of shark. The sites have two coral islets, Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef. Between the two is a shallow saddle at 15 m and on the inside is a lagoon. On the outside of Shark Reef is a huge vertical wall. The prevailing current at Shark Reef splits on the outside wall. Start your dive here, taking care not to be swept into the lagoon. In the summer months a vast column snapper marks this divergence of current. Spend some time amongst them. There is no greater site than the school barreling out around your bubbles and the sun shining though. As you leave the snapper; put your right shoulder to the reef and drift southwards across the wall. Where the wall meets the saddle, the currents become complicated. In certain conditions a down current may form on the wall. At the saddle a current may sweep outwards. This is best negotiated on shallow side of the saddle. One of the striking things about this dive site is the variety of fish life. The lagoon is populated with morays, blue spotted stingrays, stonefish and scorpionfish. Two enormous napoleons cruise curiously after divers and on the plateau turtles munch on soft corals. Out in the blue, you will see a different kind of action, pelagics. Vast schools of snapper and barracuda in the summer months along side small groups of king fish, queenfish, yellowfin tuna and big schools of batfish. Hammerheads are spotted mainly off Shark Reef or the saddle. In December and January there is a brief mating season for grey reef sharks lasting only for a few days. Outlined here, are just the regulars, but virtually every other big fish worth seeing has cruised these reefs at one time of another. Ras Mohammed is best as a drift dive from a boat. It can also be done from the shore. However, this is a serious option, since at some point you must return against the current to your entry and exit point at the Hidden Bay. Yolanda Reef:
Travel Time: Boat trip: 1 hour/27 minutes
Description: Yolanda and Shark Reef are situated at the very southern most tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The outer plateau of Yolanda Reef is scattered with soft coral boulders. Huge schools of short-nose unicornfish form along this area. As you drift along the drop off keep an eye out into the blue. In certain conditions a down current may form on the wall! A mountain may appear to rise from the depth. On closer inspection this turns out to be an immense school of barracuda. Watch out, they are often jealously guarded by blacktip sharks. Finish your dive above the wreckage of the "Yolanda", a wreck that lay there over the seventies, but has now taken its final resting place over the drop off at 200 m. Its cargo of toilets remains on the shallow reef. Your boat can pick you up at this point or you can use your remaining air investigating the shallow lagoon between Shark and Yolanda Reef which is populated with morays, blue-spotted stingrays, stonefish, scorpionfish and napoleons. As well as Shark Reef this site is best as a drift dive from a boat. It can also be done from the shore. However, this is a serious option, since at some point you must return against the current to your entry and exit point at the Hidden Bay. This is best left to strong and experienced divers.
The Wreck of the Dunraven:
At the southern extreme of 'Shab Mahmoud' there are a series of shallow reefs and lagoons among which lies the wreck of the 72m English steamer sunk in 1876 on its way from Bombay to England loaded with timber and spices. The hull lies upside down and is totally covered in corals (max. depth 29m), the prop and rudder lies at 19m. The wreck is home to a wide variety of marine life, morays, napoleon, groupers and schools of glass fish and goat fish inside the wreck. |