Sinai Liveaboard trip

Jackson Reef

• Most northerly of the reefs of Tiran and the northern limit of day boats from Sharm El Sheikh. The wreck of the “Lara” lies at the northern end. There is superb wall diving along its entire perimeter, with numerous buttresses and gullies. Sightings of sharks, turtles and other big fish are not uncommon and you will find a huge diversity of different corals and sponges as well as clouds of triggerfish, masked puffers and bannerfish. At the point, you may be lucky and spot a Hammerhead in summer.

Thomas Reef

Between Gordon and Woodhouse reefs, a smaller round reef with walls plunging deep and fully covered with soft coral, gorgonians and colourful fish life. It is almost possible to circumnavigate this reef in one dive. The east wall plunges dramatically to great depths with a mass of brightly coloured soft corals. The west wall is darker with overhangs and caves but is a great drift dive with sightings of Trevally and Tuna in the blue and schooling reef fish close to the reef.

Ras Nasrani

This site can be accessed by the four-wheel-drive vehicle as well as boats. The reef drops from the shallow bays to a wall down to 60m+ with many caves and overhangs. The best diving is among the big coral heads (or ergs) in the shallow areas. A good spot for Spanish dancers and cone shells in the sandy gullies.

White Knight

• The reef wall drops away to a sandy plateau at about 13m, at the centre is a gully with swim-throughs at 10m and 35m. There is an eel garden to the north. This sheltered site is home for triggerfish, groupers and the occasional manta.

The Gardens

• Really three “gardens” near, middle and far. The most seaward of the gardens (far), is a colourful fringing reef with a slope to 25m and dotted with small “ergs” At the top of the drop off there is a few pinnacles frequently visited by pelagics. Glass fish caves are in the reef wall at 12m. “Near” garden is just a few minutes from Naama Bay and is a great spot for a night dive with a sandy ledge sloping away to 25m. Look out for flashlight fish at night and napoleons, blue-spotted stingrays and the odd grey reef shark in daylight hours.

Pinkys Wall

• The wall here seems bottomless, drift dive along the reef which is richly covered in soft corals. To the south is a sandy slope from where richly covered coral heads emerge before becoming a shear bottomless wall once again.

Paradise

• The northern side of Ras Umm Sidd wall, fully decorated ergs rise from a gentle slope, home to schools of glassfish against a colourful background of soft corals.

RasUmm Sid

• The south side of the headland offers a superb gorgonian forest on the drop-off. The plateau is bursting with life and swarms of reef fish. The possibility of spotting whale shark or manta exists at the corner.

Ras Mohammed

• Really several dive sites Ras Mohammed has earned itself a reputation as one of the top dive sites in the world, here at the tip of the Sinai where the vast bodies of water the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba meet has created an ecosystem like no other and wall diving at its very best.

Jackfish Alley

• The white patch on the cliff is a good marker for this site, usually done as a drift dive there are some interesting caves at 5m usually full of glassfish. As you move south you find two ergs again covered with glassfish, this is a great spot for photographers. Further south is a coral garden and the sandy gulley, which gives this, sites its name. Stingrays can be found resting in the sand as well as white tip sharks. In late summer beware of Titan triggerfish guarding their nests.

Shark Observatory

• The site is not aptly named as it is not noted for its shark sightings, however, it is a fantastic dive. Beneath the towering cliffs that continue below the surface to disappear into the deep abyss, the wall is covered with soft coral and honeycombed with numerous gullies and canyons that are home to hoards of glassfish and hatchet fish herded by red mouth grouper. An overhang, fringed with sea fans at 10m, is a great place to watch the Trevallies, Jacks and Turtles passing in the blue. At the southern end, Anemone city is worth a visit.