Diving in Sharm el Sheikh
Most hotels have a house reef and offer daily diving from the beach. Many also have their own dive centre or are affiliated with one. However it makes good sense to shop around and ask other divers their experiences of different dive centres.
A couple of useful resource sites are listed in the resource box.
Diving areas are:-
Local South
Local North
The Gardens
Straits of Tiran (Tiran Island)
Ras Mohammed - remember you will need to purchase a visa at the airport on arrival, to allow you to travel to Ras Mohammed. Currently, you should take your passport with you on every boat trip and have 50 Egyptian pounds for lunch and drinks on the boat.
Usually, for boat trips, Tiran and Local North are accessed via Sharks Bay jetty and Local South and Ras Mohammed are accessed via Travco jetty. The gardens can be accessed from either. Some centres use Naama bay jetty.
Sharks Bay is close to Nabq and the airport, Travco is further South in Hadaba, near Old Market and Naama is in the Middle. So if you wish to visit a variety of sites it does not matter where you stay, some travelling and early morning pickups will be inevitable. However if you wish to concentrate on Ras Mohamed and Local South sites, hotels in the Hadaba area will give you more of a lie in, whereas for mostly Tiran or Local North hotels near Sharks Bay, the airport and in Nabq will be beneficial. Naama is smack in the middle.
Visitors tend to favour Tiran and Ras Mohamed for more challenging, deeper dives and for the chance of something big. However in reality, you can see some awesome sights on the local sites as well.
Local South dive sites begin just outside Travco jetty, beginning with Ras Katy, Temple and Ras Umm Sid. Katy and Temple can be busy as they are only a few minutes travel and offer fixed mooring lines. Both are still well worth a visit but Ras Umm Sid drift dive is a must, with drop offs, a beautiful plateau on the corner and always the chance of something in the Blue. The other Local South sites are all drift dives and tend to be less busy. Tower is a particular favourite of mine.
The gardens offer peaceful picturesque dives and for me a drift dive on Near Garden can be a fantastic experience.
Other 'must sees' if you can is the garden on Jackson Reef in Tiran and Shark and Yolanda reef, in Ras Mohamed, with a frenzy of coloured wildlife ranging from Blue Fusiliers to giant Morays, possible Turtles, Napoleon Wrasse, Crocodile fish and much more.
Remember - do not touch anything. Some fish have poisonous spines, some coral can cut or even sting and some of the most beautiful shells can sting. Even non dangerous animals such as turtles should not be touched as it distresses them, makes them wary and ruins the experience for future divers. They have a saying here, 'Take nothing away, leave nothing behind except bubbles". Do not even feed the fish please.
Diving in Sharm el Sheikh is an experience you will never forget.
Most hotels have a house reef and offer daily diving from the beach. Many also have their own dive centre or are affiliated with one. However it makes good sense to shop around and ask other divers their experiences of different dive centres.
A couple of useful resource sites are listed in the resource box.
Diving areas are:-
Local South
Local North
The Gardens
Straits of Tiran (Tiran Island)
Ras Mohammed - remember you will need to purchase a visa at the airport on arrival, to allow you to travel to Ras Mohammed. Currently, you should take your passport with you on every boat trip and have 50 Egyptian pounds for lunch and drinks on the boat.
Usually, for boat trips, Tiran and Local North are accessed via Sharks Bay jetty and Local South and Ras Mohammed are accessed via Travco jetty. The gardens can be accessed from either. Some centres use Naama bay jetty.
Sharks Bay is close to Nabq and the airport, Travco is further South in Hadaba, near Old Market and Naama is in the Middle. So if you wish to visit a variety of sites it does not matter where you stay, some travelling and early morning pickups will be inevitable. However if you wish to concentrate on Ras Mohamed and Local South sites, hotels in the Hadaba area will give you more of a lie in, whereas for mostly Tiran or Local North hotels near Sharks Bay, the airport and in Nabq will be beneficial. Naama is smack in the middle.
Visitors tend to favour Tiran and Ras Mohamed for more challenging, deeper dives and for the chance of something big. However in reality, you can see some awesome sights on the local sites as well.
Local South dive sites begin just outside Travco jetty, beginning with Ras Katy, Temple and Ras Umm Sid. Katy and Temple can be busy as they are only a few minutes travel and offer fixed mooring lines. Both are still well worth a visit but Ras Umm Sid drift dive is a must, with drop offs, a beautiful plateau on the corner and always the chance of something in the Blue. The other Local South sites are all drift dives and tend to be less busy. Tower is a particular favourite of mine.
The gardens offer peaceful picturesque dives and for me a drift dive on Near Garden can be a fantastic experience.
Other 'must sees' if you can is the garden on Jackson Reef in Tiran and Shark and Yolanda reef, in Ras Mohamed, with a frenzy of coloured wildlife ranging from Blue Fusiliers to giant Morays, possible Turtles, Napoleon Wrasse, Crocodile fish and much more.
Remember - do not touch anything. Some fish have poisonous spines, some coral can cut or even sting and some of the most beautiful shells can sting. Even non dangerous animals such as turtles should not be touched as it distresses them, makes them wary and ruins the experience for future divers. They have a saying here, 'Take nothing away, leave nothing behind except bubbles". Do not even feed the fish please.
Diving in Sharm el Sheikh is an experience you will never forget.
