At the tip of the Sinai Peninsular is Sharm El Sheik, a town surrounded by only one natural resource - its reefs. These were some of the most beautiful reefs on the planet.
Nowadays, the shore and dayboat diving is not what it used to be! If you haven’t been there in a few years you will be disappointed.
Ras Muhamed was ruined in the early 1990’s when rapid growth in diver numbers (fuelled by the then new airport) resulted in an uncontrolled explosion of building.
Sharm is now a strip mall of hotels. Every day, twice a day, dive boats moor every 100 yards along the coastline. Consequently the reef is now kicked to bits.
Erosion has caused sand to end up strangling the reefs - along with every bit of rubbish that blows around Sharm (which eventually ends up on the reef too).
Conventional wisdom is go liveaboard but standards are patchy as no foreign crewed boats are allowed. There’s still some decent offshore dives but also, if you’re sneaky and know where to go you can still find unspoiled reef.
You’ll find pristine stretches of wall where dive boats are not allowed. There’s nothing stopping you from entering from the shore.
It takes a bit of effort to wade over the fore reef but then you drop into a sheer wall with spectacular coral, Wow! That’s how we used to do it before the place was ruined. We slept under Landrovers on Safari from Eilat (Israel) cooked on the beach and dived from the shore. Truth is, you don’t need a boat.
Facts about Sinai Peninsula
It is in Egypt- Sinai Peninsula is in the Red Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-20 Metres 0-60 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 30+ Metres 100+ Feet.