Diving in Sharm El Sheikh

Yes. The Gardens (Near, Middle, Far, Fiddle) and Ras Katy are calm, shallow sites with coral pinnacles and easy conditions. Several centres offer discover scuba programmes at these sites. Certified Open Water divers can access most local sites along the Sharm coast.

Multi-day dive packages range from around 50 EUR for a single half-day to 660 EUR for 20 dives over 10 days. Thistlegorm day trips carry a supplement of around 125 EUR including nitrox. Park fees add around 7 EUR per day for Ras Mohammed, with a rise to 15 USD announced for June 2026 - confirm current and about 15 EUR per trip for Tiran. Prices are often negotiable for longer stays.

March to May and September to November offer the most comfortable balance of water temperature, air temperature, and visibility. Water stays warm year-round (21-29 degrees depending on season). Summer is hot above water (40-45 degrees) but brings the warmest water and fewer crowds. Winter offers the best visibility, sometimes exceeding 40m.

Whitetip reef sharks are year-round residents at several sites. Grey reef sharks appear at Ras Mohammed and Ras Za'atar in summer. Hammerhead sharks school at Jackson Reef in the Straits of Tiran from August to October. Oceanic whitetips are rare but occasionally spotted in deeper water.

Day boats depart early (around 5 AM) for the 3-4 hour trip each way. You get two dives on the wreck before returning late afternoon. All day boats arrive at the same time, so it gets busy underwater. A liveaboard offers multiple dives including night dives with fewer divers. Tech divers can arrange a single extended dive while recreational groups do their two-dive cycle. It is an Advanced-level dive: the wreck lies at 16-32m in the current-swept Strait of Gubal, descent and ascent are on a fixed shot line, and operators expect logged wreck or deep experience before they take you.

Sharm generally has healthier corals and more topographic variety. Ras Mohammed and Tiran give Sharm a clear edge for reef diving. Hurghada has the Abu Nuhas wreck graveyard (four wrecks on one reef) and slightly cheaper prices. A northern Red Sea liveaboard lets you dive the best of both.

Not for most sites. Local reefs, Ras Mohammed, and Tiran are all reachable by day boat. The Thistlegorm is doable as a day trip but involves six or more hours of travel. Liveaboards give early access to the wreck, night dives, and the Rosalie Moller which day boats generally cannot reach.

Consistently 20 to 30 metres year-round, thanks to minimal rainfall and clear Red Sea water. Winter can push visibility past 40m. In exceptional conditions visibility has been recorded at 40-60m.

Ras Mohammed National Park has charged 7 EUR per person per day, with a rise to 15 USD announced for June 2026 - confirm the current rate. Tiran Island has a separate fee of around 15 EUR per trip covering reef protection and mooring maintenance. Dive centres collect fees on the boat.

Yes, though less than elsewhere in Egypt. HEPCA's Bleach Watch recorded an overall average of roughly 28 percent bleaching across monitored Egyptian sites in September 2024, after a marine heatwave; the damage was heaviest south of Marsa Alam, where more than half the coral bleached at some sites, while northern reefs came off lightest at single figures to the high teens. Even the Gulf of Aqaba's unusually heat-tolerant corals bleached, the first time on record. Monitoring through 2025 put recovery on Egyptian reefs at roughly 70 to 88 percent depending on site and species. Sharm's northern position genuinely helps, though the situation needs monitoring.