Tower

A fossil coral tower on the shore marks the start. Descending to 12m, you reach the first pinnacle hanging off a vertical wall, a fan coral spreading underneath it. Smaller pinnacles ring the base like a necklace.

Follow the reef around and the wall opens into the site's centrepiece: a U-shaped canyon cutting deep into the reef. At 18m, small overhangs shelter glassfish and cave sweepers. Light penetrates from above, filling the canyon with shifting beams. The vertical crack continues far below recreational limits, but the upper section delivers the spectacle.

Past the canyon, the terrain shifts from vertical wall to a sloping bottom. A ridge at 22m is studded with pinnacles worth exploring for pyjama nudibranchs clinging to red fire sponges. The dive finishes at a large pinnacle blanketed in blue stag coral, where sergeant majors school around your safety stop.

Most of Sharm's local shore dives are gentle coral gardens. Tower breaks that pattern. The vertical canyon is more typical of the dramatic walls at Ras Mohammed or the Straits of Tiran, but it is reachable without a park permit or a long boat ride. The three-zone structure (wall, canyon, pinnacle slope) packs topographic variety into a single dive that few local sites match.

The atmospheric lighting through the canyon is the headline. Where the reef juts into open water, sunlight cuts through the vertical walls and reaches deep. For photographers, the combination of wide-angle canyon shots and macro subjects on the pinnacles covers both ends of the lens range.

Tower is typically dived as a drift from a boat, but shore entry is possible from the Ras Umm Sid headland. The pinnacle field beyond the canyon can be disorienting. Nitrox is worth considering for extended time in the 18-25m zone. One fissure within the pinnacles is off-limits to protect delicate gorgonians growing inside. The canyon crack extends well beyond recreational depth, so keep an eye on your computer when exploring the wall.