Off the south lip of the mouth of Marsa Bareika, marking the start of the Ras Mohammed wall, Ras Za’atir has a series of caves and overhangs where black coral trees flourish. Depth: surface to more than 40m. Rating: intermediate. Access: boat.
Ras Za’atir
Ras Mohammed National Park
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
29.71 MILES
One of the top five wreck dives in the world, the Thistlegorm is a 129m-long cargo ship built in Sunderland, England, which was sunk during World War II…
7.71 MILES
The waters surrounding this peninsula, 20km west of Sharm El Sheikh, are home to spectacular coral reefs, including the world-famous Shark and Jolanda…
5.39 MILES
One of the best dive sites in the area, Ras Um Sid features a spectacular gorgonian forest along a dramatic drop-off that hosts a great variety of reef…
16.34 MILES
The smallest, but easily the most spectacular, of the Tiran reefs, Thomas is home to steeply plunging walls that are lined with soft coral, schooling fish…
10.01 MILES
The Dunraven sank in 1876 on its way from Bombay to Newcastle. Today the wreck, found at the southeast tip of Sha’ab Mahmud, is encrusted in coral and…
6.75 MILES
This two-for-one special off the southern tip of Ras Mohammed is among the most famous dives in the Red Sea and rated one of the top five dives in the…
25.21 MILES
Thirty-five kilometres north of Sharm El Sheikh, Nabq is the largest coastal protectorate on the Gulf of Aqaba. Named after an oasis that lies within its…
10.23 MILES
At the perennially popular Gardens there are actually three sites in one. Near Garden is home to a lovely chain of pinnacles; Middle Garden features a…
Nearby Ras Mohammed National Park attractions
2.5 MILES
A comparatively shallow site that is good for a second or third dive, Jackfish Alley has two enormous caves filled with shoaling glassfish. Depth: 6m to…
2.58 MILES
A track (with brown arrows) leads to Aqaba Beach. Just offshore is the Eel Garden dive site, named after an eel colony 20m down.
3.24 MILES
This clifftop area, near Main Beach, has views over the dive-site area known as the Shark Observatory. Despite the name, you would be very lucky to spot a…
3.42 MILES
Aptly named Main Beach gets crowded with day trippers from Sharm El Sheikh, but with its vertical coral walls just offshore, it remains one of the best…
3.51 MILES
This stunningly aqua-blue salt lake is about 200m inland from Ras Mohammed's Mangrove Channel and is a popular swimming stop.
3.68 MILES
There's some excellent snorkelling at Jolanda Bay, which is reached by a track marked with red arrows.
3.77 MILES
Old Quay Beach is perfect for snorkelling; it has a spectacular vertical reef teeming with fish just offshore.
3.99 MILES
Green arrows lead to Ras Mohammed's Mangrove Channel, one of the most northerly mangrove forests in the world. Nearby, you can see huge cracks (one of the…