Shark Observatory - Ras Mohammed

Shark Observatory is Ras Mohammed National Park's most dramatic wall dive — a sheer vertical cliff that plunges more than 400 meters into the Red Sea at the park's southeastern corner, named for the shallow rocky outcrop above water from which early explorers observed sharks hunting in the blue. The wall is relentless in its steepness, providing one of the most visually stunning drop-off dives in the world. The dive is typically performed as a drift along the wall, with divers descending to 25-30 meters and cruising south in the current. The wall face is richly decorated with gorgonian fans, black coral bushes, and red soft corals, and at regular intervals vertical crevices provide shelter for giant moray eels, groupers, and hunting reef sharks. Schools of fusiliers, anthias, and bannerfish drift along the face, while napoleons and Maori wrasses cruise the deeper sections. True to its name, Shark Observatory delivers regular shark encounters. Grey reef sharks and blacktip reef sharks are resident, while silvertips and oceanic whitetips appear seasonally in the blue water off the wall. Hammerhead schools pass the wall in summer months, and the occasional thresher or bull shark has been recorded. Beyond sharks, the site attracts tuna, giant trevally, and barracuda schools, and manta rays in August plankton blooms. The dive requires Advanced Open Water certification given the wall depth, potential currents, and blue-water navigation. The site is inside Ras Mohammed National Park (park entry fees apply) and reached by day boat from Sharm el-Sheikh. It is typically combined with Shark Reef, Yolanda Reef, Anemone City, or Jackfish Alley on a full-day Ras Mohammed itinerary. Conditions are best from March through November, with visibility routinely exceeding 30 meters.