Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef

Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef, at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula within Ras Mohammed National Park, rank among the world's top-five reef dives. The two pinnacles rise from the deep at the confluence of the Gulf of Aqaba and Gulf of Suez, where converging currents create an extraordinary concentration of plankton and a correspondingly dense biomass of fish, sharks, and pelagic predators. Shark Reef is the outer pinnacle, a vertical wall plunging past 80 meters and cloaked in gorgonian fans and black coral trees. Divers drift along the wall at 20-30 meters, scanning the blue for grey reef sharks, seasonal hammerhead schools, and the enormous schools of tuna, barracuda, and giant trevally that gather here in summer. The inner Yolanda Reef, connected by a shallow saddle at 15 meters, is named for the 1980 wreck of the M/V Yolanda, a Cypriot cargo ship whose cargo of toilets, bathtubs, and BMW parts remains scattered across the saddle in one of diving's most surreal underwater tableaux. Marine life is the stuff of legend. Napoleon wrasse the size of small cars approach divers with curiosity, giant moray eels coil in every crevice, and hawksbill and green turtles cruise the reef top. Manta rays appear in summer plankton blooms, and whale sharks have been recorded annually in August and September. The reef tops host anemone gardens, clownfish colonies, and vast schools of anthias that shimmer orange against the blue. The dive requires Advanced Open Water given the drift, depth, and occasional down-currents. The site is inside Ras Mohammed National Park (park fees apply) and reached by day boat from Sharm el-Sheikh, typically combined with Anemone City or Jackfish Alley on a full-day itinerary. Visibility is world-class — routinely 30-40 meters — and conditions are best from March through November.