I can highly recommend always to include the Straits of Tiran in a divetrip to Sharm el Sheikh. The Straits of Tiran is full of corals, fishes and turtles – and at the right time whale sharks, sharks and manta rays.
At a trip to Gordon Reef at the Straits of Tiran I came close to a beautiful sea turtle and it wasn’t really shy – I’ve included a couple of pictures of it here…
Sea turtle at Gorden Reef, Straits of Tiran
Another image of the beautiful Sea Turtle
At Ras Muhammed (the great underwater National Park close to the Sharm el Sheik in Egypt) I found some fishes busy eating a Jellyfish.
I must admit that I have never seen (or heard of) fishes eating Jellyfishes before – is that normal?
One of the best places to dive close to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt is the Straits of Tiran. The Straits of Tiran offers great water for rather deep drift dives but also some great water for snorkels if there isn’t to big waves.
The Straits of Tiran is known for both having manta rays, different kinds of sharks and whale sharks, but it highly depend of the season and some luck what you really end up seeing there.
On this August trip back in 2006 it wasn’t the big stuff that I saw.
Snorklers at Staits of Tiran
I still find the wreck position on the reef sort of beautiful and interesting – it looks cool, but the feeling of that big ship crashing into the reef does of course feel bad… smashing so much of the reef… but it’s a great picture or?
Me coming up of the water after a nice drift dive at the Straits of Tiran
I have already been to Sharm el Sheikh 5 times, but I just cant stop coming back to such a great place for diving… The weather is always nice, I once heard the rumour that it rains not more than 5 days a year and I do really believe thats true… I’ve once experienced rain for around 5 minutes.. not more… it also mean that diving always is great around Sharm el Sheikh… nice sea, LOTS of fishes and sealife, one of best coral reefs in the world and great visibility…
And did I forget to tell that the Red Sea also has one of the best wreck dives? The SS Thistlegorm, a British merchant ship used by the British Navy in World War II, was hit by 2 bombs from 2 German bombers around mid June 1941 and these 2 bombs hit so perfect that SS Thistlegorm went down immediately… nice for us divers, because the SS Thistlegorm is a very well preserved wreck just waiting for divers at around 23-33 meters. I was diving it once and I do plan to dive it again in March…
I’m planning to stay at a hotel (Hilton Sharks Bay) with its own house reef in Sharks Bay, a place I once was diving with a dolphin – such an amazing experience… so I will certainly be snorkling around the reef every day and then some diving… will go at least once to the underwater nationalpark Ras Muhammed and once out to the dive sites at the Straits of Tiran close to Saudi Arabia.
Really looking forward to March!
