Ras Mohammed National Park

Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef are rated as one of the top ten dives in the world and is perhaps the most famous dive site of the Ras Mohammed National Park. The two reefs rise up from untold depths to the surface making a breath-taking, stunning and dramatic topography.

Covered in stunning hard and soft corals, is a vertical wall dropping to charted depths of nearly 800m. Yolanda Reef has a wide plateau with a coral garden and masses of pinnacles, each one a cleaning station teeming with fish. Between Yolanda reef and the main reef lies the cargo of the wreck of the Yolanda. A 74m long cargo ship, she was transporting bathroom supplies and a BMW to the port of Aqaba when she struck the reef in 1980. She lay on her side until 1987 when she slid into the abyss, during a heavy storm, leaving her cargo behind for divers to explore today.

Currents can be quite strong here, creating a kind of rollercoaster ride around these reefs in one direction or the other, depending on the prevailing current.

Most of the year, divers enjoy looking out for scorpionfish, crocodile fish, groupers, turtles, tuna, huge morays and napoleons that frequent this dive site but, in the summer, all focus changes to the water away from the reef where schools of fish collect together for mating; Twin spot (Bohar) Snapper, Red Snapper, batfish, unicorn fish, barracudas and more which of course sometimes attracts the predators. Silkies, grey reefs, black tips and even tigers have been seen at this dive site.