Ras Mohammed National Park

Ras Mohammed was declared in 1983 as Egypt's first national park and covers the headland at the very tip of Sinai plus the waters around it, where the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez meet. The reefs here are famous among divers for sheer walls dropping hundreds of metres, big pelagic fish, and the summer aggregations of snapper and barracuda at Shark and Yolanda reefs, along with the scattered cargo of the wreck that gave Yolanda its name. On land the park has a mangrove channel, a salt marsh, an earthquake crack in the limestone plateau and a small hyper-saline lake, plus nesting ospreys and white storks passing on migration. Vehicle routes and marked walks let non-divers see a good deal of it.

History

In antiquity the headland was known as Poseidion, which suggests a shrine to Poseidon stood here. The Arabic name means "Cape of Muhammad", ras meaning headland, and it is said to come from the outline of the cliff, which looks like the profile of a bearded face. In 1983 the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency made the area a marine reserve to protect its sea and land wildlife from fishing with dynamite and knives, which was damaging the reef and its fish, and from the spread of building out of Sharm El Sheikh and along the coast (Wikipedia, Ras Muhammad National Park).

Highlights

• Vertical coral walls - reef dropping straight into deep blue water.
• Shark and Yolanda reefs - the classic dive with wreck cargo scattered on the sand.
• The mangrove channel - a shallow tidal creek with its own bird life.
• The earthquake crack - a fissure across the limestone plateau.

When to go

October to May for land and water together; summer brings the big fish aggregations for divers but punishing heat ashore. A day covers the land routes and one or two dives. Fridays are busy with Sharm day trips.

What to expect

Entry rules for foreign visitors travelling independently change and sometimes require going with a licensed operator. Snorkelling from the shore is possible but currents at the tip are serious. Nothing may be taken from the park, including shells. Facilities are minimal and there is no shade on the plateau.

Nearby

Sharm El Sheikh is a short drive north; the Tiran straits lie north-east.

Key facts