Marsa Baryka

Egypt · reef · intermediate

6–30 mintermediateAOWboat entry

Marsa Baryka

A big sheltered bay inside Ras Mohammed park where most of the shoreline is closed for nesting turtles and the diving happens off a handful of moorings.

reefsandboat

Max depth6–30 m

Required levelintermediate

Entry typeboat

Visibilitynot sourced

The dive

Marsa Bareika is the large natural bay on the northern side of the Ras Mohammed headland, inside the national park. It is a bay rather than a reef: sandy bowls, seagrass and coral gardens along the shore, with a set of fixed moorings on the western beaches that day boats and the occasional overnight safari boat use. The name is usually glossed as blessed dock or calm big pond, and the shelter is the point, which is also why boats end up here when the exposed sites outside are unworkable.

The dive most operators plan is the canyon at the northern end. It begins shallow, around 6 m, with glassfish and lionfish over the entrance, and runs down to about 30 m; one Sharm dive centre describes the drop as staggered steps at 12, 18 and 25 m from a sandy area near 10 m. Away from the canyon the bay is a macro dive over sand and seagrass, and the species the operators put on it are sand divers, razorfish, blennies, nudibranchs and sea moths, with octopus, moray and scorpionfish in the coral and eagle rays crossing the open sand. A common way to end the dive is on the shallow plateau at 6 or 7 m.

Seasonality here is a real split rather than a formality. Operators report whale sharks and sailfish in the bay in summer, and dolphins and stingrays through the winter; whale shark records exist at this pin in the OBIS occurrence data. Eagle rays turn up in the summer accounts too.

The restriction matters more than any of that. Only the handful of moorings along the western beaches are in use. The rest of the bay is off-limits to boat-related activity, diving and snorkelling included, because turtles nest on those beaches. This is also a paid national park site: the Ras Mohammed fee is collected by the dive centre and is not part of the trip price.

Canyon at the north end of the bay, from 6 m down to around 30 m
Glassfish and lionfish over the canyon entrance
Sand and seagrass macro: sand divers, razorfish, blennies, nudibranchs, sea moths
Whale sharks and sailfish reported in summer, dolphins and stingrays in winter
Sheltered enough to be the fallback when the exposed Ras Mohammed sites are blown out

Please note before you go

The canyon runs to about 30 m from a 6 m entrance, so the profile gets deep quickly and one operator quotes 40 m for the bay; watch no-decompression time rather than the shallow start
Leopard torpedo (Torpedo panthera), an electric ray that buries in sand, is among the more frequent records at this pin and the dive is largely a sand and seagrass dive
Titan triggerfish are recorded here; a nesting pair will defend a cone of water above the nest
Fire coral (Millepora dichotoma) is recorded at this pin

Access & rules

Mandatory requirements

Certification required

AOW

Getting there

Boat only, on a Ras Mohammed day trip from Sharm el Sheikh or an overnight safari boat. There are a handful of fixed moorings along the western beaches of the bay and the dive is run from whichever one the boat takes. There is no shore access to the diving and no facility in the bay.

Operator

Access to the site runs through a local operator.

Restrictions

Only the moorings along the western beaches are usable. The rest of the bay is off-limits to boat-related activity including diving and snorkelling, because turtles nest on the beaches there. Ras Mohammed National Park entry is chargeable and is collected separately from the trip price.

Rules and permits

The site is inside Ras Mohammed National Park and a park fee applies. One Sharm dive centre published the fee as 7 euro per person per trip, payable at the dive centre on check-out, effective from 27 November 2019; another operator's current price list quotes 5 euro paid locally on Ras Mohammed dives. Treat the amount as unsettled and expect to pay it separately from the boat price. The turtle-nesting closures over most of the bay are part of the park's protection, not an operator preference.

Season

There is no single best month, because the two reasons to come are opposite halves of the year. Operators report whale sharks and sailfish in the bay during the summer, and groups of dolphins and stingrays through the winter; eagle rays appear in the summer accounts as well. Separately, the bay's value as a wind shelter means it gets used whenever conditions outside are poor, which is a weather question rather than a seasonal one.

Conditions

Visibilitynot sourced

Currentlight

Surgenot sourced

WaterSalt water

Depth range6–30 m

Environmentreef

Coralnot sourced

Crowdsnot sourced

A sheltered bay: shallow sand, seagrass and coral gardens with a canyon at the north end. One Sharm dive centre says the site has good conditions throughout the year, and another calls visibility in the canyon section very good, but neither gives a figure, so no visibility number is recorded here. No source we read quotes water temperature for this bay specifically.

On current: No operator we read quotes a current strength for Marsa Bareika. It is a large enclosed bay used as shelter from wind, with fixed moorings, and one Sharm dive centre says it enjoys good conditions all year and suits divers of all levels, which is consistent with a low-energy site. Depths are quoted differently: two operators put the canyon at 6 m down to about 30 m, one of them describing steps at 12, 18 and 25 m, while a third gives 40 m as the maximum depth for the bay. The 30 m canyon figure is used here as the conservative reading of the dive people actually do.

Questions & answers

How deep is Marsa Bareika?

The canyon that most operators build the dive around starts at about 6 m and runs down to roughly 30 m, with one Sharm dive centre describing the descent as staggered steps at 12, 18 and 25 m from a sandy area near 10 m. Another operator gives 40 m as the maximum for the bay. Most of the site away from the canyon is shallow sand and seagrass at 6 to 10 m.

Can you dive anywhere in Marsa Bareika bay?

No. Diving is restricted to a handful of fixed moorings along the western beaches of the bay. The rest of Marsa Bareika is off-limits to boat-related activity, including diving and snorkelling, because turtles nest on those beaches. Which stretch of water you get is decided by the mooring your boat takes, so the plan is the operator's rather than yours.

Do you need to pay a park fee at Marsa Bareika?

Yes. The bay is inside Ras Mohammed National Park and the fee is charged separately from the boat trip, normally collected by the dive centre. One Sharm centre published it as 7 euro per person per trip from November 2019, while another operator's current list quotes 5 euro paid locally. Budget for it and confirm the amount with your centre.

Is Marsa Bareika good for beginners?

The shallow half of it is. One Sharm dive centre rates the site as suitable for divers of all levels, and the sand, seagrass and coral garden sit at 6 to 10 m in sheltered water. The canyon is a different dive: it drops to about 30 m from a 6 m entrance, which is an Advanced Open Water profile and needs someone watching no-decompression time.

Can you see whale sharks at Marsa Bareika?

It is one of the sites where they are reported. Operators describe whale sharks and sailfish in the bay during summer, and there are whale shark occurrence records at this pin in the OBIS data. Nothing about it is reliable or scheduled. In winter the reports switch to groups of dolphins and to stingrays instead.

What macro life is in the bay?

The sand and seagrass are the reason to bring a macro lens. Sharm operators list sand divers, razorfish, blennies, nudibranchs and sea moths on the shallow plateau, with octopus, moray eels and scorpionfish in the coral. Records at this pin also include twoband anemonefish, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, several butterflyfish, royal and zebra angelfish, and the leopard torpedo ray, which buries itself in sand.

How do you get to Marsa Bareika?

By boat, on a Ras Mohammed day trip out of Sharm el Sheikh or on an overnight safari boat that takes one of the bay moorings. There is no shore access to the dive and no facility in the bay, so everything runs off the boat. Because the bay is enclosed and sheltered, it is also where boats go when the exposed sites outside the headland are unworkable.

Life recorded at Marsa Baryka

60 species within 2.5 km · OBIS

Taeniura lymmarare · 3 records Balistoides viridescensrare · 2 records Cheilinus undulatusrare · 2 records Rhincodon typusrare · 2 records Gymnothorax javanicusrare · 1 records

Parupeneus forsskalioccasional · 5 records

All 60 species recorded in this area

Species	How often	Records
Parupeneus forsskali	occasional	5
Chaetodon fasciatus	rare	4
Amphiprion bicinctus	rare	4
Torpedo panthera	rare	4
Arothron hispidus	rare	3
Pycnochromis dimidiatus	rare	3
Chaetodon auriga	rare	3
Taeniura lymma	rare	3
Paracirrhites forsteri	rare	3
Scarus ferrugineus	rare	3
Millepora dichotoma	rare	3
Dascyllus trimaculatus	rare	2
Ecsenius frontalis	rare	2
Heniochus intermedius	rare	2
Monotaxis grandoculis	rare	2
Parapercis hexophtalma	rare	2
Priolepis cincta	rare	2
Pseudanthias squamipinnis	rare	2
Pterois miles	rare	2
Chaetodon paucifasciatus	rare	2
Haliotis pustulata	rare	2
Nerita sanguinolenta	rare	2
Aurelia solida	rare	2
Amblyglyphidodon indicus	rare	2
Arothron diadematus	rare	2
Balistapus undulatus	rare	2
Balistoides viridescens	rare	2
Bodianus anthioides	rare	2
Chaetodon semilarvatus	rare	2
Cheilinus undulatus	rare	2
Rhincodon typus	rare	2
Rhinecanthus assasi	rare	2
Thalassoma rueppellii	rare	2
Chaetodon lineolatus	rare	2
Tridacna maxima	rare	2
Diodora ruppellii	rare	1
Stylissa carteri	rare	1
Gymnothorax undulatus	rare	1
Trachinotus blochii	rare	1
Cerithium rueppelli	rare	1
Abudefduf vaigiensis	rare	1
Cephalopholis argus	rare	1
Cheilodipterus macrodon	rare	1
Chromis flavaxilla	rare	1
Chromis viridis	rare	1
Clanculus pharaonius	rare	1
Conus textile	rare	1
Dascyllus marginatus	rare	1
Echinometra mathaei	rare	1
Genicanthus caudovittatus	rare	1
Gymnothorax javanicus	rare	1
Gymnothorax nudivomer	rare	1
Ophiocoma scolopendrina	rare	1
Pastinachus sephen	rare	1
Pomacentrus sulfureus	rare	1
Pseudocheilinus evanidus	rare	1
Pygoplites diacanthus	rare	1
Aluterus scriptus	rare	1
Pinctada margaritifera	rare	1
Scolopsis ghanam	rare	1

Nearby sites in Sinai

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Ras Za`atar5.1 km

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A wall of open caverns and a vertical chimney on the headland at the mouth of Marsa Bareika, dived as a drift and best in the afternoon light.

Ras Burg5.1 km

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One chimney full of gorgonians and sponges, entered four divers at a time, and a wall afterwards that its own operator calls only okay.

Ras Ghozlani5.1 km

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A sandy slope and coral pinnacles on the outer shoulder of Marsa Bareika, dived as a live-boat drift because the moorings were taken out.

Jackfish Alley6.2 km

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A drift along the north face of Ras Mohammed, through two shallow caves and out over the sand where the jacks hold.

The Alternatives6.3 km

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Saba Erg, the seven pinnacles: a chain of flat-topped ergs on a shallow sandy lagoon three miles west of Ras Mohammed, dived on the days the open sea is not divable.

Eel Garden7.8 km

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A sand slope on the Ras Mohammed side of the peninsula, dived for its colony of Red Sea garden eels rather than for the wall.

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