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Paradise
Egypt · reef · intermediate
5–25 mintermediateOWshore entry
Paradise
A shore drift off the Waterfalls jetty on the Hadaba coast: reef top around 10-12 m, sand sloping to a drop-off at 22 to 25 m.
Max depth5–25 m
Required levelintermediate
Entry typeshore
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Paradise is one of the Hadaba shore sites strung along the Sharm el Sheikh coast between Ras Um Sid and Amphoras, and it is normally entered from the floating jetty in front of the Waterfalls hotel; dive centres point people at the Cleopatra's needle statue on the hotel front as the landmark. The reef runs down to about 10 to 12 m, then a sloping coral garden and sand plateau carries out to a drop-off that operators put between 22 and 25 m. One Sharm centre gives the site range as 0 to 30 m.
The dive is normally run as a drift with the reef on your left shoulder. The hard coral is Porites and Acropora, with a set of oddly shaped pinnacles carrying soft coral and gorgonian sea fans; one of those pinnacles tops out around 16 m and is where a centre reports frogfish sitting. Glassfish gather around a large fan coral, and scorpionfish and nudibranchs work the wall. Blue-spotted ribbontail rays, turtles and moray eels are the animals operators name, and the fish list recorded at this pin is the ordinary well-sampled Sharm assemblage: parrotfish, surgeonfish, butterflyfish, sea goldies, royal angelfish and Picasso triggerfish in quantity.
Opinions differ on how easy it is. Two dive centres describe the currents as generally weak and the diving as easy, and one rates it a beginner site that also works for training; a third lists it as an intermediate drift and tells you to check the current before getting in. The same centre that calls it a beginner site notes that when the current does run, the answer is to move shallow and dive the reef wall instead of the plateau.
It sits in a tight chain: Turtle Bay is under half a kilometre away and Ras Umm Sid and Amphoras are barely a kilometre off, so a single drift often takes in more than one of them and descriptions of the neighbours bleed into descriptions of Paradise.
- Shore entry off a floating jetty, no boat needed
- Sloping coral garden and sand plateau out to a drop-off at 22-25 m
- Pinnacles topping out around 16 m with soft coral and gorgonian fans
- Glassfish around a large fan coral; frogfish reported on the pinnacle
- Blue-spotted ribbontail rays, turtles and moray eels
Please note before you go
- Variable current on a drift entry from a fixed jetty; when it runs, the plan is to move shallow onto the reef wall
- Fire coral (Millepora dichotoma) is one of the commoner records at this pin, on a site where the dive is spent close to the wall
- Titan triggerfish are recorded here in numbers; a nesting pair defends the water above the nest
- Scorpionfish and devil firefish sit camouflaged on the reef wall, which is exactly where a drifting diver's hands go
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Shore entry from the floating jetty in front of the Waterfalls hotel on the Hadaba coast, identified by the Cleopatra's needle statue on the hotel front. Access to the jetty and the drift plan both run through a local dive centre, and the site is also reached by boat on local day trips. It sits between Ras Um Sid and Amphoras, with Turtle Bay under half a kilometre away.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Restrictions
None documented. Unlike the Ras Mohammed sites further south, no national park fee is listed against the Sharm local sites in the operator material we read.
Season
No operator we read gives a month window for this site. One Sharm centre reports manta rays here on summer afternoons, which is a single unsupported claim and should be treated as an outside chance rather than a reason to book. Otherwise this is a year-round coastal shore dive whose quality on the day depends on the current and the wind, not the month.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentmoderate
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range5–25 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsnot sourced
A sloping coral garden and sand plateau off a shore entry, dived along the coast with the reef on the left. Hard coral is Porites and Acropora, with pinnacles carrying soft coral and gorgonian sea fans. None of the dive centres we read publish a visibility figure or a water temperature for this site, so neither is recorded here. Current is the variable that changes the dive, and it is not predictable from the calendar.
On current: Sources do not agree. Two Sharm dive centres describe generally weak currents and easy diving; a third lists the site as an intermediate drift and says to check the current before entering, and a fourth says the current is variable and that when it is strong you move shallow and dive the reef wall rather than the plateau. The conservative reading is used here: plan it as a drift, check the flow, and be prepared for it to run. The drop-off depth is also quoted differently, at 22 m by one centre and 25 m by two others, with a fourth giving 0-30 m as the site range.
Questions & answers
How deep is the Paradise dive site in Sharm el Sheikh?
The reef top sits at roughly 10 to 12 m, and the coral garden and sand plateau slope out to a drop-off that dive centres put at 22 to 25 m. One centre gives the whole site as 0 to 30 m. A pinnacle on the plateau tops out around 16 m. Most of the dive is spent well inside recreational limits.
Is Paradise a shore dive or a boat dive?
It is normally a shore dive. Entry is off the floating jetty in front of the Waterfalls hotel on the Hadaba coast, which dive centres describe by pointing at the Cleopatra's needle statue on the hotel front. Local day boats also run the site. Access to the jetty and the drift plan go through a dive centre either way.
Is there current at Paradise?
It varies, and the operators do not agree. Two Sharm centres call the currents generally weak and the diving easy; another rates the site an intermediate drift and says to check the current before you enter. A fourth describes it as variable and says that when it runs you move shallow and dive the reef wall instead of the plateau. Check it on the day rather than trusting the average.
Is Paradise good for beginners?
Mostly yes. One Sharm centre rates it a beginner site and uses it for training, and the shore entry, shallow reef top and gentle slope support that. The qualifier is the current: because the dive is run as a drift along the coast, a beginner should be with a guide who has checked the flow and has a plan for going shallow if it picks up.
Can you snorkel at Paradise?
Yes. The reef top is around 10 m and the entry is a hotel's floating jetty, so the coral garden and its fish are within easy view from the surface without approaching the drop-off. The thing to respect is the along-shore current, which is the same flow that turns the site into a drift for the divers.
What will I see at Paradise?
Hard coral of Porites and Acropora with pinnacles carrying soft coral and gorgonian sea fans, glassfish around a large fan, and frogfish reported on the pinnacle. Operators name blue-spotted ribbontail rays, turtles and moray eels. The species recorded at this pin are the standard Sharm reef assemblage in quantity: daisy and rusty parrotfish, Red Sea surgeonfish, several butterflyfish, sea goldies, royal angelfish, Picasso and titan triggerfish and giant clams.
Do you need a park fee to dive Paradise?
No fee is listed against the Sharm local sites in the dive-centre material we read. The Ras Mohammed park fee, which operators collect at the dive centre and charge separately from the trip, applies to the national park sites further south rather than to the coastal reefs along Hadaba. Confirm with your centre, since fees in the area have changed before.
How does Paradise compare to Turtle Bay and Ras Umm Sid?
They are neighbours in a tight chain along the same coast. Turtle Bay is under half a kilometre away and Ras Umm Sid and Amphoras are about a kilometre off, and a single drift often covers more than one of them. Ras Umm Sid is the more demanding of the group, described by one operator as subject to very strong current, and is also rated one of the best night dives in Sharm.
Life recorded at Paradise
60 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmaoccasional · 19 recordsBalistoides viridescensoccasional · 12 recordsGymnothorax javanicusoccasional · 11 records
Chlorurus sordidusoccasional · 46 records
Abudefduf vaigiensisoccasional · 45 records
Chaetodon fasciatusoccasional · 43 records
All 60 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Chlorurus sordidus | occasional | 46 |
| Abudefduf vaigiensis | occasional | 45 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | occasional | 43 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 42 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | occasional | 33 |
| Tridacna maxima | occasional | 31 |
| Chaetodon auriga | occasional | 29 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | occasional | 28 |
| Acanthurus sohal | occasional | 28 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | occasional | 27 |
| Rhinecanthus assasi | occasional | 26 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 25 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 25 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | occasional | 23 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | occasional | 23 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 23 |
| Hipposcarus harid | occasional | 22 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | occasional | 21 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | occasional | 21 |
| Scarus niger | occasional | 21 |
| Naso elegans | occasional | 20 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | occasional | 20 |
| Cephalopholis argus | occasional | 20 |
| Monotaxis grandoculis | occasional | 20 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 19 |
| Alticus magnusi | occasional | 19 |
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 19 |
| Balistapus undulatus | occasional | 19 |
| Acanthopleura vaillantii | occasional | 18 |
| Coris aygula | occasional | 17 |
| Cheilinus quinquecinctus | occasional | 17 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | occasional | 17 |
| Acanthurus nigrofuscus | occasional | 16 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | occasional | 15 |
| Fistularia commersonii | occasional | 15 |
| Abudefduf sexfasciatus | occasional | 15 |
| Zebrasoma xanthurum | occasional | 15 |
| Chaetodon melannotus | occasional | 14 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | occasional | 13 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 13 |
| Balistoides viridescens | occasional | 12 |
| Millepora dichotoma | occasional | 12 |
| Plectorhinchus gaterinus | occasional | 11 |
| Kyphosus cinerascens | occasional | 11 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | occasional | 11 |
| Caesio striata | occasional | 11 |
| Arothron hispidus | occasional | 10 |
| Epibulus insidiator | occasional | 10 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | occasional | 10 |
| Diodon hystrix | occasional | 9 |
| Mulloidichthys vanicolensis | occasional | 9 |
| Scarus fuscopurpureus | occasional | 9 |
| Heterocentrotus mamillatus | occasional | 9 |
| Scarus frenatus | occasional | 9 |
| Chlorurus gibbus | occasional | 8 |
| Siganus luridus | occasional | 8 |
| Stegastes nigricans | occasional | 8 |
| Tylosurus crocodilus | occasional | 8 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | occasional | 8 |
| Cetoscarus bicolor | occasional | 8 |
Nearby sites in Sinai
Explore all sitesTurtle Bay0.5 km
SinaiA sandy plateau south of Amphoras, drifted north or south depending on the current, with glassfish pinnacles and rays parked on the sand.
Shark divers house reef0.7 km
SinaiA dive centre's own name for its jetty entry on the Hadaba wall, a few hundred metres up the reef from Ras Um Sid.
Amphoras1.2 km
SinaiA sand slope off Sharm's southern coast where the cargo of a 17th-century Turkish ship still lies in the coral heads.
Ras Umm Sid1.3 km
SinaiThe headland under Sharm's lighthouse, where a shallow reef plate ends and a wall of giant gorgonians starts.
Temple1.5 km
SinaiThree coral towers on a sandy plateau off Ras Umm Sid, and Sharm's default night dive.
Ras Katy1.9 km
SinaiThe first mooring out of Sharm el Maya: a line of coral pinnacles in sand, used as the town's check-dive and night-dive corner.
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