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Shark Observatory
Egypt · wall · intermediate
0–30 mintermediateOWboat entry
Shark Observatory
The vertical fossil-cliff wall under the Ras Mohammed observation terrace, dived along the overhangs rather than out in the blue.
Max depth0–30 m
Required levelintermediate
Entry typeboat
Visibility15 m
The dive
Shark Observatory is the wall directly below the cliff-top observation terrace at the southern tip of Sinai, inside Ras Mohammed National Park. The name is historical: the terrace is where sharks could once be watched from land in the water beneath, and both Circle Divers and Dive The World note they are now rarely seen there. Underwater it is a sheer fossilised coral cliff that drops past 90 m and, according to Camel Dive Club, beyond 100 m, which is why technical divers use it. Recreational dives stay in the top third; Circle Divers puts the productive band at 15 to 18 m and Divers Guide gives 30 m as the working maximum.
The wall is not flat. It is cut with inlets, overhangs and small open cave systems that let light down through the shallow coral plate above, and it turns sharply below the terrace, which is the landmark guides use on the way back. North-facing sections carry hard coral and ledges; the south-facing sections, fed by the current running round the point, carry the soft coral and rows of gorgonian fans. Hawksbill turtles work the wall grazing, nudibranchs sit on the overhangs, longnose hawkfish live in the fans, and glassfish fill the darker recesses.
Out from the wall there are schools of fusiliers, jacks and unicornfish, and the deep water off the point is where anything larger shows up. Dives are run from a Sharm el Sheikh day boat, about 50 minutes each way, usually as a drift with the wall on one shoulder. This is a separate dive from Shark and Yolanda Reef, which lies about 800 m southwest around the same headland, and from the sand plateau of Eel Garden immediately to the north.
- Sheer fossil-coral wall with inlets, overhangs and small open caves
- Rows of gorgonian fans on the south-facing, current-fed sections
- Hawksbill turtles grazing the wall
- Nudibranchs on the overhangs and longnose hawkfish in the fans
- The sharp turn in the wall directly under the cliff-top observation terrace
Please note before you go
- Vertical wall dropping past 90 m with no bottom in sight; depth creep is the main risk
- Medium to strong current running round the point, direction must be checked before entry
- Boat traffic; Divers Guide advises deploying a surface marker buoy
- Overhangs and small open caves are an overhead environment if you go into them
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Boat only, roughly 50 minutes from the Sharm el Sheikh marinas. It is a standard stop on a Ras Mohammed day trip, which runs about 08:00 to 15:30 or 17:00 with two guided dives, tanks and weights included and a third dive available on the boat. The observation terrace above the site is reachable by road inside the park, but the dive itself is not a shore entry.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Restrictions
Inside Ras Mohammed National Park, so it is dived from a licensed operator's boat and the trip is weather dependent.
Rules and permits
A per-trip national park entrance fee is charged on top of the dive price and collected at the dive centre. Emperor Divers quotes EUR 5 per person paid locally for Shark Observatory; Reef Oasis Dive Club posted EUR 7 per person per diving trip when the fee changed on 27 November 2019.
Season
Year round, with March to May and September to November the more reliable windows. Spring gives the clearest water, with Emperor Divers reporting visibility often over 30 m in the Red Sea generally, and autumn keeps summer water temperatures with easier air temperatures. Winter water falls to around 22 C and north wind more often closes the exposed southern tip.
Conditions
Visibility15 m
Currentstrong
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range0–30 m
Environmentwall
Coralrecovering
Crowdsbusy
Divers Guide gives 10 to 30 m of visibility here, averaging about 15 m, over a sand and coral bottom, with the best conditions at low tide. Across the Ras Mohammed headland water temperature runs 20 to 28 C through the year. A normal dive is a drop on the wall, a drift along it with the reef on one shoulder at 15 to 20 m, and a shallow finish over the coral plate.
On current: Divers Guide records the current here as medium to strong and says to check its direction before entering, with the best diving at low tide; Dive The World rates the Ras Mohammed headland as a whole moderate to strong. We have taken the stronger reading. Grade also differs between sources: Divers Guide calls it an easy site suitable for all levels while Circle Divers rates it intermediate, and given a vertical wall with no bottom and current running round the point we have used intermediate. The wall itself gives no depth reference, so watch the computer rather than the reef.
Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov
Questions & answers
How deep is Shark Observatory?
The wall is effectively bottomless for recreational purposes: Dive The World puts it at about 90 m and Camel Dive Club says the drop-off goes beyond 100 m, which is why technical divers use the site. Recreational dives work the top of it, with Divers Guide giving 30 m as the maximum and Circle Divers putting the best part of the dive at 15 to 18 m. There is no depth reference on a vertical wall, so watch your computer.
Why is it called Shark Observatory?
The name comes from the cliff-top observation terrace above the site at the southern tip of Sinai, from which sharks could once be spotted in the water below. That is no longer a realistic expectation: Circle Divers says sharks are now only occasionally seen in the blue, and Dive The World attributes the decline to shark trawling. The dive is worth doing for the wall itself, not for a shark sighting.
Is Shark Observatory good for beginners?
Sources differ. Divers Guide grades it easy and suitable for all levels, while Circle Divers rates it intermediate. It is a vertical wall with medium to strong current and nothing underneath you, so a newly certified diver should do it with a guide, stay above 20 m and be comfortable holding depth without a bottom reference.
Is there current at Shark Observatory?
Yes. Divers Guide records medium to strong current and specifically advises checking its direction before entering, and Dive The World rates the whole Ras Mohammed headland moderate to strong. The current running round the point is what feeds the soft corals and gorgonians on the south-facing wall. Best conditions are reported at low tide, and dives are normally run as a drift with a surface marker buoy for the boat.
How do you get to Shark Observatory, and is there a park fee?
It is a boat dive, roughly 50 minutes from the Sharm el Sheikh marinas, and a standard stop on a Ras Mohammed day trip with two guided dives included. Ras Mohammed is a national park and charges a per-trip entrance fee on top of the diving: Emperor Divers quotes EUR 5 per person paid locally, and Reef Oasis Dive Club posted EUR 7 per person per trip from November 2019, collected at the dive centre.
Can you snorkel Shark Observatory?
Not really. The shallow coral plate at the top of the wall is visible from the surface, but the overhangs, caves and gorgonian fans that make the dive are well below snorkelling depth. The site is also 50 minutes out by boat with medium to strong current and boat traffic, so it is run for divers rather than surface swimmers.
What will I see at Shark Observatory?
Hawksbill turtles grazing the wall, nudibranchs on the overhangs, longnose hawkfish in the gorgonian fans, and glassfish packed into the caves and recesses. Off the wall there are schools of fusiliers, jacks, trevallies, barracuda and unicornfish. Records from the surrounding Ras Mohammed reefs also include giant moray, humphead wrasse, coral hind and blue-spotted ribbontail ray.
When is the best time to dive Shark Observatory?
It is diveable year round, but March to May and September to November are the reliable windows. Spring gives the clearest water and autumn keeps the summer water temperature with more comfortable air temperatures. In winter the water drops to around 22 C and the north wind more often makes the exposed southern tip of Sinai unworkable.
Life recorded at Shark Observatory
60 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmaoccasional · 38 recordsGymnothorax javanicusoccasional · 28 recordsCheilinus undulatusoccasional · 17 recordsBalistoides viridescensoccasional · 6 records
Pseudanthias squamipinnisoccasional · 26 records
Amphiprion bicinctusoccasional · 22 records
All 60 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Taeniura lymma | occasional | 38 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | occasional | 28 |
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | occasional | 26 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | occasional | 22 |
| Naso unicornis | occasional | 20 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | occasional | 18 |
| Cheilinus undulatus | occasional | 17 |
| Scarus ferrugineus | occasional | 16 |
| Pseudobalistes fuscus | occasional | 16 |
| Chlorurus gibbus | occasional | 15 |
| Pomacanthus maculosus | occasional | 15 |
| Cephalopholis miniata | occasional | 15 |
| Papilloculiceps longiceps | occasional | 15 |
| Chaetodon melannotus | occasional | 14 |
| Arothron diadematus | occasional | 14 |
| Platax orbicularis | occasional | 13 |
| Coris aygula | occasional | 11 |
| Zebrasoma desjardinii | occasional | 11 |
| Cephalopholis argus | occasional | 10 |
| Fistularia commersonii | occasional | 10 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | occasional | 9 |
| Ostracion cubicum | occasional | 9 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | occasional | 9 |
| Heniochus intermedius | occasional | 9 |
| Arothron hispidus | occasional | 8 |
| Caranx melampygus | occasional | 8 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | occasional | 8 |
| Dascyllus trimaculatus | occasional | 8 |
| Epibulus insidiator | occasional | 8 |
| Lutjanus bohar | occasional | 8 |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | occasional | 8 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | occasional | 7 |
| Lutjanus monostigma | occasional | 7 |
| Oxycheilinus digramma | occasional | 7 |
| Bodianus anthioides | occasional | 6 |
| Chaetodon auriga | occasional | 6 |
| Balistoides viridescens | occasional | 6 |
| Plectropomus marisrubri | occasional | 6 |
| Pterois miles | occasional | 5 |
| Thalassoma rueppellii | occasional | 5 |
| Monotaxis grandoculis | occasional | 5 |
| Hipposcarus harid | occasional | 5 |
| Parapercis hexophtalma | occasional | 5 |
| Parupeneus cyclostomus | occasional | 5 |
| Pomacanthus imperator | occasional | 5 |
| Epinephelus fasciatus | occasional | 5 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | occasional | 5 |
| Acanthurus sohal | occasional | 5 |
| Balistapus undulatus | occasional | 5 |
| Stenella attenuata | occasional | 5 |
| Millepora dichotoma | occasional | 5 |
| Arothron stellatus | occasional | 5 |
| Plectorhinchus gaterinus | rare | 4 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | rare | 4 |
| Variola louti | rare | 4 |
| Torpedo panthera | rare | 4 |
| Cheilinus lunulatus | rare | 4 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | rare | 4 |
| Chaetodon paucifasciatus | rare | 4 |
Nearby sites in Sinai
Explore all sitesEel Garden0.1 km
SinaiA sand slope on the Ras Mohammed side of the peninsula, dived for its colony of Red Sea garden eels rather than for the wall.
Anemone City0.5 km
SinaiA shallow plateau in Ras Mohammed carpeted in giant anemones and their clownfish, usually dived on the way to Shark Reef.
Yolanda house reef0.6 km
SinaiThe catalogue calls it a house reef; the coordinates are Shark and Yolanda in Ras Mohammed, cargo of toilets included.
Ras Muhammed National park0.7 km
SinaiShark & Yolanda Reef0.8 km
SinaiTwo reefs run as one drift at the tip of Sinai, with a freighter's cargo of bathroom fittings scattered in the shallows.
Jackfish Alley1.8 km
SinaiA drift along the north face of Ras Mohammed, through two shallow caves and out over the sand where the jacks hold.
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