Travel report
Diving without certification in Egypt: my first dive at Ras Mohammed
Translated from the German original.
A hand has been holding me by the tank since we descended from the boat. Below us, bright sand opens up, with single coral blocks standing in between, and the blue reaches farther than I can see. Then something big pushes out of that blue. A Napoleon wrasse, with the hump above its eyes, in no hurry at all. Next to me floats a member of our family who has wished for exactly this animal for years. Through the mask I don’t see much of his face. It’s enough to know that he’s beaming.
The short answer: Yes, in Egypt you can dive without a certification. On our boat trip from Sharm El Sheikh to Ras Mohammed National Park in October 2025, the dive could be added on board, without any preparation. I paid for that with freedom of movement: without practice beforehand, the instructor holds on to you the whole time. I preferred the way I know from Thailand, with a few minutes of practice in the water and more freedom afterwards. If you have the choice, ask before booking whether there is practice beforehand.
At a glance
| Where | Ras Mohammed National Park, southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt |
| Getting there | only by boat trip, starting in Sharm El Sheikh |
| Certification | not needed; the dive could be added spontaneously on board |
| Preparation | no exercises for us; the instructor holds you by the hand or by the tank the whole time |
| Depth for us | down to 20 meters, 40 minutes (October 2025) |
| Intro dive per PADI | at most 12 meters in the sea, from age 10, with a medical questionnaire (PADI, as of April 2023) |
| When to go | we were there in October 2025: 26 °C water, around 30 meters visibility |
| For whom | anyone without a certification who wants to see a reef in the open sea from below for once; snorkelers get in the water on the same tour |
Contents
- Is diving without certification allowed in Egypt?
- How does diving without certification work?
- How deep can you scuba dive without certification?
- Held on to or free: which is better?
- Can you snorkel at Ras Mohammed too?
- How crowded is Ras Mohammed?
- Frequently asked questions
Is diving without certification allowed in Egypt?
On our boat it was an offer like any other. We could add dives spontaneously, and when I said I didn’t have a certification, all they said was: no problem. With the instructors, I felt in good hands from the very first moment.
Diving still wasn’t new to me. My first dive was in 2010 in Thailand, and after that more kept coming, all without a certification. I only got that in July 2026. So at Ras Mohammed I knew what breathing underwater feels like and what I was getting into.
For everyone who has never dived, there are intro dives. PADI, one of the big diving organizations, calls it “Discover Scuba Diving.” You can take part from age ten, beforehand you fill out a medical questionnaire, and in the sea the instructor stays at your side the whole time. It was just as close for me too.
How does diving without certification work?
The ride out is an experience in itself. On the coast lies the desert, bone-dry and dusty to the horizon. Right next to it lies the sea in every shade of blue, from turquoise to a rich dark blue. Between the two, you stand at the railing and can’t look away.
He has been diving for years and has several certifications, and on the whole trip he spoke of one single wish. To see a Napoleon wrasse once in his life. We had heard it so often that at some point we were all rooting for him.
On board, everything then happened quickly: gear on, mask on, in. There were no exercises. Instead, an instructor stayed next to me the whole time and held me by the hand or by the tank.
The water takes me in, without a cold shock. My breath becomes calm and slow as soon as I am below the surface, and that’s exactly why I notice so much down there. We glide down along the reef wall. Corals in every shape cover it, with fish everywhere in between. In the crevices stand lionfish, their fins spread like fans.
At eighteen meters, the bottom opens up to bright sand. We dive through crevices in the reef and stop briefly for photos. A moray looks out of a rock crevice, its mouth slowly opening and closing as it breathes. We keep our distance and watch it.
Then came the Napoleon wrasse. It moved past us, in no hurry. Under our masks we were all beaming, each more than the other, and nobody moved, so that the moment would last. On the very first dive at Ras Mohammed, the wish had come true. For me, a moment like that was the first shark at the house reef of Rasdhoo in the Maldives; for him, it was this Napoleon wrasse.
How deep can you scuba dive without certification?
On an intro dive per PADI, it’s at most 12 meters in the sea, and 6 meters for the exercises in the pool. We went deeper, down to 20 meters. So if you’re diving for the first time, ask before jumping into the water how deep it’s going to go.
For what you see, you hardly need the depth. The reef top at Ras Mohammed is so shallow that you’re in the middle of the reef within the first few meters. My GoPro 10 couldn’t keep up from fifteen meters down; red disappears first there. After this vacation I switched to the Insta360; why is in the comparison of GoPro vs. Insta360.
Held on to or free: which is better?
In Thailand, my start was different. There we had to do ten minutes of safety exercises before the first dive. After that I was allowed to move freely, as long as I stayed close to our instructor. That gave me a good feeling.
In Egypt there were no exercises; instead I was held on to the whole time. That was surely well meant, and I still didn’t enjoy it. I preferred the Thailand version: ten minutes of practice, and after that the dive is yours.
If you book spontaneously on board, you get the Egypt version. If you’d rather dive freely, ask before the tour whether the operator practices beforehand. What I wear underwater and what I film with is listed under my gear.
Can you snorkel at Ras Mohammed too?
Yes, and on the same boat trip. The boat stopped at a reef in the middle of the open sea. All around only blue, below it the reef full of fish. If you don’t want to dive, you already experience most of it from the reef top, because the best happens there at two to five meters.
What the entry points at the other reefs around Sharm look like, I’ve described in the overview Red Sea for beginners. The conditions at each spot, with visibility and current, are on the page about the reefs of Sharm El Sheikh. At Ras Mohammed there was no current on our day, and the surface was smooth.
Underwater, the same applies as everywhere: don’t touch anything and keep your distance. There are two reasons for that. Corals grow for decades and break in a second. And you get hurt yourself: the spines of lionfish are venomous, fire corals sting the skin.
How crowded is Ras Mohammed?
Crowded. The good reefs and the protected areas around Sharm El Sheikh are overrun, and I can’t complain, because I was one of the many tourists myself. If you dream of a lonely reef, you should know that beforehand. For what happens down below, you put up with the crowds.
And a lot happens down below. The reefs in Egypt are just as colorful as those in the Maldives. It’s only the animals that are bigger there: the whale shark off Dhigurah or the sharks at Turtle Reef don’t exist in this form in the Red Sea. In Egypt I saw exactly one turtle in a whole week. Off Rasdhoo there were about ten in an hour and a half.
In return, the Red Sea is close; you get there without a long-haul trip. When the water is how warm is on the sheet about the best time to visit the Red Sea.
My conclusion
Without a certification, you can get underwater in Egypt, spontaneously and without preparation. Ask beforehand whether there’s practice and how deep it goes, then you’ll know what to expect. And if a Napoleon wrasse comes your way, stay calmly hovering and watch it go.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a certification to dive in Egypt? No. On our boat trip to Ras Mohammed, a dive without certification could be added on board. The instructor then stays with you the whole time.
How deep do you go when diving without certification? On an intro dive per PADI, at most 12 meters in the sea. We went down to 20 meters, so ask beforehand what the operator is planning.
From what age can you do an intro dive? Per PADI from age ten, with a medical questionnaire in advance.
Do I have to do exercises beforehand? Not for us in Egypt; instead I was held on to. In Thailand there were ten minutes of exercises, and after that I was allowed to move more freely.
Can I just snorkel at Ras Mohammed? Yes. On the same tour, the boat stopped at a reef in the open sea, and the best there is at two to five meters.
What the week at the reefs from the beach felt like and which hotel has a house reef is in my experiences snorkeling in Sharm El Sheikh.