Ras Mohammed National Park: trip, cost, visa

While snorkeling I estimated visibility, water temperature and depth, just as I experienced them on the days I was there. On dives the dive computer measured depth and duration, and values with a named source show what is usual there, not how it was for me.

We entered the country in October 2025 with only the free Sinai stamp. The Federal Foreign Office lists it for four places, and Ras Mohammed National Park at the southern tip of the Sinai in Egypt isn’t one of them. Our boat trip there went without any problems anyway.

From Sharm El Sheikh you go into the national park by boat, and booking costs little. In the water, the trip is great, whether snorkeling or diving. But expect a full boat.

At a glance


Where	southern tip of the Sinai, by boat from Sharm El Sheikh
Booked	through the Sharm Gate app
Cost	25 to 40 US dollars per person (October 2025)
Included	lunch, entrance to the national park, snorkeling gear
Extra	dives with the dive team on board, photos and videos by the on-board photographers
Boat	fairly large, around 50 people on board on our trip
Visa	we traveled with the free Sinai stamp; the Federal Foreign Office lists only four places for it, Ras Mohammed isn’t among them (as of September 24, 2026)
Accommodation	for us around 100 euros per room per night in Sharm El Sheikh (October 2025)
For whom	for everyone who snorkels confidently in open water; not for small children

Contents

At a glance
How to get to Ras Mohammed National Park
What does a Ras Mohammed trip cost, and what’s included?
Is the Sinai visa enough for Ras Mohammed?
What is snorkeling like in Ras Mohammed National Park?
Can you dive at Ras Mohammed without certification?
How crowded is Ras Mohammed?
My conclusion
Frequently asked questions
Further reading

How to get to Ras Mohammed National Park

With a booked boat tour from Sharm El Sheikh. We booked ours through the Sharm Gate app.

Plan for a whole day. I no longer remember when we left, but our recordings show roughly how long the trip took. At half past nine we were already out at sea, and other excursion boats were in sight. Around half past four in the afternoon we were still on board, with the mountains of the coast in view.

The ride itself is already part of the trip. Along the coast lies the desert, bone-dry and dusty all the way to the horizon, and right next to it the sea in every shade of blue, from turquoise to a deep, rich dark blue. This contrast holds you at the railing and won’t let go.

There are also trips overland. We don’t know them. For those, a note from the Federal Foreign Office applies: in the south of the Sinai, it advises against unaccompanied, individual excursions and overland journeys. If you book a tour, you’re not traveling on your own.

What does a Ras Mohammed trip cost, and what’s included?

Our tour cost between 25 and 40 US dollars per person. Lunch, entrance to the national park and snorkeling gear were included.

For anything not included in the price, they really cash in. And photographers came along on the boat who sold their photos and videos afterward, above and below water, and at a steep price.

A Napoleon wrasse moves past the reef wall while diving in Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt. — The Napoleon wrasse in the national park, filmed with our own camera.

Is the Sinai visa enough for Ras Mohammed?

About the Sinai stamp, the Federal Foreign Office writes: it entitles you to a stay of up to 15 days “exclusively in the towns of Nuweiba, Taba, Sharm El Sheikh and Dahab” (as of September 24, 2026). Ras Mohammed isn’t on the list. We had exactly this stamp. We didn’t have the visa for 30 US dollars, and we still went into the national park by boat.

The question has been asked in the forums for years, and the answers contradict each other. If you want to be completely sure, get the visa for 30 US dollars or ask the provider before booking.

What is snorkeling like in Ras Mohammed National Park?

You snorkel at a reef in the middle of the sea. All around, nothing but blue. Below lies the reef, full of colorful fish. You jump from the boat into open water and have no ground under your feet, unlike at the house reefs from the beach. I no longer remember the name of the reef where we snorkeled.

Densely overgrown reef with corals in many colors in the Red Sea in Egypt. — This is how densely overgrown the reefs around Sharm El Sheikh are.

When we dove in the national park on our day, there was no current, and the surface was calm. It doesn’t have to be like that every day. Ask on board before getting in what it looks like that day, and stay with the group. The page on the reefs of Sharm El Sheikh says how strong the current was at the individual reefs.

Branching yellow fire coral on the reef in the Red Sea in Egypt. — A fire coral on the Red Sea: finely branched and mustard yellow.

In the national park, as everywhere on the reef: touch nothing and keep your distance. Corals grow over many years and break off in a second. And anyone who leans on the reef can easily end up grabbing a fire coral, which stings.

Can you dive at Ras Mohammed without certification?

On our tour, you could. We were able to add dives on board spontaneously, and I tell the whole process in the report on diving without a certification in Egypt.

I didn’t have a certification back then. No problem, they said. There were no exercises beforehand. Instead, the instructor held me by the hand or by the tank, and he stayed by my side the whole time.

We went down to 20 meters, for 40 minutes, as the dive computer showed. Visibility was about 30 meters. The dive team gave me a short wetsuit, and I never got cold in it.

In the middle of the dive, a Napoleon wrasse appears out of the blue. It is big, has a hump above its eyes and takes its time as it passes us.

A moray eel peers out of a rock crevice while diving in Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt. — The moray eel in its rock crevice, filmed while diving.

How crowded is Ras Mohammed?

Crowded. In the morning, hundreds of tourists set off from the harbor at the same time; there were around fifty people on our boat, and I was one of them myself. A reef in the national park isn’t a lonely place.

At Ras Bob and Ras Umm Sid, you can get into the water from the beach without a boat, as the article on snorkeling in Sharm El Sheikh shows. We had peace at the reef in the morning at the Ras Bob house reef, not on the boat.

My conclusion

Take your own camera. Then you won’t need the pictures from the on-board photographers. I felt safe in Egypt the whole time, snorkeling just as much as diving without a certification.

Frequently asked questions

Is the national park entrance fee included in the tour price?

On our tour, yes, together with lunch and snorkeling gear.

Can you go to Ras Mohammed with children?

It’s not for small children. You go from the boat into open water, with no ground under your feet. With children, a house reef with a jetty is the easier way in, like at Ras Umm Sid, even though it gets deep right behind it.

How warm is the water in October?

At the end of October, the water was 26 to 30 °C when diving. There was no cold shock when descending.

Do you see sharks at Ras Mohammed?

We didn’t see any. The article on the dangers of snorkeling in Egypt tells what it’s like with sharks when snorkeling in Egypt.

How snorkeling in Egypt and in the Maldives differs, I’ll tell in an article of its own.

Where the information comes from: entry and the safety note from the travel and safety advice of the Federal Foreign Office, accessed on September 24, 2026. Prices, the process and everything experienced come from our trip in October 2025.