Sharm el Sheikh house reef: four reefs in Egypt
Translated from the German original.
Sharm el Sheikh lies at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the open Red Sea. For snorkelers, one thing counts above all here: two of the four reefs can be reached from the beach, and one of them is a real house reef. The water is warm all year round.
Three of the four reefs are listed below with my own measurements from October 31, the day we dove at all three spots. The visibility was 30 meters everywhere. What set them apart was the current: strong at Gordon Reef, light at Ras Bob, none at all in Ras Mohammed. That is exactly what decides where snorkeling makes sense.
Which reef is the house reef in Sharm el Sheikh?
Ras Bob in Shark Bay, right in front of the Serenity Lodge, where we stayed. You walk from the beach into the water; there is no jetty. First comes shallow reef, then the edge, and beyond it everything drops into the blue. It was the best reef of our week. How the week there felt and why we would choose the hotel by the reef is in my experiences snorkeling in Sharm El Sheikh.
Where is snorkeling from the beach easiest in Sharm el Sheikh?
Ras Umm Sid at El Fanar Beach. A long jetty leads straight to the reef edge, without a way over shallow reef. For families it is the best address here. It still isn’t listed below as a spot of its own, because there is no logbook entry for Ras Umm Sid and therefore no numbers of its own. What it was like there is in the reef overview for the Red Sea.
Which reefs in Sharm el Sheikh can only be reached by boat?
Ras Mohammed National Park at the southern tip of the Sinai and Gordon Reef in the Strait of Tiran. At Ras Mohammed you swim over the reef in the middle of the open sea; that is also where I went diving without a certification. Gordon Reef had the strongest current and is only for those who know the boat is within reach. What water temperature to expect when is in the sheet on the best time to travel to the Red Sea.
What is Sharm el Sheikh like above water?
We stayed in a neighborhood where a great deal of construction is going on. Around the hotel, a whole quarter for thousands of people is being built. If you’re looking for authenticity, you’ll look for it in vain here.
When it comes to excursions, it’s mixed: in the water they are great, the booking itself is cheap. Only, hundreds of tourists leave the harbor at the same time in the morning, and for everything except the ride itself they charge heavily. Photos above and below water are expensive.
Getting there: Ras Bob is the house reef in front of the Serenity Lodge in Shark Bay — from the beach, no jetty, first about 50 meters over shallow reef, then the edge. Ras Umm Sid is reached via a long jetty at El Fanar Beach in the Hadaba district; entry was about 150 Egyptian pounds, roughly 3 to 4 euros, lounger and parasol included. Ras Mohammed and Gordon Reef can only be reached by boat; the tours start in Sharm and take half a day. For getting around on land, the hotel arranged a driver for us, called via WhatsApp.
Ras Bob — the house reef in Shark Bay
If you stay in Shark Bay, you don't need a booking for the best reef of the week: you walk from the beach into the water. There is no jetty — first you snorkel about 50 meters over shallow reef, then the bottom falls away, and beyond it everything drops into the blue. How good this spot is, we learned on the day a booked boat tour, after a long ride out, dropped us off right here of all places.
On October 29, 2025, the visibility was 30 meters, the water was 27 °C, the air 31, and the current was light. That is exactly what makes the spot a house reef: calm enough to let yourself drift. The dive at the same edge went down to 20 meters and lasted 45 minutes.
This is also where the only turtle of the whole week was. Plus eagle rays, a bluespotted ray, a white moray on the move — and the needlefish that hung motionless below the surface as if it had been waiting.
In the mornings the reef is often empty. We were often in the water shortly after seven and had it to ourselves.
Over the reef flat there is little room at low water: don't touch down, don't put your fins into the reef. And about the name — the bay is called Shark Bay, but in the whole week we didn't see a single shark there.
Best snorkeling in Sharm El Sheikh: four Red Sea reefs for beginners →
House reef, Entry from the beach · Visibility 30 m · Water 27 °C · Current light · seen myself October 2025
Seen: Green sea turtle, Eagle ray, Bluespotted ray, White moray, Needlefish.
Ras Mohammed — the reef in the open sea
The national park at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula is the spot you take a boat for — and the only one where you swim over a reef in the middle of the open sea. All around only blue, below it the corals.
On October 27, 2025, it was the calmest here of all three spots: no current, a smooth surface, 30 meters of visibility. The water was between 26 and 30 °C, the air at 34. If you shy away from current, you'll find the friendliest conditions here — just not from the beach.
On the dive, 40 minutes and down to 20 meters, a Napoleon wrasse pushed in from open water, without any hurry. A moray looked out of a rock crevice, its mouth slowly opening and closing, which is how it breathes. I kept my distance and watched.
Diving could be booked directly on the boat tour, even without a certification.
National park: touch nothing, take nothing. The entry goes into the open sea, with no ground under your feet — here you depend on the boat.
Diving without certification in Egypt: my first dive at Ras Mohammed →
Best snorkeling in Sharm El Sheikh: four Red Sea reefs for beginners →
Reef, Entry from the boat · Visibility 30 m · Water 26 to 30 °C · Current none · seen myself October 2025
Seen: Napoleon wrasse, Moray.
Gordon Reef — Strait of Tiran
Gordon Reef lies in the Strait of Tiran, north of Sharm, and is the spot with the clearest warning: on our day there was a strong current here, and the surface was choppy. The visibility was still 30 meters, the water between 26 and 30 °C, the air at 32.
This is only suitable for snorkeling if the boat stays within reach and someone keeps watch. We dove here for 45 minutes, down to 20 meters.
In return, it is the spot for the bigger animals: eagle rays passed by in open water, plus dense schools of fusiliers that you find yourself right in the middle of. And on the boat trip here, dolphins accompanied us.
Strong current. Here you don't go into the water alone or without a boat within reach — the spot lies in a strait that the water pulls through.
Best snorkeling in Sharm El Sheikh: four Red Sea reefs for beginners →
Reef, Entry from the boat · Visibility 30 m · Water 26 to 30 °C · Current strong · seen myself October 2025
Seen: Eagle ray, Fusiliers, Dolphins (on the crossing).
Where I tell more about it
At a glance
- Local feel touristy
localtouristy
- The place above water
- 3.5/5
- Access to the reef from the beach
- 5/5
- Underwater life at this reef
- 5/5
- Trips in the area
- 3.5/5
Highlights on site
Two reefs straight from the beach — no boat, no booking, no fixed time · A driver via WhatsApp solves getting around for the whole week · Short flight: a tropical reef without planning a long-haul trip
Highlights in the area
Ras Mohammed: a reef in the middle of the open sea, only blue all around · Dolphins on the crossing to Gordon Reef · Eagle rays passing by in open water
My personal assessment, as of October 2025.
What it was like
Sharm is the most convenient way into the Red Sea that I know. Two of the four reefs can be reached without a boat, and for us the best one was right in front of the hotel. If you want to see a tropical reef for the first time and don't feel like dealing with logistics, this is the right place — and you don't fly halfway around the world for it.
What defines this coast is not the single big animal but the density on the reef: color, fish, something going on everywhere. If you're looking for mantas or whale sharks, go further. And you're rarely alone — the well-known spots are busy, and to be honest, I was one of those who made them fuller.
← Best time to visit Sharm el Sheikh: snorkeling in the Red Sea