Straits of Tiran

Diving at the Straits of Tiran is a very popular day trip and is just an hour out of Sharm. There are many superb dive sites here and visiting is a must for any liveaboard itinerary.

The Straits of Tiran is where the main Red Sea links with the Gulf of Aqaba. These straits are narrow and relatively shallow, this creates strong currents that bring upwellings of nutrients, which, in turn, bring small fish, bigger fish and ultimately the biggest fish of all!

The straits contain a string of 4 coral islands called

• ‘Jackson reef’
• ‘Woodhouse reef’
• ‘Thomas reef’ and
• ‘Gordon reef’

all of which offer great diving.

The diving here is fantastic all year round but the classic time to visit is during the summer when the strong currents bring in top predators such as hammerheads and occasionally tiger sharks! Other sharks such as oceanic white tips and grey reef sharks are also common.

For Hammerhead dives we venture outside the shelter of the coral island at Jackson reef and drop into the blue…there we drift on the current and wait, shallowing up as we do …if we are lucky we will be joined by a school of Hammerheads out hunting the big fish that gather here. If, and when, they come it could well be the dive of your life!

The nature of the dives at Tiran mean that the Hammerhead dives are only for dive professionals and the very experienced. Purely recreational divers normally stay ‘inside’ the reef and enjoy the less demanding (but equally as good) sites to be found here.