Egypt's Red Sea coral reefs are just a short flight across the Mediterranean from Western Europe. Whilst the country is best known as home of some of the Ancient World's last remaining wonders, divers and snorkelers alike will know that it is also home of some of the Planet's most spectacular and diverse undersea environments. Underwater, the scene ranges from walls covered with colourful soft corals, to steep drop offs, coral-encrusted wrecks and some fantastic shore diving. The contrast between the baked desert plains and stark rock formations of the Sinai only help to highlight the incredible marine life that exists here.

The Red Sea is the world's northernmost tropical sea, with more than 2,000km of fringing reefs. In relative shelter and isolation, its coral reefs boasts a startling degree of biodiversity with more than 1,200 species of fish recorded. Around 20% of these species are endemic, found nowhere else. Of larger species, 44 types of shark are found in Red Sea waters, including Grey Reef Sharks, Oceanic White Tips and Hammerheads.

Freshwater doesn’t often enter the Red Sea, so visibility can be excellent, especially at locations further from shore. A northern extension of Africa's Great Rift Valley system, the sea is widening on a daily basis as the Arabian tectonic plate moves to the east. The sea's powerful geological origins have created a deep and narrow sea, with parts of the seabed dropping to more than 2,000m at its centre.

With such a variety of sites, the Red Sea is suitable both for beginners and experienced divers. The flat calm seas, shallow reefs and good visibility of the northern Red Sea offer a great location for divers to gain experience. In contrast, in the Southern Red Sea remote dive sites such as Big Brother provide steep walls and strong currents, which best suited to more experienced divers.

At Aqua-Firma we offer a range of liveaboard based diving to both the northern and southern Red Sea, including infamous sites such as Res Mohamed, Elphinstone, Daedalus, Brothers and St Johns Reefs. We also offer some exciting new voyages to Sudan where experienced divers can enjoy fantastic pelagic encounters and healthy hard and soft coral reefs with abundant marine life.