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Aqaba Dive Sites

Discover the Underwater Wonders

Aqaba's Top Dive Sites Await Adventure Seekers!"

Aqaba is well known for scuba diving, with easy access to some prominent and interesting dive sites. Aqaba’s mild climate makes it an ideal location for year-round scuba diving. The water temperature during the summer is about 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit), dropping to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter. And in the summer there are over 12 hours of sunlight every day.

We have over 20 sites along our coastline (with the Tech dive sites more than 30) most of which are in the protected Aqaba Marine Park. Each site varies in shape and inhabitants from slopes to drop-offs, canyons to flat bottoms, veiled completely with flourishing corals.

One of Aqaba’s most famous dive sites is the wreck of the Cedar Pride, a Lebanese freighter sunk in 1985. At a maximum depth of 26 m, it provides a wreck dive that divers with all levels of experience can enjoy. The second most famous dive site is an anti-aircraft tracked vehicle (The Tank).

POWER STATION

Dive: Wall
Depth: max – 40 meters / 130 feet

The Power Station dive site has a very lively coral plateau slanting form a depth of 12 – 20 m with a steep wall drop-off dropping to deeper than 70 m. Several large hump-head wrasse and moray eels are often sited here. The site is named after a power station located just East of the dive site.

FRIST BAY- NORTH

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 30 meters / 100 feet

This is the first dive site located within the Marine Park. The site starts with a fringing reef between 2 – 5 m depth and has a wide sandy plain at 9 m depth with intermittent coral clusters.

FIRST BAY – SOUTH

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 30 meters / 100 feet

This site has an easy entry from the beach. The site has many black coral trees and usually has a large number of coronet fish hunting smaller glass-fish. The site also has a large number of colorful Parrot-fish.

EEL GARDEN

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 35 meters / 115 feet

With an easy shore access, the Eel Garden offers a number of surprises. As well as the obligatory garden eels, this site is home to an assortment of other interesting critters. Crossing the sand and heading left from the shore, there are several coral heads hosting yellow-mouthed morays and anemones. A sea grass bed offers a hiding place for many young fish and eels, but keep an eye open for the numerous scorpion fish and lion-fish that can be found here. However, the most outstanding feature is the pinnacle at just 7 m. This is truly a photographer’s paradise. Surrounded by Anthias (Gold fish) and black corals, the pinnacle is a busy cleaning station managed by a giant moray and manned by his team of banded boxer shrimp. Look carefully, because a galaxy of creatures can be seen here including frog fish. If you dive this site at night, you are likely to see resident toad fish and the red swimming crabs that hide within the pinnacle’s recesses during the day.

KING ABDULLAH REEF

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 40 meters / 130 feet

One of the longest dives and a very popular dive. The reef has some very beautiful fan colours and a large shoals of pennat fish. Torpedo rays and Hawksbill turtles are also a common sight. The site has very high densities of coral coverage and is ideal for underwater photography.

BLACK ROCK

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 45 meters / 150 feet

This site provides very easy access and is ideal for snorkelers and anyone who is new to the area, as a coral garden starts just below the surface and extends outwards for approximately 30m when it drops away steeply. The reef has a prolific number of fish and if you are lucky you may see one of the turtles that frequents this site.

CABLE REEF

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 40 meters / 130 feet

Created in 1996 when electrical cables were laid to Egypt. There are four cables running out over the seabed, the two cables to the North run through a deep canyon. Here the reef has been shored up on either side to prevent it collapsing on the cables. Large steel netting covers the reef to the North and South, coral is now growing through this. Large metal tubes straddle the canyon preventing collapse. These are now a habitat for soft corals and sponges, you might also spot an octopus or Spotted Eagle Ray here.

RAINBOW REEF

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 18 meters / 60 feet

Named because the reef is shaped like a rainbow. Starting at a depth of 6 m extending to 18 m. The site makes a good night dive, when you can see large Spanish Dancers, lobsters, Feathered Starfish, moray eels and Lionfish. Here you can see the telecommunication cable that connects Egypt and Jordan.

CEDER PRIDE WRECK

Dive: Wreck
Depth: max – 26 meters / 90 feet

The Cedar Pride wreck is one of Jordan’s most popular and celebrated dives. A former Lebanese freighter, the ship sustained extensive damage during a fire in 1982. Following a request from King Abdullah, the ill-fated vessel was deliberately sunk approximately 200 m offshore as an artificial reef for divers. Lying on its port side at a maximum depth of 27 m across two reefs, the wreckage has been colonized by numerous hard and soft corals. Marked by a surface buoy, the Cedar Pride can be dived from boat or shore. The uppermost starboard side is at 10 m, and so provides a great site for both novice and experienced divers alike. The wreck is largely intact and around 80 m in length with the most interesting diving on the seaward side, where you can see the deck and superstructure. The outstanding feature is the crow’s nest, which is covered with a profusion of colorful soft corals and stands out against the clear blue water. As you continue further towards the hull, you pass mushroom ventilation shafts and the main mast. Here in the deeper water, the soft corals are more dispersed but are replaced by hard corals and schools of fish, including the odd barracuda. As you swim back along the uppermost starboard side, you can find plenty of hard corals and small animals that have made their home on the hull, including anemones, table corals, pipefish and clusters of acropora. This makes for an excellent night dive. The deck is smothered with lots of critters, including urchins, shrimps, Spanish Dancers and soft coral crabs.

JAPANESE GARDENS

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 30 meters / 100 feet

Located just to the south of the Shipwreck. One of the best dive sites worldwide with very good conditions for diving and snorkeling. The reef begins in shallow water and then gently slopes to the magnificent colorful reef bed where very large schools of Anthias (Gold fish) play with the golden sun beams while getting their snack of plankton around the pinnicles. Lyre Tail Groupers, Royal Angelfish, Moray Eels, big Clam Shells are also very common here.

GORGONE I.

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 15 meters / 50 feet

The reason it was given this name is because it has two large Gorgonia corals. Maximum depth of the site is 18m and is excellent for newly certified divers. It has an entry access from shore of 3m wide and 4m deep, after passing through this wonderful passage (various uncommon shy creatures hiding in caves all the way along) the diver is met with a vast cabbage coral. This dive provides examples of a fantastic array of the different varieties of the coral of the Red Sea. The site has two large pinnacles extending from the bottom to the sea surface, inhabited by unique soft and hard corals forming a safe and wealthy home for many kinds of beautiful invertebrates and fish. The boulder, fan and table corals complete the coral packed tour!

GORGONE II.

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 21 meters / 63 feet

This site is very similar in the richness of it’s corals to Gorgone I. The site is named after Gorgonia fan-coral sitting at a 21 m depth. Here you can see Moray Eels, Lionfish, Blue Tangs and other surgeon fish. Multiple coral clumps create a small maze giving the diver something to wander leisurely through on their safety stop.

SEVEN SISTERS AND THE TANK

Dive: Reef
Wreck Depth: max – 12 meters / 40 feet

Easy entry over grass to where the reef starts at 2 – 3 m. Lots of interesting invertebrate life in the shallows… Swim through the pinnacles and then turn in towards the shore to another set of pinnacles “the Fairy Ring”…. Continue south at 8 m where patchy coral makes way for grass and sand till you will see in 6m an M40 anti-aircraft tracked vehicle (“The Tank”) scuttled in September 1999 to create an artificial reef.

NEW CANYON – OLIVER’S CANYON

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 40 meters / 130 feet

The dive usually consists of a route around the canyons with a tour around a series of table corals at varying depths. The site has a wide array of coral species and fish including lots of Scorpionfish, Frogfish and Stonefish in addition to the odd Octopus and large Eel.

YELLOWSTONE REEF

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 90 meters / 300 feet

This site is named for a large coral boulder which looks yellowish when viewed from the surface and is in line with a large unusual yellow rock located 500 m inland from the dive site. With the deeper depths of this reef at over 30m, deep divers may experience some of the larger sealife we have here such as stingrays and Napoleon Fish.

BLUE CORAL

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 36 meters / 120 feet

This site is named for the abundance of blue corals found here. The site has a nice mix of sea-grass beds and sandy patches with three main spurs of coral reefs running to shore starting at 10 m and extending to 50 m.

KIWI REEF

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 18 meters / 60 feet

Named for a diver from New Zealand who discovered this dive site. The site consists primarily of dense sea-grass beds along a steep slope. At a depth of 30 m a series of small coral pinnacles litter the bottom creating small clusters of self-contained ecosystems. Here you can see Moray Eels and Lionfish. This site is very popular for underwater photography.

MOON VALLEY AND PUFFER ROCK

Dive: Reef
Depth: max – 40 meters / 130 feet

Named after a famous valley in Wadi Rum, this site drops off steeply. Lots of Unicorn fish, some large Napoleon Wrasses, large shoals of sardines and fusiliers are common at this site. The site also has lots of nice soft coral in addition to the heavy coral coverage.