"...even the most casual of visitors is struck by how much of the park is dominated by the sea..."

Ras Mohammed National Park occupies one of the world's most extraordinary settings: a slender, dramatically arid peninsula at the very southernmost tip of the Sinai, rising to a dramatic promontory that looks out over some of the most gloriously rich coral reefs that you will ever see. The Ras Mohammed peninsula marks the nexus of the shallow Gulf of Suez and the deep intercontinental chasm of the Gulf of Aqaba, itself a small portion of the Great Rift Valley that stretches deep into Africa. Declared a park in 1983, Ras Mohammed contains within its modest area an astounding variety of life, ranging from the gazelles of its northern desert area to the brilliant orange coral groupers of its skirting reefs.

The boundaries of Ras Mohammed extend far out into the surrounding waters, and even the most casual of visitors is struck by how much of the park is dominated by the sea. Even the dry land area of the park seems a part of the marine world: in the north, large dunes are interspersed with outcroppings of Miocene limestone in which are embedded an astonishing wealth and variety of marine fossils. In fact, the dramatic promontory that marks the Sinai's southernmost tip belongs in part to the sea, as it is in fact an enormous, fossilized coral reef, left high and dry tens of thousands of years ago.

For many visitors, Ras Mohammed's most stunning scenery is found underwater, in the broad, terraced coral reefs that encircle the peninsula. Fire corals and brilliant sea fans abound here, and among these lush reef corals roams a truly magnificent array of both reef and pelagic fish--over a thousand species in all.