Aqaba · Jordan · Reef · Wall
Japanese Garden
Black coral below 20 m on a slope you walk into from the beach
Area photo: Arian Zwegers · CC BY 2.0
A shore dive entered across a seagrass bed, opening onto a sloping reef cut by a canyon. The coral starts in 1 to 2 m and drops away past 20 m, with bushes of black coral in the deeper water and turtles and eagle rays cruising the slope. It is one of the busier stretches of this coast, shared with snorkelling and glass-bottom boat traffic overhead.
Also known as Japanese Gardens.
Where it is and how deep
29.4297° N, 34.9737° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Kit up on the beach and walk in over the seagrass. That first stretch is worth diving slowly rather than swimming through, because morays and scorpionfish sit in the grass and it is the part of the site most divers cross without looking. The coral proper begins in 1 to 2 m and then tips over into the slope, with a canyon cutting down through the reef and the wall falling away below it.
Drop along the edge of the reef and hold around 20 m, swimming over bushes of black coral. Barracuda, sergeant majors and fusiliers are usually thick along this stretch, and turtles and eagle rays cruise past the slope. The best of the black coral, in Black Coral Valley, is deeper again at 26 to 30 m, which turns a straightforward reef dive into a deep one. Plan it as such or stay above it.
Current is mild but varies with the tide and the shape of the bottom, so check it before committing to a long outward leg. Come back shallow along the top of the reef, where coral in a few metres of water carries the ascent, and hold the safety stop with your ears open. Snorkel and glass-bottom boat tours work directly over the site, so this is a dive to surface from carefully.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Eagle rays
- Barracuda
- Reef fish swarms
- Pristine corals
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Aqaba: Conditions stay calm and diveable year-round; water is coolest January–March.
Know before you go
- Snorkelling and glass-bottom boat tours run directly over the reef, so ascend along the coral rather than in open water and listen before surfacing.
- The site is rated to 40 m and the black coral sits at 26 to 30 m, so it is easy to end up deeper than planned while following the wall down.
Dive videos
Diving in Japanese Gardens, Aqaba, Jordan · The Next Crossing on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Japanese Garden?+
The reef starts in 1 to 2 m and a normal dive works down to around 20 m. The slope keeps going below that, with Black Coral Valley at 26 to 30 m and the site rated to 40 m, so depth here is a choice rather than a limit.
Is Japanese Garden a shore dive?+
Yes, it is entered from the beach across a seagrass bed, though it is also run as a boat dive. Expect company: it is popular with snorkelling and glass-bottom boat tours as well as with divers.
Sources
- Japanese garden dive site — PADI
- Japanese Gardens - Dive Site in Aqaba, Jordan — Arab Divers
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