Sharm El Sheikh · Egypt · Reef
Anemone City
Anemones holding a permanent population of anemonefish
Area photo: patano · CC BY-SA 3.0
A broad shoulder of reef inside Ras Mohammed National Park, just north of Shark Reef, covered in hard and soft corals and named for the anemones that carpet it. The reef top starts at 1 m and the slope falls away to 65 m, and mild to strong currents make it a dive for people with some experience behind them.
Where it is and how deep
27.7278° N, 34.2591° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Boats leave Travco marina and the ride out takes about 35 minutes, which puts the site inside a normal morning departure. What you drop onto is a shoulder rather than a wall, hard and soft corals across the top of it, and the profile is a matter of picking a depth on the slope and holding it: there is 1 m of water over the reef top and the ground keeps going to 65 m below you.
The anemones are the reason for the name. They grow thickly enough to hold a permanent population of anemonefish, with enough other species around them to keep the reef feeling busy rather than one-note. Mornings are the best time to be here, when the fish traffic across the reef is at its heaviest. Currents range from mild to strong along the shoulder, which is why this is a dive to run with someone who knows the site.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Sharm El Sheikh: Hammerhead sightings at Tiran peak June–September; winter winds can make Tiran crossings choppier.
Know before you go
- Currents on the shoulder range from mild to strong.
- The slope runs to 65 m with no shallow bottom under it, so following the reef down is an easy way to end up deeper than planned.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Anemone City?+
The reef top starts at 1 m and the slope runs down to a maximum of 65 m, so the depth you dive is a choice rather than a fixed profile. It is a site for experienced divers, since currents run from mild to strong.
Sources
- Anemone City — Scubago
- Diving in Ras Mohammed, Egypt — Dive The World
More dive sites in Sharm El Sheikh
Reef
The freighter Loullia aground on the reef since 1981
Reef
Two enormous caves filled with shoaling glassfish
Scalloped hammerheads off the back of the reef in late summer
A 1984 freighter broken up in 10 to 12 m of water
Coral blocks from 2 to 40 m on a sea-grass bottom
Table corals still intact on a slope opened to divers recently
A column of gorgonian fans standing from 14 to 28 m
A freighter's bathroom cargo scattered across the reef at 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A fenced reef you walk into, with a slope out to 35 m
A town house reef: seagrass, then coral blocks to 22 metres
A vertical eastern edge dropping to 30 metres off Small Giftun
A coral block packed with glassfish and bannerfish