Dive Guide Book

Shark and Yolanda Reef

Shark Reef is one of the most popular and famous dive sites in the Red Sea. The reasons being its extraordinary abundance of reef and pelagic fauna land the variety of its marine environment. The incredible spectacle of schools of hundreds of barracuda, Jackfish and Batfish is a sight rarely spotted anywhere else in the world but you would need to know your technical know-how to face the currents as at times, these can be extremely strong.

All dives around Shark and Yolanda Reef are drift dives and they can be varied depending on weather conditions, speed and direction of the current, technical level of the divers etc. The most common dive will allow you to visit not only Shark Reef but Anemone City and Yolanda Reef in the same dive.
This dive will begin at Anemone City with is northeast of Shark Reef and which lies at between 12-20 meters depth. A large population of sea anemones have colonized this plateau hence its name Anemone City. The large metal post placed in an upright position seen on this platform is to commemorate a diver who died here in the 1970s.

After a few minutes of drifting in the blue at a depth of about 20 metres, you will find Shark Reef. It is clearly recognised by its gorgonians and its wall that descends vertically to an abyss of more than 700m deep. If you look out into the blue you should easily spot schools of Batfish and barracudas swimming in a circle formation.
A few dozen metres later, you will reach the sandy and shallow saddle that connects Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef.
Now, follow the southern wall of this saddle and you will find the remains of the Yolanda at a depth of about 10-25 metres. Yolanda was a Cypriot merchant ship carrying bathtubs, toilets, containers and even a BMW car that belonged to the captain of the ship. Many interesting photographs have been taken at this site with divers posing on the abandoned toilets!

The dive usually ends at Yolanda Reef but if you have some air left in your tank you can investigate the lagoon in the back and the saddle between the two coral outcrops or visit the nearby Satellite Reef.