Ras Mohammed National Park

Ras Mohammed is the headland at the very tip of the Sinai peninsula. Deep, nutrient-rich water rises against sheer coral walls here, attracting huge schools of fish, turtles, reef sharks and, in summer, spawning aggregations that divers travel across the world to see.

At Yolanda Reef, the remains of a cargo ship that sank in 1980 scattered toilets and bathtubs across the seabed. North of the park lies the SS Thistlegorm, a British supply ship sunk by German bombers in 1941, still loaded with motorbikes, trucks and a locomotive — one of the world's most famous wreck dives.

The park also protects mangroves, salt lakes and fossil coral reefs raised above sea level. The Magic Lake and the mangrove channel are easy stops on a day trip.

Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef form a single spectacular wall dive at the very tip of the peninsula, where the reef drops hundreds of metres into the blue. Other favourites are Anemone City, a pinnacle carpeted with anemones and clownfish, and Jackfish Alley, a sandy channel between coral walls. Snorkellers see much of the same life in the shallows.

The park protects both land and sea: fishing and collecting are forbidden, and the number of boats and moorings is controlled. Its mangroves are among the most northerly in the world, and ospreys and herons nest along the shore.