Jackfish Alley.
A wall dive on the eastern side of Ras Mohammed that starts with a short swim-through in the reef wall. It continues over a sandy plateau separated from the main reef by a sand-floored alley. It is usually a gentle drift towards Shark Observatory, and whitetip reef sharks are sometimes found resting on the floor of the alley.
What's down there.
- Swim-through (small cave) in the wall at the start
- Steep wall
- Sandy plateau and the alley between the main reef and a satellite reef
- Pinnacle at about 20 m
- Shallow fringing reef at the end of the dive
- Jacks
- Barracuda
- Whitetip reef sharks resting on the sand
- Feathertail stingrays
- Eagle rays
- Turtles
- Cleaner wrasse and cleaner shrimps
No source gives a figure for the shallowest point; the dive ends on the shallow fringing reef. Oonas Dive Club puts the pinnacle visited mid-dive at about 20 m. Red Sea Diving College applies its usual 30 m limit, and Wannadive gives an average of 20 m and a maximum of 40 m.
Usually a gentle drift, although current is occasionally strong. Boats cannot moor here. Oonas Dive Club describes the dive as starting with the swim-through, following the wall across the sandy plateau to the satellite reef and pinnacle, then crossing the alley back to finish on the fringing reef; Red Sea Diving College describes drifting towards Shark Observatory. It is rated for intermediate divers. Boat time from Sharm el-Sheikh to Ras Mohammed is about one to two hours, depending on the site. Protected status: inside Ras Mohammed National Park (declared 1983). In 2009 pro-taucher gave the park fee as €5 per diver per day and said passports and the full Egyptian visa (not the Sinai-only entry stamp) were needed. Night diving is not permitted in Egyptian marine parks (liveaboard.com, describing current practice).
3 dives.
From the log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.