Everything I Saw Scuba Diving Shark & Yolanda Reef

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I dove Shark and Yolanda Reef in May 2026 on a week-long Red Sea liveaboard.

This is easily one of the best reef dives I've dove in my entire life.

It sits at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, inside Ras Muhammad National Park, giving you a drift, reef, and shipwreck dive all in one.

At Yolanda Reef, you'll find the wreck of the Yolanda, a sunken Cypriot freighter, carrying various bathroom items like toilets, sinks, and tubs, all, now buried under 40 years of coral growth.

At Shark Reef, and Anenome City, you'll find some of the best reef you'll see in your life, endless reef fish, pelagics, turtles, and more.

Taking in the views of Shark reef.

About the Site

Stacks of toilets that the Yolanda, a Cypriot freighter carried when it sank in 1980.

The main hull of the Yolanda slipped to 150 meters from a storm 1985, but a famous section of its cargo, including bathtubs, sinks, and toilets, rests on a shallow plateau fully accessible to recreational divers.

Every piece is now heavily encrusted with coral.

The main hull of the wreck was rediscovered by technical divers Mark Andrews and Leigh Cunningham in 2005.

The wall itself is the other half of the draw.

A sheer vertical drop of over 800 meters, blanketed in anthias, chromis, vibrant soft corals and sea fans from top to bottom.

Ras Muhammad National Park now requires all divers to hold at minimum an Advanced Open Water certification.

In the past, the site was so popular that beginner divers and snorkelers overwhelmed it. The park stepped in to protect it. Open Water divers and snorkelers are no longer permitted here.

How to Dive It

You reach Shark and Yolanda reef via liveaboard or day boat, either from Hurghada on the mainland or Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai coast.

Zodiac tenders drop you in and pick you up after the drift.

The direction of your dive depends entirely on the current.

When the current runs one way, you start at Anemone City, drift through Shark Reef, and finish at the Yolanda wreck.

On my dive, the current had reversed that order.

The zodiacs dropped us at Yolanda and we drifted toward Shark Reef.  

When the dive is finished, you surface and the zodiac comes to you.

What Marine Life I Saw

The drift is straightforward, but currents here are real.

This is not a beginner-friendly site, which is exactly why the park now requires Advanced Open Water as a minimum.

Titan trigger chomping away.
Pair of the Moorish Idols.
Waves of Batfish passing by.
Pair of clownfish inside their anenome.
Large school of trevallys/jacks swimming in the distance.
One of many turtles I saw on the dive.
Staredown with the largest Baracuda I've ever seen.
Blue spotted Stingray getting cleaned.
Emperor Angelfish against the reef wall.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Austin Tuwiner

I'm a PADI Divemaster based in South Florida.

With over a decade of diving experience, I help readers become better divers, buy their next piece of gear, and plan their dream dive vacation!

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