Located at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, Taba is one of the lesser visited diving areas of Egypt and although it doesn’t get the larger life such as sharks and manta rays, the dive sites offer a colourful and diverse selection of marine life.

One of the great things about diving in Taba is that there are only a few dive boats operating so often you will be the only people at the dive site which is in striking contrast to Sharm el Sheikh a couple of hundred miles away at the southern tip of the Sinai. Although the diving is superb in Sharm, the number of boats at popular sites like Jackson Reef or Shark & Yolanda means that it does get quite busy underwater.

It doesn’t take long to get to the dive sites in Taba and this means there is normally plenty of time for a 3rd dive of the day. One of the more popular sites is Pharoah’s Island (aka Farun Island). Back in the time of the crusades, the Saracen Saladin who was Richard the Lionhearts nemesis built an old fort and lookout post on the island. In addition to dive boats, it is also a popular destination or snorkelling trips which is hardly surprising as it is a beautiful setting and easy site to dive.

Taba is a paradise for underwater photographers. The sites are generally quite shallow and there is a superb array of marine life just waiting to be captured on film (or more likely, on memory card). One of the more unusual creatures found in the area is the Frogfish. It is a type of Anglerfish, has a face only a mum could love and is fairly immobile. They are ambush predators and an attack can be as fast 6 milliseconds. Their mouths move so fast that no other animals can see it happen.

There is a spectacular array of creatures to be found in and around Taba including Moray eels, nudibranchs, clownish, lionfish, sea stars and shrimp. Sadly, night diving isn’t permitted due to various restrictions imposed as the borders of Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia as so close. Divers visiting Taba will miss out on what would certainly be stunning night dives in Taba.

Egypt has the advantage of being outside the Eurozone which means that Red Sea Holidays offer much better value compared to traditional locations like Spain and Greece.