The Gulf of Aqaba has dive sites to match your lifestyle. Whatever your preference, you’ll find it here (unless it’s ice diving – sorry)
It's hard to miss this one - you can see it from shore. We'll need to be careful of the fire corals as we enter this sheltered site right next to Aqaba Marine Reserve. We're immediately treated to a stunning variety of sights, and it only gets better...
First Bay South's topography is highly varied, so we'd end up swimming out to the mooring buoy to get oriented anyway. Heading down the line, we see an undulating, kaleidoscopic reef and some kind of a rope running along the bottom...
As we make our descent over a thriving seagrass bed prowled by lionfish, scorpionfish, and several species of seahorse, we'll quickly discover how this site gets its nickname...
The unique Underwater Military Museum offers a journey through 60 years of Jordanian Armed Forces history. Dive along the display in battle formation, acompanied from schooling reef fish inhabitating their new homes...
This dive site is named after King Abdullah II, a keen and regular diver in Aqaba's waters, who organizes and joins many Clean-ups in his spare free time.
This site gets its name from the black rocks scattered in front of the reef, near the shoreline - we'll use those as entry markers and follow the sandy bottom down to the reef at 12m, where a true underwater kaleidoscope awaits...
While colourful and active during the day, the easily-navigable Rainbow Reef - whose shape matches its name - really comes alive at night. When the sun goes down, Rainbow Reef is the place to be...
It's rare to see such a photogenic shipwreck so close to shore - you can even see her from the surface! Would you like to dive down to the Cedar Pride, or watch her fade in from the blue? Either approach is equally impressive as the 40-year-old shipwreck is truly a sight to behold...
Not too far off the Cedar Pride, this site gets its name from its many large coral heads which some say resemble ancient Japanese pagodas. But they're far from the site's only attraction. Following a short swim over grass, accompanied by morays and scorpionfish, you'll arrive at a pinnacle at about 10m. That's where the show really begins...
Taiyong translates to "Sunrise", following the sloping bottom in Japanese Garden, she will rise out of the blue beyond recreational depths, showing her beauty only to the experienced technical diver...
A Gorgon is a mythical creature with hair made of living snakes (the most famous one is Medusa). Guess where gorgonian corals got their name? This site is one of a pair and takes its name from the single, massive gorgonian fan coral waving imposingly over a thriving reef that extends beyond of sight...
You'd never know this was part of the same reef as its sister site, Gorgon I - that is, until you notice the same striking fan corals protruding defiantly from the surrounding reef. There's plenty to see before we get that far, though, and this site offers some very different topography from her Gorgon sister...
This site's every bit as spectacular as the clusters of stars (and related ancient legends) from which its name is derived. With 7 main pinnacles and another side cluster to explore, all in under 10m of water, there's so much life to see here and, due to its shallow depth, so much time to see it that both novice and veteran divers often enjoy long, repetitive dives here with a different story to tell each time...
Back in 1999, the Jordanian Royal Ecological Diving Society set their eyes on a big prize: an M42 "Duster" anti-aircraft tank. And they got it. Thankfully, instead of using it to enforce diving regulations, they had the military clean and scuttle it, creating an unusual and thriving artificial reef for snorkelers and divers...
This deep, coral-walled canyon was discovered after the Aqaba Earthquake in 1983. Keep a sharp eye out - life here is vibrant at all levels of the food chain and changes with depth, thriving on an ancient fossil reef that descends to 35m before dropping suddenly into the open blue...
One of the main attractions for the divers and visitors to the South Beach from all over the world: The C-130 Hercules was officially scuttled in 2017. The sunken aircraft is close to shore in shallow depth, snorkelers and diving newbies can enjoy this fascinating wreck...
There's no way you could call this site anything else. You'll see dozens of garden eels poking out of their holes in the sandy bottom between large coral heads. And don't forget the 'S' on 'canyons'! A labyrinth of fossil reef ravines swarming with life awaits us - we'll start at the oil drum marker and dive into (or over) the underwater jungle...
She almost ended up at extreme depth, but luckily the Al Shorouk's 2008 scuttling ended up going pretty close to plan. This pristine wreck now lies on her starboard side, straddling two reefs just beyond Eel Canyons with a marker buoy attached to her bow. Although the water here is exceptionally clear, that's all we can see for now - let's descend into the blue...
Named after the national park in the United States (due to the large, yellowish pinnacle visible from the surface), Yellowstone Reef is mostly popular as a being a deep, tec dive site. The tallest of her massive pinnacles is visible from the surface - but much more striking topography awaits us in the blue...
Covering this large, varied, and very healthy set of 3 finger reefs in a single dive is just about impossible. You could easily use your whole tank exploring a single coral head for frogfish, crocodilefish, and nudibranchs, surrounded by fusiliers - but there's always something new just ahead, and the reef extends well beyond sight...
Discovered by (and named for) a New Zealander on vacation, Kiwi Reef offers a variety of dive conditions and life, making it a favourite for explorers, photographers, and students alike. Experience a unique ecosystem at each of over a dozen pinnacles rising from the seagrass, or head offshore to explore the main reef...
With its density of red soft corals punctuated by bright blue branches and gradual, sloping reef, it's easy to see why this site takes its name from a famous desert valley in Wadi Rum. The resemblance ends here - as we begin our descent we're immediately surrounded by life, large and small...
This looks more like a coral forest than a garden! The topography here is somewhat flat but the coral and fish life is diverse and colourful...
Wall diving, drop offs, a small cave, spectacular dives with strong currents - find it all at Paradise, it is a diver's heaven when you have a TEC certificate ...
What is better than one airplane wreck? Two! When the C-130 airplane wreck leaves you hungry for more, you can continue with a Diving Boat trip in Aqaba and visit the big sister...
The Aqaba scuba diving area is so small that it can be difficult to locate on a map. It is nestled in the northern Red Sea, between Egypt, Israel (Eilat), and Jordan. But diving in Aqaba is world-famous for good reasons. While shore diving is accessible, the narrow, steep-sided gulf offers top-tier recreational and technical scuba diving (some of it probably not even discovered yet) while moderating most strong currents and open-ocean predators to provide ideal conditions for SCUBA divers of any diving experience level, even those who are still ‘just curious’ to learn new diving skills.
Arab Divers dive center is located just 800 meters from the marine park, one of the best beaches in Aqaba, Jordan, and is home to an abundance of marine life. The dive center offers a variety of activities for the entire family, including dive courses, snorkeling trips, and more. We do, however, specialize in PADI courses, scuba diving, and snorkeling and can guide you to and through over 20 nearby dive sites.
Almost every dive site in Aqaba can be accessed either from shore (they’re very close) or otherwise by boat.
With excellent year-round diving and visibility thanks to the surrounding desert climate in Jordan, the best time to dive in Jordan is all year round, although October and November are the best months to visit because the sea temperatures are still excellent (an average of 27°C in October and 25°C in November). That means most divers find a long 3 mm wetsuit to be comfortable exposure protection, but many prefer a 5 or 7mm suit, especially on deeper or longer dives.
💡Please note that some sites listed here are also known by nicknames — we’ve tried to identify these for you to avoid confusion. If you hear a site called by another name, please let us know so we can add it to the list (there are a lot of nicknames floating around dive sites in the Gulf of Aqaba).
Aqaba boasts a variety of stunning dive sites catering to all experience levels. Here are a few popular options:
The Red Sea is a haven for diverse marine life. During your dives, you can expect to encounter:
Aqaba is known for its exceptional water clarity, offering divers fantastic visibility year-round. Peak visibility occurs between September and October, reaching up to 30 meters or more.