Gordon Reef

Sharm el-Sheikh · South Sinai Governorate · Egypt

Gordon Reef is the southernmost of the four reefs in the Strait of Tiran and is often the first encountered on a Tiran boat trip from Sharm el-Sheikh. While it may lack the extreme currents and pelagic drama of its northern neighbours, Gordon Reef has a character all its own -- a vast sandy plateau, reliable marine life encounters, and the photogenic wreck of the Loullia rusting away on its northern tip. The reef stretches approximately 900 metres and is flanked by sandy moorings on the south, east, and west sides at depths of 2 to 10 metres. The reef top sits just half a metre below the surface, dropping away to a sandy plateau at 15 to 22 metres that is home to one of the largest garden eel colonies in the Tiran Strait. Thousands of these delicate creatures sway in the current, disappearing into their burrows as divers approach, then re-emerging as they pass. Green turtles are perhaps Gordon Reef's most reliable attraction. They rest on the sandy bottom and graze on the reef, often allowing patient divers to approach closely. Blue-spotted stingrays are equally abundant, hiding under table corals and in sandy depressions. The reef walls, while not as dramatically vertical as those at Thomas or Jackson, are covered in healthy hard corals and harbour a rich community of butterflyfish, angelfish, groupers, and moray eels. The northern section of the reef is dominated by the corroded remains of the Loullia, a Panamanian cargo ship that ran aground in 1981. While the wreck itself is too deteriorated and exposed for diving, it adds historical interest and creates a striking visual against the turquoise water and white-capped reef flat. Drift diving along the eastern or western wall is the standard dive plan, with divers carried gently along the reef by the current. The drop-off edge runs between 25 and 30 metres before sloping steeply into deeper water. Visibility ranges from 15 to 30 metres and conditions are generally more predictable here than at the more exposed northern reefs.