Ras Mohammed lies at the southern end of Sinai where the peninsula opens between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. The park contains rocky coast, reefs, mangroves, saline lagoons, beaches and broad desert surfaces within a landscape of strong contrast.
Reefs form platforms and walls descending into deep water. Hard coral, fish, invertebrates and plankton depend on currents carrying nutrients and sustaining high diversity.
Underwater walls create rapid changes of depth. Light decreases, colour changes and species distribute themselves according to pressure, current and shelter.
Mangroves occupy protected sectors and tolerate saline water and oxygen-poor soil. Their roots stabilise the coast and create nursery areas for fish and crustaceans.
Lagoons and saline depressions reveal another relationship between water and desert. Evaporation, crystallisation and sediment produce changing surfaces and colour.
Cliffs and desert plains reveal geological layers, erosion and wind action. Terrestrial vegetation is sparse and compact, adapted to drought and salt.
Migratory birds use the cape as a place of passage and rest, connecting the park with routes between Africa, Asia and Europe.
Conservation depends on limiting physical coral damage, waste, anchoring and coastal pressure. Reefs grow slowly and may take decades to recover.
Ras Mohammed combines open sea, reef, mangrove and desert within one of Sinai’s most complex natural landscapes. Its distinctive quality lies in the convergence of currents and ecosystems at a cape where rich underwater life contrasts with extreme aridity on land.