NAME & LOCATION
The St. John’s reefs lie directly south of the Peninsula (Ras) Banas, near Hamata and close to the Sudanese border. It covers an area of sea of roughly 290 km² and has a great diversity of diving environments. Healthy reefs, wall diving, drift diving and caverns come to mind.
BIODIVERSITY
The plateau of Saint Johns is home to a large variety of reef structures, each giving a different type of marine life. For instance caves are excellent places to look for juvenile, including baby sharks, and nudibranchs. The cave offers these animals the protection that they seek. This is very different from for instance a mountain coming from the deep or a forrest of pinnacles. The more current around means basically chance of pelagics. For shark activity best time to go to Saint Johns is April-may.
A hawksbill turtle, commonly found on most reefs in the Red Sea, including some wrecks. 
A long armed banded boxer shrimp is know to be a cleaner of for instance the local mural eel during its daily shower. 
Only seen during the night and in this case on Thistlegorm, the Mauritia grayana. Notice the stunning shell that is used for protection and partly overgrown by the animal itself. 
Related to the lion and scorpion fish, this is the crocodile fish.Usually they can be found on the ground trying to hide into the background so that they can surprise their potential dinner. Can change color is the skin and had venomous spines. 
Batfish are usually found in a group or school. They are very curious however also a bit scared of us. So approach gently and stay relaxed and you will find these beautiful fish swimming around you. 
With one spot on its tail this snapper likes to hang between reef elements in a school. 
Extremely poisonous this stonefish has mastered the ancient technique of hiding in plain sight. Please do not touch!! 
If you see this anemone than seek for this popcorn shrimp as they are usually found together. 
Just under the edge of rocks bearing corals this small common shrimp feeds of small life as she is picking them out from in-between the sand. 
the bearded scorpion fish can change it colors as means to blend into the background. 
As this fish extends its lower jaw it looks like a massive sling as it extends extremely. 
Hopping on the seafloor this is the Red Sea Walkman. If you come close it might open its fins showing dragon like colors and markings. 
With open fins and two strange extensions on its head this is the juvenile rock mover wrasse. 
The eyes of the Napoleon wrasse can move and rotate individually. 
Sometimes few spots sometimes almost completely yellow, meet the gold dotted trevalli. 
Usually swimminglike it needs to catch a train along reef walls hunting for fish and often seen in small groups. This is the bluefin trevali. 
Cousin of the banded snake-eel we have here a spotted version. 
A banded snake-eel that is often mistaken for the poisonous banded sea snake. 
A conus textile shell that looks abandoned but check out the left side, somebody is home. 
A stunning popcorn shrimp. 
A bit skittish but great fun to check out with her black bandit mask looking like she came straight out of a cartoon. 
This Glosodorid looks like a bride on het wedding day and due to the lack of colors that most nudi have in abundance, we call this one pale. 
The head looks just like a hammerhead and that’s why we call this nudibranch the hammerhead slug. Found in the caves of Saint Johns. 
The size of a pea was this your nudi and she is named after yellow citrus fruit due to her yellow colors. 
The chromodiris that looks lots like its cousin but lacking the rings around the yellow dots. 
Best found during those times of year when the water is a bit chilly and usually in and around shallow caves. This is the head of the Atromarginata. 
Like a statue this freckled hawkfish tries to hide in plain sight. Only the eyes move. 
The gold dotted flatworm moves quite fast and can even be found swimming in the daytime. 
This Napoleon Wrasse at Saint Johns Caves lover to swim with us. 
On top of one of the 25 meter high Pilars in Umm Aruk on the plateau of Saint Johns you can find quite a nice anemone city. 
A lovely butterfly fish named after her orange head. 
A clownfish a.k.a. Nemo that lives in a specific Anemone where the fish protects the anemone in the day and the Anemone returns the favor as she closes at night protecting the fish. 
A juvenile white tip reef shark hiding under blocks and in small caves to protect itself from larger predators. 
The torpedo or electric ray hides in the sand awaiting prey that he will stun with an electric shock by means of catching food. 
The grey reef shark can be found single or in a group. Usually she is shy towards divers and to be found in places where the currents change the most. 
The octopus is a master of disguise and extremely hard to find. A sudden movement or a change of light often triggers them to change colors. 
Small pipefish seeking food In the sand. 
Famous around he world and native to the Red Sea, hence we do not hunt them here. At night they like to come out and hunt, being overly curious and seek company of night divers. 
A bundle of light falling on a leather coral. 
An elegant eagle ray with a dog-like face is often quite curious, especially if you only ty to hang with them. 
Green turtles a.k.a. sea turtles love to feed on seagrass. 
The giant moral eel lives on most reefs of Egypts Red Sea. Sometimes running up to 2,5 meters they like to relax during the day and come out to hunt at night. 
Spinner dolphins are seen mostly in the Deep South of Egypts Red Sea. They gather in large offshore lagoons to relax after hunting.
| DIVE SITE SPECS | |
|---|---|
| Access: | Year round, in the winter currents and wind pick up |
| Type of diving: | Drift along deep walls and no night dive allowed. |
| Diver level: | Advanced & comfortable with currents & depth. |
| Depth: | 0-40 meters |
| Current: | Medium-strong |
| Visability: | 20-30 meters |
DIVE SITES OF THE AREA
- Saint Johns Caves
- Farsha Umm Khararim
- Paradise reef
- Big Gota
- Small Gota
- Umm Aruk
- Dangerous
- Habili Ali
- Habili Jaffer
UMM ARUK
one of the famous sites is the area is Umm Aruk, mother of pinnacles as she is the home of a forrest of these pillars. The pinnacles start at a depth of 20-25 meters and some reach all the way up to the surface. Diving is done either by zodiac from north to south as there is a current running, or from and back to the boat as the current is small. Because of its geography this is a very nice dive site as she offers a pinnacle for each of us to explore, hence we usually not dive in one group. And each pinnacle is heavily overgrown with soft corals and anemones, making a home to lots of macro life.
On this dive site you can expect juvenile white tip reef sharks, a sea turtle coming in to rest, tuna and trivially hunting, a Napoleon swimming together with some of the trivially and goat fish, large moray eels, stone fish, scorpion fish and at times some large barracuda running up to a stunning 1,5 meter.
SAINT JOHNS CAVES
The number one site of the area is Saint John Caves. This dive site has a very large and shallow cavern system, a stunning coral garden, a lagoon and pinnacles. The dive usually focusses on the cavern that runs from East to West on the South of the reef. The Caverns are cracked open on the top making awesome ambient light. Our advise is to make the dive with a guide as they know the entire cavern and make sure you get to see it completely.
WHAT TRIPS BRING YOU THERE?
These dives can be done by Liveaboard, where you combine the best dive sites in a weeks diving. The following trips offer it as part of their program:
