Best time to dive the Red Sea & Middle East
22 scuba diving destinations across 9 countries, scored month by month from sea temperature, wave height, wind, rain and storm records. Conditions hold up nearly all year: 10 of the 12 months are within reach of the best.
Compare all 22 destinations →Across 9 countries
Recorded within 60 km of a dive area
Monthly surface means, coldest to warmest
Months at least one destination calls its best
Diving in the Red Sea & Middle East month by month
January is the strongest month in the Red Sea & Middle East: all 7 rated destinations are at their peak. August is the thinnest, with 4. There is somewhere worth diving all year.
"In best conditions" means the month ranks in the top third worldwide, not just against the rest of this region. Only the 7 rated destinations count towards it.
What you can see scuba diving in the Red Sea & Middle East
Counted from OBIS records within 60 km of each dive area. Presence-only data: an animal absent from a month may simply not have been logged there.
Every dive destination in the Red Sea & Middle East
| Destination | Country / area | Best time | Conditions | What you'll see |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharm el-Sheikh / Ras MohammedRas Mohammed's reef walls, Shark and Yolanda, and the Thistlegorm | Red Sea | Oct–Dec | Good | |
| Marsa AlamElphinstone reef and the offshore pinnacles | Red Sea | Any month | Same all year | |
| Strait of Gubal / Thistlegorm | Red Sea | Oct–Dec | Good | |
| HurghadaThe Thistlegorm and the Giftun reefs | Red Sea | Any month | Same all year | |
| Abu DabbabThe resident dugongs and green turtles in the seagrass bay | Red Sea | Any month | Same all year | |
| El QuseirThe house reefs and shore entries along the Quseir coast | Red Sea | Any month | Same all year | |
| Safaga | Red Sea | Oct–Jan | Good | |
| Al ShaheenThe offshore whale shark aggregation over the Al Shaheen field | Qatar | Jul–Sep | Not rated | |
| AqabaThe Gulf of Aqaba's coral walls and wrecks | Jordan | Any month | Not rated | |
| Brothers IslandsOceanic whitetip | Red Sea | Oct–Nov | Not rated | |
| Daedalus ReefScalloped hammerhead | Red Sea | Jun–Aug | Not rated | |
| Dahab | Red Sea | Oct–Jan | Not rated | |
| Daymaniyat IslandsWhale shark | Oman | Any month | Not rated | |
| DjiboutiWhale shark | Djibouti | Dec–Jan | Not rated | |
| EilatEilat's coral reserve and the Satil wreck | Israel | Any month | Not rated | |
| Musandam | Oman | Oct–Dec | Not rated | |
| Nuweiba / Ras Abu GalumThe Sinai east coast reefs and shore entries | Red Sea | Any month | Not rated | |
| Saudi Red Sea | Saudi Arabia | Oct–Feb | Not rated | |
| Socotra | Yemen | Jan–May | Not rated | |
| St John's / Fury ShoalsSt John's and the Fury Shoals reef systems | Red Sea | Any month | Not rated | |
| Sudan | Sudan | Sep–Nov | Not rated | |
| Zabargad & Rocky Island | Red Sea | May–Aug | Not rated |
Best-scoring first. Rating a place against the rest of the world needs enough marine life recorded nearby, and 15 of these 22 do not have it yet — those read "Not rated" and are listed after, alphabetically. Their months, temperatures and sea state are measured the same way as everywhere else.
Diving in the Red Sea & Middle East: common questions
- When is the best time to dive the Red Sea & Middle East?
- Almost any month. 10 of the twelve are within reach of the best, so the season is not what decides where you go — January edges it, with all 7 rated destinations at their peak.
- What is the worst month to dive the Red Sea & Middle East?
- August, when only 4 of 7 are at their best. You can still dive: Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Sharm el-Sheikh / Ras Mohammed hold up best that month.
- How warm is the water in the Red Sea & Middle East?
- Between 21 °C and 34 °C, depending where you go and when. That is a 5 mm with hood and gloves at the cold end and a 3 mm full suit at the mildest. Those are surface numbers; it is cooler at depth.
- Where can you dive the Red Sea & Middle East year-round?
- Eilat, Aqaba, Daymaniyat Islands, Abu Dabbab, El Quseir, Hurghada, and 3 more. The weather barely changes across the year at these, so pick your month on wildlife or on price.
- What marine life can you see scuba diving in the Red Sea & Middle East?
- Whale sharks at 5 destinations, rays at 1 — those are the animals the Red Sea & Middle East is known for. 16 species in all have been recorded near a dive area. The records only show what people logged, so a quiet month may just mean nobody logged a record.
- How many dive destinations are there in the Red Sea & Middle East?
- besttimetodive.com logs 22 across 9 countries. Not an exhaustive list — these are the sites we hold verified data for.