Aqaba
Jordan's 27 kilometers of Red Sea pack a surprising amount of diving against the mountains south of Aqaba town: an easy shore-diving reef shelf, the celebrated Cedar Pride wreck, and a deliberate collection of sunken machines - a C-130 Hercules, an M42 anti-aircraft tank, and a nineteen-piece underwater military museum. Calm water, short entries, and Petra and Wadi Rum up the road make it the Red Sea's best diving-plus-travel pairing.
Waarom hier duiken
Aqaba concentrates its entire dive scene along one sheltered coastline inside a marine reserve, and nearly everything works from shore. The Cedar Pride, scuttled in 1985 after a fire in port left her beyond repair, lies on her port side across two reef ridges at easy depths, wrapped in soft coral and circled by schooling fish. Down the road, Jordan has kept adding: an M42 Duster in 1999, a C-130 Hercules in 2017, and in 2019 a formation of nineteen tanks, troop carriers, and helicopters arranged as an underwater military museum. Between the metal, the Japanese Gardens slope shows what the northern Gulf of Aqaba grows naturally - dense hard corals in clear, still water. Add year-round diveability, minimal current, and evenings free for Wadi Rum or Petra, and Aqaba earns its place on any Jordan itinerary.
Maand voor maand
Diveable every month. Winter water reaches lows near 20-22 C with cool desert nights; summer runs 26-28 C. Spring and fall are ideal, and the gulf stays notably calm year-round.
| Maand | Water | Zicht | Hoe het voelt |
|---|---|---|---|
| January●●●○○ | 21–23 °C / 70–73 °F | 15–30 m | Cool and quiet, with crisp desert light. |
| February●●●○○ | 20–22 °C / 68–72 °F | 15–30 m | Coldest water; sites nearly empty. |
| March●●●●○ | 21–23 °C / 70–73 °F | 15–30 m | Warming steadily. |
| April●●●●● | 22–24 °C / 72–75 °F | 15–30 m | Mild water, calm sea, Petra weather. |
| May●●●●● | 23–25 °C / 73–77 °F | 15–30 m | Settled and warm. |
| June●●●●○ | 24–26 °C / 75–79 °F | 15–30 m | Hot ashore; easy conditions below. |
| July●●●●○ | 26–28 °C / 79–82 °F | 15–30 m | Peak heat; morning dives are best. |
| August●●●●○ | 26–28 °C / 79–82 °F | 15–30 m | Warmest water of the year. |
| September●●●●● | 26–28 °C / 79–82 °F | 15–30 m | Warm sea and cooling evenings. |
| October●●●●● | 25–27 °C / 77–81 °F | 15–30 m | Prime month on both land and sea. |
| November●●●●○ | 23–25 °C / 73–77 °F | 15–30 m | Comfortable autumn diving. |
| December●●●○○ | 22–24 °C / 72–75 °F | 15–30 m | Cool, with holiday visitors ashore. |
Betrouwbaarheid van de maandcijfers: Documented. Maanden zonder rij hebben geen geverifieerde gegevens — we tonen liever een lege plek dan dat we iets verzinnen.
De duiklocaties (5)
| Locatie | Type | Diepte | Niveau | Toegang | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-130 Hercules An intact cockpit going feral; the cargo-bay swim-through; storm damage… | Artificial reef | 12–17 m | Beginner | Shore | |
| Cedar Pride The swim-through beneath the hull; soft-coral growth on masts and rails… | Wreck | 8–26 m | Intermediate | Shore | |
| Japanese Gardens Terraced hard-coral cover at its best in Jordan; easy depths for every… | Reef | 3–30 m | Beginner | Shore | |
| The Tank A coral-covered tank at snorkel depth; effortless conditions; the original… | Artificial reef | 4–7 m | Beginner | Shore | |
| Underwater Military Museum Helicopters and tanks in deliberate formation; a surreal, highly photogenic… | Artificial reef | 15–28 m | Intermediate | Boat |
Wrakken hier
Cedar Pride
Hoe kom je er & verblijf
Hoe kom je er: Fly into King Hussein International at Aqaba or drive from Amman in about four hours; the dive zone starts 10-20 minutes south of town. Land crossings from Eilat also feed the city - check current border status.
Waar verblijven: Stay in Aqaba town for restaurants and marina life, or at the southern-beach dive camps and hotels minutes from the entries; many divers split nights with a Wadi Rum camp.
Kosten: Pricier per dive than Egypt across the gulf; guided shore dives, two-tank day packages, and hotel bundles are standard. Marine reserve rules apply at all sites.
Tussen de duiken door: Petra and Wadi Rum are the headliners, both feasible as day trips; add the seafront promenade, the Mamluk fort, and Jordanian food worth lingering over.
Snorkelen: The Japanese Gardens and neighboring shallows snorkel beautifully straight off the beach - mind the marked swim zones.
Veiligheid & praktische zaken
Gevaren: Boat traffic near the port and ferry lanes; occasional winter wind chop; depth creep on the wall sites - the shelf drops fast beyond the reef edge.
Respect the reserve's no-touch and no-collection rules, watch entry lanes and buoy lines on shore dives, and log conservative profiles - many visitors arrive tired from Petra hiking.
Dichtstbijzijnde recompressiekamer: Aqaba has hospital-based hyperbaric capability; availability changes - route emergencies through EMS and DAN.