Woodhouse Reef

Overview

Woodhouse is the long, narrow ribbon of reef strung between Thomas and Jackson in the Straits of Tiran, and at close to a mile in length it is one of the longest reefs around Sharm El Sheikh. There is no mooring and no shelter here — boats drop divers at one end and collect them at the other — which makes Woodhouse a pure, committing drift dive and a firm favourite of divers who like to cover ground with the current and never look back. It is reached by day boat or Tiran liveaboard leg out of Sharm.

The Dive

You go in, you go with the flow, and you do not turn around: this dive is done one way only. The eastern side is the headline, a wall that climbs from the surface down past 40m, with the most interesting stretch on the northern half where a canyon opens around 30m and pinnacles rise off the wall. The plan is to drift the eastern wall, keeping it on your shoulder, finning gently and letting the current carry you north toward Jackson. Depth is yours to choose along the wall — most divers sit in the 12–25m band where the coral and fish are richest and leave the deeper canyon floor to admire from above.

The catch is the northern tip. Where Woodhouse meets Jackson, opposing currents and wind collide into a swirling eddy that locals nickname the "washing machine" — powerful, disorienting, and no place to be swept into low on gas. A good drift plan ends the dive before that point. This is an Advanced Open Water site for confident drift divers; it is not one for the nervous, because there is no swimming back to the boat.

Marine Life

The wall is studded with crevices holding resident giant morays, groupers and pufferfish, and the pinnacles off the eastern side are good hunting for nudibranchs and pipefish. Woodhouse really earns its reputation as a pelagic corridor, though — the current draws in passing schools of hammerheads in season, white-tip reef sharks, giant tuna and eagle rays, especially out in the blue off the northern canyon. Keep one eye on the wall and one on the open water.

Good to Know

Best conditions run April to November with warm water and the most reliable surface weather; visibility is usually a generous 20–30m. Because the reef gives no shelter and the drift is one-directional, every Woodhouse dive lives or dies on the briefing — know your exit point, carry an SMB, and stay clear of the washing machine at the northern end. Pair it with Thomas or Jackson for a classic Tiran day.