I wish I could say I took the pictures above, but I don't have an underwater camera. This, however is a very accurate picture of what I was able to see while snorkeling just off shore. Old Quay, or "The Wall" is a vertical reef that drops precipitously to the point where you cannot see the bottom. It is teaming with fish.

Thanks to therightblue.com and Sharm Al Sheikh Tourism for the images.

The Gate of Allah at the entrance to Ras Mohammed. I'm told the concrete structure spells the word "Allah" in Arabic.

Note the dark Toyota truck parked just behind the gate (above). There are essentially two types of tourist police. The ones in white, who have side-arms but are mostly there to help tourist and guard against fraud & petty crime. Then there are the ones in black, who are parked at strategic points in the small trucks. These are the anti-terrorist tourism police. The trucks are heavily loaded with weapons. Best not to approach these guys. I have no other photos of them because we were specifically told not to photograph them. They were at the airports, highway check points and tourist attractions. Effective or not, you definitely knew that security was always around.

Above: Views from inside the park.

Left and below, left: A geological feature inside the park. A crack in the Earth filled with sea water and critters. It is believed to have been caused by some long ago earthquake and even though it's only about 4' wide at its widest point, it's close to 14 M deep at some points, (that's over 45' to you and me).

The magic lake below. Still not sure why it's called the Magic Lake. It's nice and sandy, good bathing and very relaxing. Supposedly, it changes colors during the day and even becomes so clear, it "disappears". Not sure I buy that, but it's said that local Bedouins used to bathe in its waters then through gems in it and make wishes. People still through coins and make wishes.