Nature · Red Sea
Wadi El Gemal National Park
A vast reserve on the southern Red Sea coast combining rich coral reefs, the Red Sea's largest mangrove forest and a desert home to gazelles and ibex.
The story
Wadi El Gemal National Park covers about 7,450 km², roughly 4,770 km² of land and 2,100 km² of sea, and was established in 2003 as an IUCN Category II park. Its coast has rich coral reefs and more than 1,200 species of fish, along with five islands where birds breed. Mangroves spread across the south, and the inland desert shelters gazelles and ibex. The park also holds prehistoric rock art and Ptolemaic and Roman ruins, including Mons Smaragdus, where small mining communities lived.
Good to know
- The park hosts about 450 species of coral and over 1,200 species of fish.
- The south of the park holds the largest mangrove forest of the entire Red Sea.
- Seagrass beds feed the endangered dugong and the green turtle.