Activities on Jordan's Red Sea coast are centred on the popular beach resort of Aqaba, at the southern tip of the country. It's an excellent base from which to tour nearby Wadi Rum, or simply to relax in the sunshine by the gently lapping sea.

The waters here offer some of the world's best marine life viewing. There are around 30 main dive sites in the clear and calm waters of the Gulf of Aqaba, a narrow finger of water between Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that forms the northern tip of the Red Sea.

Whale sharks, sea turtles, manta rays, dolphins and hundreds of different species of tropical fish can be seen on snorkelling, diving and glass-bottomed boat tours of the Red Sea's fringe reefs.