Located in the southern end of the Wreck Bay, the Japanese Gardens are popular dive spots in Aqaba. Easy to access and enter, they are perfect for beginners, and therefore, us. We dove with Frogman Dive Center, and had a positive experience. The dive masters knew the site well, and were very experienced and patient when it came to diving with people just starting out. We were three people diving with two dive masters, which is a pretty amazing ratio.
The Japanese Gardens were themselves absolutely delightful. The sites are not big, but they are filled with colourful coral and fish, and lots of life. My favourite thing was the column of rose coloured coral (called a pinnacle) which can be seen at the depth of 6m, teeming with fish. At one point, a large hawksbill turtle emerged from the sand and started swimming around us. They are not an uncommon sight, and it was a magnificent feeling.
The water, while not warm, was a pleasant 21 degrees Celcius. The deepest point is 23m, where you get to see a large Gorgonia Fan coral inhabited by yellow mouth morays and large cornet fish. Schools of basselets are common and we also spotted a large barracuda.
For more on the Aqaba experience, take a look at our post “Diving in Aqaba – Going Underwater“.
Music: Water Prelude by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
