Staying Home Sucks, home
Beach visitors of Aqaba - panoramio (2)
Rainbow reef. Photo: Adeeb Atwan, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Rainbow reef

Dive site · Jordan

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

90Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Mon 2: Sea: flat, Visibility about 30 m, Water 25 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 91 out of 100

Sea
0.0 mflat
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
32°C

Tue 3 · 89 out of 100

Sea
0.0 mflat
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
31°C

Wed 4 · 89 out of 100

Sea
0.0 mflat
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
11kn
Air
27°C

Thu 5 · 90 out of 100

Sea
0.0 mflat
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
27°C

Fri 6 · 89 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
25°C

Sat 7 · 90 out of 100

Sea
0.0 mflat
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
16kn
Air
24°C

Sun 8 · 89 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
23°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 186, good
  2. Mon 291, good
  3. Tue 389, good
  4. Wed 489, good
  5. Thu 590, good
  6. Fri 689, good
  7. Sat 790, good
  8. Sun 889, good
  9. Mon 987, good
  10. Tue 1085, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 20 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 25 °C3 mm wetsuit
  • Faces SWswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Rainbow reef
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov86, good0.0 mflat3 kn7kn29°C
Mon 2Nov91, good0.0 mflat2 kn8kn32°C
Tue 3Nov89, good0.0 mflat6 kn12kn31°C
Wed 4Nov89, good0.0 mflat6 kn11kn27°C
Thu 5Nov90, good0.0 mflat4 kn8kn27°C
Fri 6Nov89, good0.1 mflat7 kn13kn25°C
Sat 7Nov90, good0.0 mflat4 kn16kn24°C
Sun 8Nov89, good0.1 mflat7 kn12kn23°C
Mon 9Nov87, good0.1 mflat9 kn16knboats in22°C
Tue 10Nov85, good0.4 m12 kn19kn21°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovLow 04:20 −0.4 mHigh 11:04 +0.2 mLow 17:36 −0.3 mHigh 23:20 +0.1 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 05:48 −0.4 mHigh 12:20 +0.2 mLow 19:07 −0.3 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 00:45 +0.1 mLow 07:16 −0.3 mHigh 13:32 +0.2 mLow 20:20 −0.3 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Map

the site, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of Rainbow reef

Sea water - panoramio (3)
Photo: Adeeb Atwan, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tala Bay Marina by Night
Photo: Martin Nikolaj Christensen from Sorø, Denmark, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Jordan Beach
Near Rainbow reef. Photo: Lunaloop, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Rainbow reef

A reef dive. It goes down to 20 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces SW: swell from the SW reaches it, and wind from the NE blows out to sea. 7 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 0.9 km away. The sea is about 22°C in January, its coldest month (5 mm wetsuit), and 28°C in July, its warmest (3 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Aqaba. Within 5 km we also list 10 dive sites.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 20 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 7 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 0.9 km away.

Water about 25°C: 3 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 30 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jul and Aug (over 30 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,130–US$2,190 each

about US$1,130–US$2,190 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to AQJ, estimated from distance and season, changing at IST, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$657–US$1,370
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$47–US$80
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$201–US$328
Food7 days eating outabout US$221–US$415
Totalabout US$1,130–US$2,190

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Aqaba

Closest

Aqaba

19 min by car · 142 places to stay

See 142 places to stay in Aqaba · Booking.com

About Aqaba its beds, food and every spot near it

Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 21h 25m

About 21h 25m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → AQJ, changing at İstanbul Airport (IST), then 40 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

  • Almarsa dive center 0.9 km

  • Nemo Diving Center 0.9 km

  • Abood Freediver 0.9 km

  • Neptune 2.7 km

  • سينائي درايفن 3.0 km

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 25 m, greener than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.