The beauty of Jordan scuba diving trips is that Aqaba provides an underwater museum for those who appreciate marine life and history. The former Royal Jordanian Air Force Lockheed C1-30 Hercules is an unmissable diving location and provides a breathtaking experience for divers of all levels.
Military museums are what makes Aqaba one of the most popular diving sites in the world, with aircraft, helicopters and even tanks fully submerged. The museum objects are decommissioned vehicles donated by the Royal Jordanian Army and include a U.K.-built Chieftain main battle tank (known as Khalid Shir in Jordan) with a 120-millimetre tank gun, and an unarmed FV104 Samaritan tracked military ambulance.
The war machines were sunk at depths ranging from 15 to 28 meters and stationed along the coral reefs in the shape of a tactical battle formation, creating an exciting underwater adventure and enticing divers and snorkelers to explore more of the dive site and have a one-of-a-kind experience. The most important piece of the collection: a Royal Jordanian Air Force AH-1F Cobra attack helicopter, was built by Bell Helicopter in the U.S.
The Aqaba diving site has an easy shore entry with a gently sloping sandy area. After passing through this narrow sandy stripe and heading from the only live Porites coral pinnacle at 5 meters, you will arrive at a dense seagrass bed with a mix of Halophila stipulacea and Halodule uninervis species.