This was the first national park in Egypt. On land, the park protects a small mangrove forest at the end of the peninsula. Further inland, the landscapes include mountains, sand dunes, wadis, and coastal mud plains. The Red Sea Reef and surrounding reef areas include both fringing and hermatypic type reefs. There are over 220 species of corals accompanied by over 1,000 species of fish, 40 species of starfish, 150 species of crustaceans, and 25 species of sea urchins. The green turtle and the hawksbill turtle are two of the sea turtles which can be found swimming amongst the reefs fairly regularly.