But intensive diving is damaging the reef and researchers want to protect nature without restricting tourism in a country already battling television images of bombs and bloodshed.

The solution? A contraption the size of a small house, made up of six concrete blocks weighing 4 tonnes each.

"People and coral don't really go together," Nadav Shashar, a marine ecologist at Israel's Ben Gurion University told Reuters. "What we are trying to do is give an alternative option. Go and see the artificial habitat -- if you damage it we can replace it."

Hulking blocks of concrete might not appeal to divers used to weaving between wild, multi-coloured plant life. But after just a few months in the water the reef has attracted more than 20 species of fish.

Other resorts have used shipwrecks as artificial reefs to attract divers, but Shashar said this project is one of the first to construct a purpose-built reef, using specially designed concrete and silicon to hold coral in place.

He argues the artificial reef causes less damage to the environment than a shipwreck.

At the moment the concrete blocks look stark. But Israeli and Jordanian researchers are growing rare species of coral in nurseries and hope to create a flourishing community within 2-5 years -- a feat that might take up to 100 years in the wild.

Once the coral is ready, divers "plant" it into holes drilled into the concrete blocks.

"We don't try to imitate the natural community. We actually give advantage to rare species, species that would be on the verge of extinction," said Shashar.

The project will also provide a research base for marine ecologists since some 40 different types of coral are clustered on a 10-metre strip of Red Sea coral reef compared to four or five on the same area on Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef.

The artificial reef, near Eilat's popular Coral Beach diving spot, was started as an experiment but researchers say if it proves a hit with divers and protects the reef, it could be replicated elsewhere.