This review has been written in response to the rapid expansion of work on Red Sea reefs over the last two decades, and is an attempt to summarise our present-day knowledge about the kinds of reefs known in the Red Sea, and of their foundations and origins. This review cannot present the detail which is available in the source literature, but is intended to highlight the important literature and provide a useful starting point. One of the main problems of coral reef science in this region has been duplication of work caused by inadequate knowledge of the literature, and it is hoped that provision of such material in this single, summary document can also help to avoid this time-consuming and wasteful practice.