Egypt, Red Sea
Diving
Sharm El Sheik
Oct 2004
Click on picture for enlarged copy
After much excitement and planning, October 2 eventually arrived. As a very keen diver I have been longing to dive in the Red Sea for many years. Mel of course also loves diving and she was very excited as well. Great friends, Darren, Ryan, Ronwyn and the two of us travelled from London. Ronwyn's father owns a dive company in JHB and he organised the tour. There were 16 of us in total on the boat, the remainder of them all from JHB.
After a very long winded effort to get to Sharm El Sheik (south coast of Sinai desert) we arrived at what must be the most dodgy airport in the world at 5am in the morning. Sadly, communication had broken down and there was nobody to collect us and whisk us off to a much needed shower. Instead after 2 hours of waiting, Ryan and I decided to brave the desert and head in search of the boat we were planning on boarding later that day. All there is to say about the taxi drivers is that I will catch a Cape Taxi (Getiepie and all) any day over the Egyptian's. Not able to speak one word of English, we eventually manage to get across to him that we would like to go to the main marina/jetty. After agreeing to pay US$ 40 (in hindsight a huge over payment) to take us there and bring us back to get the others, we head off in the oldest Peugeot I have ever seen. Into the desert we head, not sure if our driver is sober or simply looks that way, not convinced that this is a good idea.
Ryan and I kept looking at each other nervously as we went over sand dune after sand dune, still no jetty in sight. Anyway after about 20mins we arrived at a marina with approximately 200 50m diving boats moored. The harbour water was cleaner than any sea water I have ever seen, and from then on I knew the diving was going to be amazing.
These diving boats are so well kitted out, purely for diving. Each person get allocated a plastic crate to keep the fins and weight belt, while your cylinder is permanently set up and filled as soon as it is emptied. All one has to do is put on lycra suit/shorty/wetsuit (and this is the hardest part) and then the very friendly Egyptian crew sit you down and help the cylinder onto your back. All that is needed is a simple step off the back of the boat into the cleanest, blueist, warmest sea water we all had ever experienced. 31 degree air, 28 degree sea water!
It is amazing how the Red Sea (such a prolific marine park) is placed in the middle of a desert. There are not even as much as a single tree that line the shores. Sadly we did not even spot one oasis.
So the Diving, the part the keen divers have been waiting for. Absolutely amazing! Never before have we swam in such clean water. So surprising how the Egyptians (rather a dirty and sloppy race) have managed to keep the sea so clean. The fact that the Red Sea is actually a rather busy shipping lane as well, also seems more impressive that the water stays so clean. When I say clean, I mean really clean. We were on one dive when our dive-master pointed down to many large fish swimming below us. We were at about 34m below the surface and into the depths below we could see a few sharks and other large fish swimming around. When we got back to the boat, I asked how deep the fish were as we could see them on the sea sand/bed below. About 98m was his answer. The visibilty was absolutely out of this world. The only time the visibility was anything less than 25-30m was when we were either doing a night dive or diving in the inside of a wreck or cave.
The water was unbelievably warm, clear and salty! The majority of the diving is wall diving. At first a little scary to think that this wall of coral goes from 1m all the way down to over 100m. Really amazing how nature in the middle of a completely baron desert manages to create something so beautiful and full of colour and so BIG! Once we had perfected our bouyancy (ability to not sink or rise) which only took a few minutes on the first dive, we would simply float along this wall and take in all the amazing sites and fish and turtles and corals and eels etc etc. Many people have asked if it is better than Sodwana or Cape Town. Not all that better, but very different. Sodwana has millions of little fish, Cape Town is completely different, but the Red Sea is like the sea and coral and fish all on steroids. Everything is so much bigger and cleaner.
Here are a few pics to try and help all get a glimpse of what it was like under the sea:
Despite having bought some expensive and difficult to get (thanks to Mel and Ebay Online Auctions) photographic equipment it is surprisingly difficult to take underwater photos. I do feel that it is something I could really get into though.
Here are some more pics of fellow
divers in various poses underwater:
Most of the dives we would simply walk off the back of the boat into the sea, but on a few occasions we would use the rubber duck to either get to or get back or both from a specific site. Very similar to the RSA diving thing, just rubber duck a little smaller than we are used to.
Of all the holidays we have been on, this must of been the most relaxing. After diving, the very friendly crew, help remove all the diving equipment, take care of filling the cylinders ready for the next dive, while cook produces one of 6 meals a day. From breakfast through tea and cakes until bedtime there is an abundant supply of cold drinks, water and food. All that one has to think about is how regularly to apply the sun tan cream and when to roll over. Completely mind numbing trip - perfect!
Sadly after 3 days of fun and diving, poor Ryan had really bad trouble with his ears. He had had a cold before the trip and after the 2nd dive was having trouble equalising. One early morning dive down to 38m to swim among the hammerhead sharks (yes sharks) he simply gritted his teeth and went down. Thankfully got to see some if not all of the 20 sharks. Really one of the highlight dives, swimming in the middle of the big blue ocean, sitting at 38m, surrounded by 20 hammerhead sharks. These sharks are so impressive, so well defined yet so so shy. Really beautiful experience. Mel was feeling too sleepy that morning. Normally me the one who refuses to get up, but on this occasion it was well worth it. Anyway, that was one of Ryan's last dives. He had done some real bad damage to his ears and spent the rest of the trip perfecting his tan, in between having to try and control the severe pain he was constantly in.
That said, we did celebrate his birthday onboard and he got into the mood really well and even put on his pirate outfit happily.
Glen, Ronwyn's father completed 400 dives on the trip and the crew made him a nice celebration cake:
So after a week of really cool diving, sun and fun we sadly had to bid farewell to the boat, sad but having had an absolute ball!
Mel, Ryan and I then left for Cairo, with the idea of spending a few days looking at the sites. The remainder of the dive party then also went to Cairo for a one day whistle-stop tour of the Pyramids etc. We booked separately, but very quickly found out that weirdly we were staying in the same hotel.
The dodgy Egyptian tour operator had arranged a bus to take us all to see the Pyramids and few other sites, so we decided to join the group. Of course slightly overpriced but well worth it as we had an egyptian tour guy and he told us all the interesting things we needed to know. One thing though is the Egyptian expect a tip for anything, from giving you toilet paper at the airport toilets, to simply telling you when it is safe to cross the road. Cairo is such a dusty and dirty city, but they do have the pyramids. Very impressive how they have managed to stand all these years. Of course one does get the impression that if they were in a European city they would be better preserved. The railings around the Sphinx are all old and rusty. Mel and I got to race a camel, rather smelly uncomfortable animal but something we had to do.
The remainder of the tour party then left Cairo (via the worst airport in the world), and we stayed another 2 days. In the morning we caught a taxi to the Egyptian museum. When I say taxi it has absolutely no glamour attached. These taxis are the oldest, Peugeot's, Lada's and anything else they have that you have ever seen. There are absolutely no rules on the roads. No stop signs, no traffic lights and no white lines on the roads. They hoot to signal changing lanes, flash lights when they want but never use conventional indicators. Really an experience one can not really explain. Anyway on the way to the museum our driver Mohammed, tells us that he can give us the complete tour of Cairo for as little as GBP12 for all of us. We then spent the rest of the day seeing the oldest Mosque in Egypt, the newer Christian church, the old and new part of the city as well as the Egyptian museum. We looked at the mummies, Tutankhamen and his gold etc. Really impressive and really worth a visit. Cairo is definitely not for the faint hearted though. We then spent the evening on a traditional falluca (river yacht) and ate Egyptian take-aways on the boat - really nice way to end the evening.
So after a really cool trip, we eventually had to come on home to cold, wet and rainy UK. Work again until the next trip.
Love to all
Andrew & Mel