GLUG members organise trips to the Egyptian Red Sea throughout the year. These range from small groups going on shore-based trips to large groups chartering whole liveaboards. Consistently warm water, abundant marine life and a wide range of diving conditions means that Egypt has something to offer divers of all levels.
Shore-based trips are relatively inexpensive and suit divers of all levels. Egypt offers ideal conditions and facilities for those who would like to learn to dive.
Egyptian liveaboards are amongst the least expensive in the world. Liveaboard trips suit experienced divers and many itineraries are only available to those with 40 dives or more. PADI Advanced/BSAC Sports Diver would be a minimum requirement.
Please choose a report from the following:
El Quesir – June 2008
Marsa Nakari – October 2007
Daedalus, Rocky and Zabargad on Blue Seas – July 2007
The Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone on Blue Waves - May 2007
Marsa Alam - November 2006
Southern Red Sea on Blue Seas - August 2006
Marsa Nakari - December 2005
Marsa Shagra and MY Seaflower - June 2005
Sharm el Sheikh and MY Juliet - May 2005
El Quesir – June 2008
by Martin J
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Anna, Patricia, Ruth and I went on the GLUG trip to El Quesir, on the southern shore of the Red Sea. Anna had arranged for us to pre-book our hotel, diving and flights. Visas were easily obtained upon arrival at the airport.
We were met by Steve of the Pharaoh Dive Club who drove us to El Fanadir Hotel just outside El Quesir. The drive took about 1.5 hours from Marsa Alam airport.
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Hotel
The El Fanadir Resort hotel is a recently refurbished small 3* hotel which shares its premises with the Pharaoh Dive Club. We were met by friendly staff with a welcome cold fruit juice before being introduced to Ursula, the hotel manageress, and explained the “do’s and don’ts” of the hotel and Egypt in general.
This is a small hotel with few guests, the majority of which are divers. The rooms were clean and tidy, en suite with air conditioning and a mini fridge/bar and TV. The rooms are semi detached and look out onto the garden and private beach and are serviced daily.
We were staying half-board. Continental breakfast was served from 8 to 10. Evening meals had to be pre-ordered as there were insufficient guests to warrant a full menu. Some of the evening meals were very good especially the Egyptian BBQ, calamari and fresh fish (when available) however other meals lacked variety and imagination and were unsuitable for the hot climate. Vegetarians/Vegans may find the choices especially limiting.
There is also a bar with a cocktail and snack menu. Should you decide to remain at the dive centre for a day to dive the house reef then you will be able to have your lunch at the bar. The tomato soup was particularly good and there is also a German dish consisting of fried eggs and potatoes which was delicious.
It was important to remember that everything in town closes from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, including banks and we were all requested to dress appropriately when walking into town. Women are not required to cover their heads but shoulders and thighs should be covered to respect the local culture.
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The Diving
I don’t want to go too “OTT” but I was rather impressed….Then again it was my first time diving in tropical water.
I had booked a 5 day dive package which consisted of 2 accompanied dives per day and unlimited diving on the house reef. The accompanied dives could be either off a hard boat, a RIB or shore, depending on the weather.
On a more personal level, this was my first dive with my own kit. I had recently invested in a BCD, set of Regs and a dive computer and was naturally very keen to try it all out.
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Day 1
This was to be our test dive. The entry to the house reef is about 20 metres from the dive centre and is reached by following a disintegrating pathway over rocks to the reef itself.
This was an easy dive and we saw some beautiful coral together with tiger fish. I must admit that I was much more concerned with figuring out how my new kit works and getting my buoyancy right etc. than taking in the views.
Depth 9.9 m, time 38 mins, water temp 26 degrees, visibility 15-20 metres.
Test dive complete we were off for a 40 minute drive to Serib Kebir for 2 accompanied shore dives. This was an easy entry off a sandy beach looking at the coral, tiger fish, trumpet fish, 2 blue spotted rays and a school of baby cuttle fish. The water was a lovely 26 degrees and for the whole holiday I was in a 5mm sortie.
Dive 1: 21 metres, 35 mins, water temp 26 degrees, visibility 20 metres.
Dive 2: 19 metres, 29 mins.
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Day 2
This was another shore dive at Gasus Soraya about an hours drive from El Quesir. It was very hot getting changed outside. Very easy entry from a sandy beach which does has its disadvantages as the sand, when disturbed by other divers impacts quickly on the visibility. These dives were around 3 coral pinnacles home to lots of small colourful fish and some impressive moray eels.
Depth: 20.3 metres, Time 52 mins. This was also the coldest dive of the holiday at 25 degrees. Visibility 15 metres.
Personally I was really getting used to my own kit and my air usage was noticeably improving. Near perfect buoyancy also assisted in reducing air consumption.
We returned to the hotel for lunch and were then driven to El Meghar for the afternoon shore dive.
This was a tricky entry as we had to climb down from a high sand dune onto the reef fully kitted up but was well worth the effort once we got in the water. The eventual dive entry was spectacular as you enter the coral through a hole from the rocky shore. This was a truly spectacular dive along a wall of coral on one side and deep azure blue sea on the other. We saw some nice larger fish in the distance as well as a large turtle.
Depth 20.7 metres, time 43 mins, temperature 27 degrees, visibility 30 metres.
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Day 3
Due to the off-shore breeze the sea was too rough to dive off the hard boat. I did not go on the accompanied dives as I was unwell with “Egyptian tummy”.
I did however manage a late afternoon dive on the Fanadir house reef with two other divers. A rather undignified entry due to the incoming tide! This was a shallow dive and we saw a large lion fish. Spectacularly 5 dolphins and a dugong came swimming past making us the envy of the other divers who decided to stay in the bar.
Depth 10.6 metres, time 45 mins, temp 26 degrees, visibility 15 metres.
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Day 4
The off-shore breeze had calmed down and we could go out on the hard boat for a change. We were due to dive at Fugani, about 2 hours directly south of El Quesir harbour.
Giant stride entry off the hard boat into shallow water and once underwater diving deeper. Once again amongst beautiful coral, seeing blue spotted rays, a large octopus, surgeons, line fish and boxfish - an all-round excellent dive.
Depth 17.9 metres, time 60 mins, temp 26 degrees, visibility 30 metres.
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Day 5
Another days hard boat diving at Erg Monica, 1.5 hours sail from El Quesir.
This was going to be a shallow dive around some coral islands. We saw a very large moray eel – possibly 40 cm in diameter and definitely longer than a metre but no one was prepared to look too hard to find his head… Also saw a large school of barracuda and plenty of small colourful fish amongst the coral.
Depth 16.1 metres, time 58 mins, visibility 30 metres, water temperature 26 degrees.
The afternoon dive was done after a RIB transfer from the hard boat after lunch. Once in the water we descended to 12 metres onto a sandy bottom. We saw a large moray eel approximately 1.5 metres in length swimming and a school of 4 midsize tuna.
Depth 15.4 metres, time 62 mins, visibility 30 metres, temperature 26 degrees.
Later on that day I did another dive on the house reef with a fellow hotel resident. This was an excellent confidence building dive but was going to be short due to the deteriorating light.
It was interesting to see how many larger fish come close to the reef as it gets darker. We saw a large lion fish, crocodile fish lots of dragon heads and a Spanish dancer.
Depth 8.3 m, time 46 mins, temp 26 degrees, visibility 15 metres and deteriorating throughout the dive due to the fading light.
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Day 6
We were all looking forward to this shore dive at Abu Dabbab. This world famous dive site is about 1.5 hours drive from the El Fanadir hotel spending the day at the adjacent Italian resort. Permits are required for which a charge is levied but the dive centre arrange this.
Although this was a shore dive entry was challenging due to the distance you had to walk to the sea kitted up and the battle to put fins on in shallow water. There is also an abundance of bathers and snorkelers who made me regret not bringing my harpoon….
The morning dive was amazing – this is a shallow bay but we found 5 large turtles and a school of 22 baby cuttlefish.
Depth 9.1 metres, time 62 mins, water temperature 26 degrees.
Lunch was great as it is an Italian resort, I had a rather nice pizza.
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The afternoon dive turned out to be even more spectacular. We saw another turtle and then a dugong feeding in the sea grass. The dugong was quite at ease with us around but eventually moved on due to the disturbance caused by snorkelers. Swimming back to the shore afterwards we saw a huge school of barracuda.
Depth 11.9 metres, 57 mins, water temp 27 degrees visibility 15 to 20 metres.
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To summarise:
To me this was a great confidence building trip. The Pharaoh Dive Centre staff were great. Each day’s diving was well planned and well briefed. I had no safety concerns. The staff were friendly, helpful and well organised. At the start of your stay you pack a numbered box containing all your dive kit. This box will follow you wherever you go. The staff rinse the kit after every days diving and due to the heat it is all dry for the next morning. I would definitely dive with them again. This was a very enjoyable trip and I would do it again.
Thanks to Anna for taking the initiative and making the arrangements.
I was surprised when I found out at the end of the holiday that the dive centre was never told that we were from GLUG. I’m sure it must have been pretty obvious but our sexuality clearly was not an issue.
Points to note:
We had issues with regard to payment of the single supplement which was not quoted to us at the time of booking. I help to sort this kind of issue before you arrive.
Egypt is very much a cash based society and any payment by credit card will incur a hefty 10% bank charge. See if you can arrange to pay online before you arrive as this will save you not only bank charges but also the stress of carrying a large amount of cash on your person.
For future reference and to assist other divers I have made a short checklist of particularly useful things to take along on a trip like this in future:
Buy a large bottle of drinking water at the airport and stay hydrated.
Earplugs
Binoculars
A big hat
sunglasses
A small amount of local currency
Imodium or similar medicine (take twice as much as you would take on a normal holiday)
Re-hydration sachets
Insect repellent
High factor sun cream
After-sun lotion
Marsa Nakari – October 2007
by Alan Larsen
Huw and I were looking for a cheap (…ish, let’s face it, overseas diving isn’t cheap) week because neither of us were able to go to DfL this year. The Red Sea ecolodge at Marsa Shagra seemed to fit the bill, but as the only free week in my diary coincided with half-term (perhaps that’s why it was free?) Shagra was full. We took the alternative, smaller ecolodge at Marsa Nakari instead. As it turned out, that was to our advantage. At Marsa Alam airport we watched the British families pile into the transfer bus for Marsa Shagra, to find that we were the only two on the bus bound for Marsa Nakari.
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In truth, Shagra wasn’t completely full; we could have had a tent… but one gets to a point in life where ensuite accommodation becomes ‘de rigeur’… (I believe Steph and Corinne made a similar choice a couple of weeks earlier!) And as I said, our choice turned out to be a good one; Marsa Nakari is smaller, the accommodation and food were good, and it was occupied by several groups from Dutch and French dive clubs, who return year after year because they like the intimacy of the smaller dive camp.
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Apart from the eco-friendly concept of a dive camp whose aim is to have a minimal effect on the environment, the attraction of the ecolodge was that both offer unlimited and unsupervised diving on the house reef. Even better, the reef is actually two reefs; one either side of the bay (the Marsa) and furthermore, there are lots of dive options: you can dive from and return to the shore; take the rib out and return to the shore; go in from the shore and get the rib to pick you up; or even go out in the rib and be picked up by it again.
In the mornings there’s an option to take a truck dive further along the coast, or the ribs go to a bay slightly further away, both options offering two dives and return before lunch – leaving the afternoon to dive on the house reef. In addition, there is the option of taking a day boat to a more distant reef.
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On our second day, we opted for a trip to Marsa Abu Dabab, hoping that a dugong (or two…) would be there. This bay is now closed to liveaboards in an attempt to preserve the environment and keep the dugongs there, and I was disappointed not to be able to dive it on the GLUG trip on Blue Seas in July. We were in luck, and got a ‘full house’ of dugongs, green turtles, a guitar shark… and a large shoal of squid as we were heading back for the shore at the end of an already great dive.
The dive on the north reef was also good, the highlight for me being a shoal of wide-mouthed mackerel feeding in the blue just at the entrance to the bay. The drawback of Marsa Abu Dabab is the number of snorkellers: I was kicked a couple of times as we got back to the shallows of the north reef; and every time dugongs or turtles surfaced for air, they were mobbed by zillions of people patting and stroking them. I understand that shore diving is going to be restricted too in an attempt to protect the dugongs and turtles. I’d say that it’s not divers they need protection from…
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We returned to Marsa Abu Dabab a couple of days later and had a similar, if not better experience: twenty minutes on our own with a dugong and then another twenty minutes with a couple of turtles. Finally on the way back, an even bigger shoal of squid than before… (A dive equal in my memory to my encounter with whale sharks in Djibouti on New Year’s Day, but that’s a different trip and story…) The wide-mouthed mackerel were there on the first dive again as well!
Another day we took the day boat trip to Dolphin House Reef (Sha’ab Samedai). This promised two good dives and snorkelling with a group of spinner dolphins that have taken up residence in the shelter of this offshore reef. The dives were great: the first around some large coral outcrops covered with good hard and soft corals, and the second through a cave system with the sun streaming through the cracks in the reef. But the spinners didn’t have the same manners and punctuality as the dugongs, until, just as we were climbing back on the boat after the second dive they appeared – so we got to snorkel with them for fifteen minutes. Smaller and darker that the usual bottlenose dolphins seen in the Red Sea, it was a delight to watch them and share their space for a while.
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We had a great week. The diving was good; the dive guides were excellent (and as we have well over 500 dives between us, left us to our own devices on the morning ‘organised’ dives). Think of a good liveaboard, but on land; you can do four dives a day – more if you want – and have the freedom to dive the house reef at any time from sunrise until late evening.
The truck dives were marred only by the amount of rubbish along the side of the road and on the non-commercialised beaches, some of which obviously transferred into the water close to the shore. To their credit the Egyptian authorities are aware of the need to preserve the environment, I guess both for its own sake and to ensure that tourism is sustainable. I can only hope that they soon realise the risk that rubbish poses both to the environment and to the tourist experience.
We booked through Oonasdivers; check it out on their website – and take a look at some of my photos in the GLUG gallery.
Daedalus, Rocky and Zabargad on Blue Seas – July 2007
by Fred Wynn
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No delays with the flight from Gatwick on Wednesday morning, with a very early check-in time; all the girls and boys arriving in the North Terminal as instructed by our team leader, Charlie. I understood one of our travellers had turned up especially early to ensure all his luggage of some 40 kilos could be checked in – some of which was a new camera on it’s maiden voyage.
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This was my second live-aboard trip to Egypt (organised by Charlie), and I was one of the lucky ones to join both old and new faces for the one week trip on ‘Blue Seas’. On arrival at Marsa Alam and after our transfer to the harbour, we were greeted by our dive guides for the week, Nina from Austria and Hassan from Egypt. ‘Blue Seas’ looked in pristine condition, exactly the same as last year, just like the surrounding building development. Yes, there had been some work done in the last 12 months, but don’t expect the night life to hit it off just yet, well for another couple of years! Cabin mates were agreed upon and the cabins themselves were very quickly selected – bruises heal quickly in salt water.
The week’s itinerary included the Daedalus, Rocky and Zabargad Island Reefs, a slightly different route to the one we took in 2006. The week promised a varied selection of dive sites, with some more appropriate for the advanced diver.
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Each day started with a 6am wake up knock on the cabin door, with a brief at 6.30am for the first dive of the day, 30 minutes later. Some of us were more early risers than others. We all became familiar with the sound of the bell, being rang for scheduled dives and feeding times. The familiar routine was breakfast after the first dive, second dive around 11am, lunch at 1pm (ish), third dive at 3pm, afternoon tea at 5pm, night dive, where possible at 8pm with dinner at 9pm. Busy daily schedule!
It is difficult to summarise each day, but I’ll try and give a summary of some of my favourite moments during the week, both diving and non-diving related. As already mentioned above, a lot of faces this week were those that had been on Charlie’s ‘Blue Seas’ 2006 live-aboard. However, this time, not only did we have some live-aboard ‘virgins’, we also had some Red Sea ‘virgins’. I am always pleasantly surprised on how us ‘GLUG’ers’ have a knack of fitting in well together. A live-aboard is no exception to this. We soon became one big happy family for the week.
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After dinner, most evenings were spent at the front of the boat (Bow) being given star gazing lessons by Rupert and having some other educational talks! Rupert and Ben relaxed with their large Cubans.
A check dive on our first morning at Abu Dabab 4 ensured that we were all correctly weighted for the week. This was a nice easy dive for everyone, diving around pinnacles and just taking it gently. A good way to start the week.
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My memories of Elphinstone of 2006 were memorable for the wrong reasons; being swept off the reef by a strong current, deploying my DSMB mid water and having a disagreement with my buddy for not sticking with me. Day one, second dive, and here we were again. It had to be done; it’s a superb reef with lots to see. Yes, the current was still there, a negative entry ensured we made it down as quick as possible and most of us were able to see a white tipped reef shark, followed by a fantastic drift along the reef wall.
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Day two, Daedalus Reef – the one with the light house. Not a one to exaggerate, but this was truly a fantastic dive site, north, east, south and west, all offering excellent dives. Fist dive of the day and my first encounter with hammerhead sharks; five/six of them coming fairly close to us. Words cannot sum up the excitement of seeing such large creatures for the first time. Hopefully some of the pictures taken can do this justice. So good was the diving here, that we elected to spend a second day here and try and find more hammerheads, which we did. It must have been their week visiting Daedalus, and lucky for us. A small group of us missed out on the last dive, to pay a visit to the lighthouse. We were greeted by a warm welcome of some Egyptian tea, and a smoke of one of those bubbly things. The view from the top of the lighthouse was great, well worth a visit and an opportunity to purchase the tourist t-shirt.
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Day four, Rocky Island, resembling a three tired wedding cake! By this time we were all getting fairly used to the 6am wakeup call – I think the morning dives are the best ones and a good way to start the day. The two dives on Rocky Island were pleasant drift dives, involving little fining and the opportunity to look in the shop window at the passing underwater world. The colours, fish life and the first sight of a moray that week made it very memorable. The boat travelled between dive sites on day four, first to Rocky Island, then to Zadargad and then to Makawa Island for the night dive.
Day five, Abu Galawa, Schalaniat, Shaab Sharm and Shaab Marsa Alam. Abu Galawa, a nice tug wreck, full of glass fish. A good shallow long dive to start the day. Not many takers for the night dive on Shaab Marsa Alam – just myself, Andy, Fiona and Allan. We explored a live-aboard that had sunk some three years ago. There were some pretty large fish on this dive, trying to get a good nights sleep until we arrived.
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Day six; final dive day, returning to Elphinstone for two more dives and ending with a dive on Umm Rus. You can never dive Elphinstone too many times – there is always plenty to see, especially just at 3/4 metres where there is an abundance of fish life; and a photographers dream with the natural sunlight a few metres above us.
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To end such a perfect dive holiday, our last day was spent at the Coral Beach Hotel in Marsa Alam. The resort itself has a fair amount to go before it can offer full amenities – but the hotel itself looked a good base for a shore based diving holiday. The rooms were large, furnished tastefully with the hotel having well laid out swimming pools and gardens to chill out in.
The Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone on Blue Waves - May 2007
by Charlie Stewart
Another 5am rise to get to Gatwick Airport bleary-eyed, but then, when the destination is the Red Sea, who cares!
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With Oonasdivers, 10 of us boarded Blue Waves at Port Galeb. As we numbered ten, with only two couples, all the single people had a cabin each. Amongst the group was Mark Webster, a British underwater photographer, running a course for three people as well as a Canadian couple and four of us from Hastings. Blue Waves and its crew proved to be an excellent combination for a weeks diving in the Red Sea. Our dive guide - Foad - was a very relaxed and helpful man. When he saw everyone’s dive experience he decided that we would do our check dive at The Brothers rather than waste time at a coastal reef.
Some five hours after leaving Port Galeb we reached The Brothers - Big Brother and Little Brother. Sitting in an isolated location, The Brothers stand just under a mile from each other and, being sea mounts, plunge deep into the ocean. Our check dive was on the southern plateau of Big Brother which proved eventful and set the bench mark for the rest of the week with the appearance of a very large Scalloped Hammerhead shark.
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In fact most of the week’s diving was to be wall diving with one eye on the profusion off soft corals and a myriad of sea life, and the other into the blue, looking for an abundance of palegic activity. Tuna, especially Yellow Fin, some of the biggest I have ever seen, were in abundance, as were barracudas. On most dives, we were accompanied by Cornet fish. A quick turn of ones head, to look over ones shoulders, usually resulted in a Cornet fish coasting along close to our heads, hiding from both prey and predator.
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We soon settled into a pavlovian routine of bell for food, bell for dive brief! On Big Brother there are two wrecks - The Numidia and Aida II. Mark’s photographic group wisely chose to do their macro work on the masts of Numdia which are covered in beautiful soft corals as well as tiny Stone Fish. Our five dives on Big Brother were followed by five on Little Brother with much the same sea life including groups of Grey Reef Sharks, Silver Tips, Hammerheads, groups of Tuna and, much to my delight, my first ever Thresher Sharks with their unmistakable elongated tails. Little Brother’s walls are covered in a myriad of soft corals including very impressive gorgonian fans. As if The Brothers hadn’t delivered enough goodies, just as we were about to leave, the excited crew called us to the dive deck to witness the amazing site of an Oceanic White Tip cruising around, just below the surface, off the stern, accompanied by pilot fish. We watched it for about five minutes before heading south to Daedalus. The six hours journey passed at a chilled pace with reading and snoozing occasionally interrupted by playful Common Dolphins.
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Daedalus/Abu-Kizan is unmistakable with its lived in light house perched on top. The dives were very similar to the previous dives with mostly wall diving and the usual suspects appeared including more Threshers and a school of Hammerheads which I missed out on, but it’s always good to know they are around! One evening on board, as we ate our dinner, there was a commotion outside on the upper deck. The skipper had landed a large yellow fin tuna (1.4m). As much as I am not a vegetarian, I did not watch its inevitable end and masked the situation by chatting loudly with one of the girls on board who, by chance, was wearing a t-shirt, which read “Fish are not food”. Guess what we had for dinner the next evening? The next morning over breakfast I learned that, after I had gone to bed, we had be boarded by German cocks-in-frocks who were on a stag diving trip and were doing a boat crawl around all the liveaboards anchored at Daedalus. Apparenntly they stayed for a few drinks and even had a dance with each other!!
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We left Daedalus and headed north into a force 8 gale for a 6 hour journey to my favourite reef, Elphinstone. It wasn’t long before both crew and guests turned green. As I got a bit queasy, the dive guide suggested I go up to the bow. As Blue Waves pitched violently into the surging Red Sea and the waves crashed over me, I strangely started to feel better! Reading and eating were out of the question and we just had to sit it out. Some seven and half hours later, we had Elphinstone in our sights. Confused, I had to confirm with the skipper that it was indeed Elphinstone as it was devoid of the usual “carpark”. We had this magnificent reef to ourselves and, amazingly, we had no strong currents. We dropped unto the southern plateau to do my favourite dive heading north along the west wall. You could spend all day on this wall exploring the crevices and sandy ledges and, for me, it was an excellent way to finish a weeks diving. The dive had sorted out everyone’s seasickness and we hungrily tucked into our late lunch at 5pm.
Just four dives short of my 200th, I had spent another excellent week in The Red Sea.
Marsa Alam - November 2006
by Robert Ho
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Five of us went on the trip, staying at the Coral Beach Diving Hotel in Marsa Alam. We booked the flight and accommodation through Thomas Cook and the dive package direct with Emperor Divers in Marsa Alam.
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The airport at Marsa Alam is very modern and we got through the formalities very quickly - no hassle and, once on the coach, the guide collected the money for the visa stamps: so much easier than scrambling to pay in the arrivals hall. As it was dark when we got to Marsa Alam we could not see where we were being taken but I got the impression it was desert and more desert!! Morning revealed all: the area is a glorified building site. Our hotel was the only completed and functioning one but don’t let that distract from the diving.
A lot of thought is going into how to get dozens or scores of day boats and eventually liveaboards into the marina. For the present time there are about 5 day boats moored at any one time and most are operated by Emperor Divers. Boats are moored a stone’s throw away from the Hotel - you can’t ask for anything easier for a day boat!! Simply pack your boat box and walk it down a few yards to the boat.
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We met our fellow divers on board and they seemed nice enough. Towards the end of the first day one couple asked Charlie which Club we were with and were easy about being told about GLUG. In fact all the divers, with the exception of one couple who kept to themselves, had no problem with us being gay/gay-friendly and, within a day, we felt accepted by the others. Come to think of it the other couple did not make much effort to get to know the other divers either. Very fortunately our group had a laid-back, unflappable Aussie as our guide, he and an easy-going South African guy who was happy to buddy with me for the week, were not in the least bit bothered about the 4 of us being gay.
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We must have got there at a good time because, for most days, there was not too much wind or swell. Apparently the week before it was really rough. Once the shake-down dives were finished it was down to the serious business of where the whole group wanted to dive - Elphinstone and the Dugong were high on the list. We decided to try to find the Dugong next day and hope the weather was going to be okay for Elphinstone the following day.
So on the second day we headed for Marsa Abu Dabab to try to find the Dugong. As this was Charlie’s fifth attempt to see the Dugong was it going to be fifth time lucky for him? We saw lots of sea grass and four very large green sea turtles, with accompanying remoras, other creatures, but no Dugong. Once back on board, the second group said that they had a fleeting glimpse of it in about 10 metres. So our group decided to dive the area again, to find it. About 25 minutes into the dive we got our first glimpse of the large beast munching its way through the sea grass, stirring up the sandy bottom. Small yellow-striped fish were feeding in the debris stirred up by the dugong. We kept a reasonable distance from the dugong and took photos. We were able to observe it for about 15 minutes before another group charged over!!!? - we took our leave.
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We did make it to Elphinstone Reef, but the sea had already begun to get choppy and the boat was rolling quite a bit. For the first dive, we were dropped in about half way along the east side and swam back to the south end against a bit of current. Once at the south end, we kept a look out for any Oceanic sharks, but no luck. Shortly after getting back on the boat someone said they had seen a shark off our bow. So for our second dive we decided to dive around the bow and south plateau area, eventually two came to check us out when we were doing our safety stops, they circled us and the boat before disappearing into the blue. For the third dive the group was dropped in at the other side of the reef and had a good drift back to the end of the reef where they were collected by the inflatable (Unfortunately, I did not dive as I was seasick!!)
The rest of the week’s diving was also very good but we definitely thought that the day at Elphinstone, although long and a bit rough, was well worth it.
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Andy adds: The third dive on Elphinstone’s west wall was a joy, a totally relaxed drift dive, 7 of us slowly drifting along taking in the gorgeous reef wall on our right and abyssal deep blue below, the beautiful hard and soft corals smothered by shoals of Anthias, Cromis and Dascylus. Passed a couple of Green Moray snoozing inside the crags of the reef wall, following us from above for most of the dive was a Napoleon Wrasse and a Brown Marbled Grouper below.
The Fifth day at Marsa Shoni Kebir & Halg Salmaan, was also pretty good. Lots of Turtles both Green & Hawksbill, 5 Lionfish at one pinnacle, different types of Puffer & Porcupine, Crocodile fish, Red Octopus, shoals of Unicorn-Trevally-Yellow fin-Batfish, plus a few nice spots, a Grey Spotted Moray, Scorpion fish, Cometfish and a Blue Tailed Trunkfish. There were plenty of great hard and soft corals with all the usual suspects, not a bad day. Oh, and on the last dive of the week, as we were doing our safety stops a shoal of Barracuda passed by, there were hundreds, numbers I have only ever experienced once before and which were responsible for my obsession with diving. Really nice!!!
As we could not go anywhere for aprés dives we adjourned to the bar, if not too exhausted from the day’s diving. By the second night, with the exception of one couple, we were mixing freely and sharing in experiences. The group had bonded very well.
All too quickly the week was over and it was time to come home.
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And from Andy again: The entertainment at the resort was very agreeable and often good-humored, during dinner one evening there was a group of traditional dancers & musicians, who put together a pretty good show, inviting guests to join in. One dancer in particular, was noted to spin so fast on one leg, that his skirts managed to rise well above the waist, which the group agreed was well worth closer inspection.
Later in the week, one evening after dinner we all adjourned to the roof terrace, (including the couples we had met) so there was about 12 of us sitting around on comfy poofs and cushions having a few drinks. After a while, the polite diving conversation slowed and the group began telling some rather entertaining stories. A few more beers and we had moved on to jokes, one couple in particular had an unexpected repertoire of filth, which we all rather enjoyed.
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On a curious note, during the week one GLUG member seemed to be collecting staff as his own personal entourage, they were running about for him saying yes Mr? of course Mr?, we did not manage to get to the bottom of it, the question is, did he?
The UN-GLUG effect: yet again when a group of us goes on a dive trip under the banner of GLUG, where we openly meet and get to know other divers, we did not find so much as a prejudicial peep. It is more and more obvious that the GLUG effect is caused by some people’s preconceived ideas of what Gay/Lesbian is and not the people behind the words. You do have to feel sorry for them, having to miss out on our company, just because of a little figment in their imagination. On a more positive note, overall, I think everyone had an enjoyable time, with the diving being at least what we expected and on occasion a little more, a hugely successful trip.
Southern Red Sea on Blue Seas - August 2006
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We don’t have a report from this trip, but GLUG shared Blue Seas with dive journalist John Bantin (no, he’s not gay) - you can read the article he wrote about the trip here.
Marsa Nakari - December 2005
by Charlie Stewart
What could go wrong? I would jump on the train to Eastbourne, join Lydia and some of the Oonas Crew for a Xmas lunch. But after a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc I find myself back in The Oonas office, with a tempting offer to join them for The New Year at Red Sea Safari Marsa Nakari. And so it was to be!
As usual, Mamoud and his staff pulled out all the stops and their hospitality was faultless. We settled into our week with a few dives on the wonderful house reef and I acquainted myself with my new reg and integrated weights. The water was a lovely 22-24 degrees. Having dived this part of the Red Sea before, I was particularly excited about one particular reef. Elphinstone lies several kilometres off shore and I had dived this particular reef some six times previously. (I have written about it, in previous newsletters). We had already heard that Oceanic White Tips had been spotted some days previous, which was slightly out of season and came as somewhat of a surprise.
The Carcharhinus Longimanus’ enlarged first dorsal fin and long paddle shaped pectoral fins are unmistakable. Within 20 minutes of our first dive, at Elphinstone, my dive buddy was pointing up above us at what looked like a large aircraft. The Oceanic White Tip is a large and stocky species, usually accompanied by humbug coloured pilot fish. Although this was to be a short glimpse of this amazing shark, we were fortunate to have two of them cruise around at our safety stop. Somewhat at a disadvantage, with our backs to the beautiful coral walls of Elphinstone, we watched these 4 metre long sharks as they swam closer and closer. Fully aware that they occasionally bump swimmers in their curiosity, we kept a careful eye and, thankfully, this time, they kept a respectful distance. With our air all but done, we surfaced and clambered aboard our RIB, absolutely elated. What a buzz for my dive buddy on seeing his first shark and what a way to see in the New Year.
As we returned to shore, the staff at Red Sea Safari were busy building bonfires and setting up a sound system, while the kitchen staff prepared the most amazing banquet to see in the New Year. Full as lords, we drank and danced in the evening air, as 2006 descended upon us. The locals partook in their version of a pole dance with two men and a broom handle being held against their bellies, as they gingerly danced around without dropping it. The smell of molasses, from the hubbly bubblies, filled the air as all the different cultures mingled, laughed and danced. A truly excellent evening was had by all!
After several days of great diving on various reefs including Dolphin House, we returned to Elphinstone with a different game plan- we would drop in at the southern end, where there would be a better chance of seeing the Oceanics. And it paid off! After a short time we spotted two large Oceanic White Tips slowly cruising around in wide circles underneath a large live aboard. We slowly ascended to their level and hung there, in the blue. Today’s dive was much busier and the ascending bubbles from the numerous divers below made for soupier conditions. As the sharks cruised around, their passes got closer and closer as they satisfied their curiosity. Eventually, one peeled off and swam straight towards me. A wonderful mixture of excitement and fear released adrenalin all around my body as I kept a keen eye on this beautiful creature. It veered off as it got closer and returned to its circuits. As on the previous dive, I was fortunate to have my good mate Paul Brown from Oonas Divers with me, who managed to capture different shots from these amazing encounters and I am indebted to him for use of the pictures, published here.
Again it was with big smiles all round that we boarded our RIB and, as if this hadn’t been enough, the skipper blasted over to a group of playful dolphins. These Spinner Dolphins gracefully played in the bow wave while others cruised languidly underneath the RIB. To our surprise, our skipper stopped the RIB and encouraged us to jump in - as we were out in the blue, skippers are some times wary off letting people get in the water as there is always the chance of predatory sharks following the dolphins. However, these shy spinners hung out way below us, giving us a tantalising glimpse of them, before they disappeared. Back on board the RIB we pointed to shore, only to be accompanied again by this pod. Hanging off the bow, I was whooping and whistling as they once again rode the waves and then, suddenly, in amongst the spinners, were two very large Bottle Nose Dolphins. Not to be outdone, they joined in on the fun and to our complete joy, one of the Bottle Nose Dolphins did the most splendid effortless jumps, three times in succession, right in front of our RIB. A perfect ending to a perfect dive!
Marsa Shagra and MY Seaflower - June 2005
by Charlie Stewart
Following on from my good fortune, in May, to have been on an Oonas promotional diving trip to Sharm el Sheik, and to have won another week on board Juliet, I now found myself at Gatwick airport, a month later, ready to depart on another promo trip. Waiting for us was the lovely Susanne from Oonas, complete with another group of diving instructors, masters, course directors and a photo journalist from Dive Magazine.
Our destination, this time, was The Southern Red Sea, with the flight landing at Marsa Alam. A short journey from the airport is the eco-village of Marsa Shagra. Here we were greeted by The Red Sea Diving Safari team. It was late and after a beer we settled into our accommodation, the Madyafa guest houses. These are built in a traditional domed, vaulted architectural style and are complete with en suite shower rooms. In keeping with the eco theme, the rooms are kept cool with fans rather than air conditioning. As with the last trip, I was very much aware that we were on a promotional trip and therefore fortunate to being put up in the best accommodation. There were two other types of accommodation being the smaller Mandarah lodges with shared shower facilities and finally the tents. The latter have prime position by the sea shore and offer an acceptable budget option.
After a good nights sleep, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the perfect elevated dining area overlooking the ocean. Down from here, by the shore, is the efficiently run dive kit area where we prepared ourselves for an equipment check and familiarisation dive, on the house reef. The dive proved to be an enjoyable 18m dive, whetting our appetite for the week ahead. Shagra is perfectly positioned benefiting from house reefs suitable for dive training, snorkelling and night diving.
As well as this, Red Sea Safari offer “truck diving” twice a day, to explore the sharms, marsas and reef walls along the coral coast. Although not the most comfortable mode of transport, there was a pioneering spirit as we bundled into the back of these flat bed trucks. None of the journeys were thankfully longer than 30 minutes as the hot Egyptian sun beat down on us. Sun block was the order of the day! One of our destinations was Marsa Abu Dabbab, famous for its seagrass and resident, but, in our case, very aloof Dogon. Not to disappoint, Green Sea Turtles allowed us to get up close and personal, as they munched their way through copious amounts of sea grass. Disappointingly, this area is heavily littered with plastic from the new grand holiday resorts being built all along this coast. (And as I write this report, some of the large Russian developers are blasting their way through the coral to make room for their idea of a beach. Lets hope the Egyptian authorities will put a stop to it, as their ecological programmes and awareness increase. They have just banned shark fishing! )
Back at Shagra, evenings were very relaxed, with the most superb food being served, after which most people drifted down to the beech hut for a few beers, coffee and shisha, accompanied by guitars and singers, all under great starry skies. Early starts are the order of the day as, 30 minutes off shore, is the magnificent Elphinestone Reef. With walls covered in soft coral, plunging down into 400m of ocean, Elphinstone offers challenging diving, never mind the sheer volume of divers who visit it each day. Dropping to 35m, over the crack at the “bottom end”, the reef looks like a giant ski slope. At this depth we had a few glimpses of Hammerheads and then slowly ascended over its coral surface to spot a Napoleon fish and Giant Moray swimming side by side, as well as my first glimpse of a Scribbled Filefish.
One of our three days at Shagra was spent on a day boat which took us to Dolphin House Reef. Although we didn’t spot the resident pod, we dived some spectacular canyons and swim throughs which, was only helping with my claustrophobic issues. I was pleased with my progress!
After three days at Shagra, we headed two hours south to Hamat where the splendid MY Seaflower, awaited us. This was to be our home for the next three days. Ahmed Fahim, the owner, greeted us on board and along with his crew, we set sail in the evening sunlight, into a huge swell. Seaflower is a powerful vessel with the cruising ability to comfortably reach the off shore reefs of The Brothers, Daedalus, as well as the lower reaches of The St John’s Reef Chain.
As Seaflower pitched and rolled, we all tottered around exploring our new facilities complete with air conditioned cabins and en suite shower rooms. Our overnight passage found us at Rocky and Zabargad Islands. Remote and surrounded by fringing reefs, we had this solitary site to ourselves. In the morning sunlight we could really appreciate how spacious the well equipped dive and kitting up deck were. We made four dives here, working our way along the lush coral walls, keeping an eye out for the larger pelagics and sharks in the blue. They proved to be rather elusive although we had several glimpses of hammerheads and grey sharks.
Our next destination was south west of here, to St John’s reef. Here we dived The Big and Little Habilis. In one of the dives, our dive guide hadn’t checked the current and after an arduous early morning “workout” we resurfaced with one of our more colourful dive instructors barking at the guide and reducing him to tears. The situation was somewhat diffused by a later excellent dive around the stunning pinnacle of Little Habili which was teeming with Surgeon Fish. And so unto St John’s Reef for another beautiful dive through the labyrinth of caves and channels in the purest ocean blue imaginable.
Although not a great lover of night dives, that evening I descended to twenty metres with Gavin from Dive Magazine, acting as light man and spotter. Hanging approximately 1.5 metres above him, my large torch illuminated any potential primadonnas. As well as a magnificent Spanish Dancer, I found a Giant Moray and a sleeping Napoleon Fish, safely nestling in the shelter of some coral. Throughout, we were accompanied by a frenzied pack of Lion Fish, taking fill advantage of our torch light and devouring anything they could fit in their mouths. After the dive I had a quick tutorial on Photoshop and enjoyed seeing the results of our dive on Gavin’s Mac.
On our last day we dived The Garden, El Malahi, Sha’ab Claude and Abu Galawa Saghira. All equally enjoyable and a great way to finish our short sojourn on Seaflower. The food was excellent and the crew, as ever with Egyptian liveaboards, had been amazing.
It was early evening, as we headed north back to Shagra. Everyone was tired and looking forward to their last evening at Shagra with a celebratory beer. That morning we had turned down an offer to go to a Bedouin evening, but half an hour into our weary journey, our minibus turned off the main road and parked up, facing the desert hills. Disgruntled we waited for the directors of the village to appear, and poor Susanne found herself with a dilemma; virtually no one wanted to venture on the half hour journey into the night time desert. As the enthusiastic directors arrived, Hasam from Red Sea Safari, convinced us that it would really be worth our while and reluctantly, we agreed. Night had fallen as we drove into Wadi el Gemal and a full moon hung over the desert hills and tented Bedouin Village. The directors, a lovely young couple from Cairo, who cared deeply for the desert and its culture, showed us a short informative film, from which we had a brief history of Egypt and this part of Africa, as well as its ecology system and tribes. From here we were led to a banqueting tent were we had a superb meal. Indeed it was a banquet which they had be cooking all day in our honour and all washed down with Hibiscus juice. We then met one of the local tribes who had travelled from their home, deeper in the desert. We even got to do a type of sword dance, as they played on extremely simple instruments. In fact everything about this evening and people had been simple and extremely generous; I dread to think of the insult, had we not accepted the offer to spend an hour of our time with them! Instead of tourist hell, Wadi el Gemal turned out to be a lovely informative escape into the Egyptian desert.
Back at Shagra, we celebrated a varied and excellent week, over a few beers. I had an early night as I left the group to their drinking. I was not flying home with them, the next day and couldn’t resist one more dive at Elphinstone the next morning. Although early - 6 am - the reef had at least fifteen liveaboards moored up and the dive proved to be busy. Back on shore, I shared my last breakfast with the group. After breakfast, Hasam and his team joined us together to get our views on Shagra and the facilities, as well as presenting us with baseball caps, XXL sweatshirts, XXL t-shirts and key rings.
After lunch I said my goodbyes to the group and went on one more truck dive which proved to be rather eventful. We were led into a very tight cave system, where eventually, I was in pitch black - not one other diver was in sight - with the walls touching either side of my body and not knowing which way to go. Turning round was not an option as there were other divers around behind me. I fought with every irrational thought of panic, knowing that the latter just wasn’t an option. I was quite simply in my worst phobia nightmare! Eventually the dive guide came back and hauled me out through an opening, cutting my arms and legs on on sharp pieces of coral. The other divers were wide eyed and clearly hadn’t had the best of experiences either. After the dive, as the guide tended to his own cuts and mine, he apologised for getting it wrong. All my progress around claustrophobia had been given a knock back!
That evening I joined the locals down at the beach hut, as music filled the air and the hubbly bubblies gurgled. Angelique, (a resident video maker) did an amazing fire poy dance against the starry Egyptian sky. As a new group settled down on the cushions in anticipation of their week I knew they would not be disappointed.
At 3 am I bundled into the back of my transport, for a four trip to the Hurghada ferry. The kind old Arabic driver turned round, smiled and said “you sleep”! I replied, “I sleep”. Clearly I have had another great trip with Oonas. Again the travel arrangements and facilities were top notch. I am proposing organising a group for June time next year and will post the details on the Events Page as soon as I can. I hope you can join me on this adventure to the magnificent Southern Red Sea.
Sharm el Sheikh and MY Juliet - May 2005
By Charlie Stewart (foreword by Neil)
Oonasdivers approached GLUG early in 2005, asking whether someone from GLUG would like a complimentary trip, to show off their recently refurbished Oonas Dive Resort at Sharm, as well as a refit on the M.Y.Juliet. The club decided to hold a sealed bids auction for the trip, with the proceeds going to GLUG’s nominated Charity, The Food Chain. Charlie bid £250, and won. This is his report:
With a winning bid, I had won myself a free diving trip with Oonas divers and set off on Saturday morning, 7th May, with Lydia, the Oonas rep, who just happened to be a local Hastings girl. ( How lucky was that; a lift to and from the airport! )
At Gatwick, I met up with the twelve others, who I would share the week with. Amongst them was a journalist from Dive Magazine, a marine biologist and the owners of various dive centres. All told, 10 men and three women.
We arrived at The Oonas Dive Club in Na’ama bay at around 9.30pm and were greeted by both the Oonas staff and the resort owners who treated us to a drink and supper,, after which we retired to our rooms. The facilities proved to be very adequate and clean for our three day stay there.
Over these three days we ventured out to the reefs on “Hooligan”. Again, a very adequate boat with ample space for us, as well as a spacious, well equipped dive deck. As one would might expect, from the Egyptians, help was always at hand, both for kitting up and for climbing back on board. A very fine lunch was prepared in the smallest galley I have ever seen with everyone slobbing out on the sun decks before the afternoon dive.
Amongst the sites dived over the three days, were Ras Caty, Ras Umm Sid, Ras Mohammed, Thomas and Gordon reefs, in the Tehran Straights. The Oonas dive guides were great, pointing out the usual array of coral and marine life that The Red Sea has to offer. Our daily dives were always celebrated with a welcome Sakara beer back at the Oonas Dive Club before getting ready for dinner. On the second evening, we were treated again, by the resort owner, Yasser, to a Moroccan banquet followed by a tacky tourist show. He was very excited by the show as we feigned interest!
So three days later, we found ourselves packing again and heading down to the port, to board the newly refurbished M Y Juliet. (I have paint on the ass of my new shortie wet suit to prove how recent the refurb was !) Containing 7 en-suite cabins, 2 twin berth, air-con cabins and a master suite, all containing TVs, video and telephones, Juliet proved to be a great boat. There were 3 sundecks, one of which is shaded and proved a big hit. The dive deck was very spacious with twin staircases leading to the dive platform.
Her main air-conditioned living area continues the airy, spacious theme and is equipped with TV, CD/DVD and stereo system. This is where we dined on a supreme banquet of food, and we were assured by Lydia that this would be the standard we would have on a normal live-aboard. The vegetarian options were very creative and enjoyed just as much, by us carnivores on board.
On the way out to our first dive we were greeted by a pod of languid Risso Dolphins. No bow riding for these guys; instead, they cruised slowly around and some even showed off their tails by hanging vertically upside down. We managed three dives each day with an optional night dive. Dun Raven, Small Crack, Shag Rock, The Thistlegorm and Jack Fish Alley were among the sites visited. There was great laughter on board when everyone celebrated my first ‘penetration’ on the Thistlegorm. I am slightly claustrophobic but with my dive guide, Stu, I managed to view some of the rooms and hulls, with an intact cargo of trucks, motorbikes and wellies as well as the steam locomotives blown clear like toys, when this huge ship was bombed during the war. What was equally captivating, were the shoals of Snapper, Barracuda, and Batfish teaming round the wreck. Just beautiful!
Our evenings were spent chilling out on board with the photographers viewing and sharing their pics of the day. The weather proved to be pretty breezy most of the time although Juliet proved to be a very stable vessel and sea sickness was minimal. However, the night time breeze was a tad on the nippy side. Star gazing and hanging out on the top decks required warm clothing.
On the last day, as we headed back to Na’ama Bay, a pod of spinner dolphins escorted us. As we were staying on board for our last evening, the skipper anchored off shore, sparing us the diesel fumes and noise of the jetties. It was party time! The staff joined us to receive a well deserved tip and to teach us Egyptian dancing. Yasser (the owner) was fetched from the shore on a rib. He was thanked for his hospitality and to all our surprise, he turned round and held a raffle for 2 people to win another week each on board, with just the flights to pay for. And yes, I was one of the 2 to win! Delighted with this, I have chosen to go back at the end of June, to see what I greatly missed this time, sharks.
On a personal note, there was absolutely no homophobia from my fellow travellers and indeed, by the third day the banter, was great and mutual. However, I found out on the flight home, that it was only on the final day, that Yasser found out from Lydia, who all the represented organisations were on board. GLUG came as quite a shock to him. He questioned how we might “fit in” on board. Lydia did a g
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