Sharm El Sheikh, Red Sea
February 4 - 11, 2000
Author: Adey Roberts

The seven of us set off from Manchester for Gatwick about 4am. We got there with no hold ups, even on the M25, we just missed the rush hour! We managed to get through check-in with no problems, even with Rick's re-breather kit weighing in at over 40Kg, they didn't even sting us for any excess baggage charge. The flight with Air 2000 was good, the flight wasn't full, so we managed to spread out a little and catch up on some sleep. We arrived at Sharm El Sheikh Airport about 7pm local time, which is two hours ahead of UK time. Once the visas were sorted out we got to the hotel by coach, only about ten minutes ride. The hotel (Ocean Sands in Namma Bay) was clean and tidy and the rooms were a good size. After an initial confusion at reception as to who was in what room, and after leaving reception we sorted it out ourselves. We then unpacked and hit the town for the night, for something to eat and drink.

Day 1
After the registration at the dive centre, which conveniently, was in the hotel, and kit sorting, under clear blue skies, we strolled down to the jetty at Namma bay, about 5 minutes from our hotel, and boarded our boat for the week, the Gazzalla 2, an 18m ex live aboard.  After a short while we were off to our first dive site, Ras Catty. We kitted up on route, and had the dive brief from Lynn our guide for the week.

A nice easy dive to 16m. In water of 21 degrees we had viz to 20m(not quite as good as last year, but better than Capernwray). During the dive we saw a Blue spotted Stingray and lots of Lionfish amongst all the soft and hard corals.

We then sailed to our second site of the day, Near Garden, where we moored up and had lunch, before the dive. Again a nice easy dive to 15m, with lots of marine life to look at. Then it was back to Namma bay jetty.

In the evening, it was decided to eat in the hotel, and partake in the Mongolian barbecue, which was eat as much as you like for about £7. Rick waring broke the hotel record, we think, by going back and refilling his bowl 5 times! We then had a few scoops to round a good day off.

Day 2
A three-dive day. White knight in the morning, down to 25m through a canyon and a slight cave, again good viz, we visited the eel garden where as you approach you can see all the garden eels start to disappear in to their holes. We then swam to a beautiful coral garden where we spent the remainder of the dive.
Dive 2 was at Far Garden, where upon entering the water I looked down and straight away saw a small white tip reef shark of about 1 to 1 1/2m. Also on this dive we saw giant moray plus all the now regular reef visitors, including quite a few human ones.
Dive 3 was a night dive, the first any of us had done in the Red Sea. We had waited on the boat in the harbour whilst new cylinders were loaded, and those not partaking in the night dive disembarked. As dusk drew in, we set sail for the dive site, Near Garden, which was a short sail away. As we sailed we were treated to a beautiful Egyptian sunset over the Sinai mountains and desert. We had dived the site the previous day, but at night it was totally different. It seemed as though all the Parrotfish in the Red Sea had congregated in the Garden for the night. They were everywhere. The reef was beautiful at night, with all manor of marine life coming out to see the strange beings with torches invading their habitat. I looked in one quite large hole to see the side of a green/blue fish, well, part of the fish, what ever it was (possibly a very large Napoleon Wrasse) it was huge!!! We were also fortunate enough to see a free swimming yellow mouth moray, but not fortunate enough to see the white tip reef shark swimming close by, which had been spotted by a couple of other divers near us. The dive was spoken about all the way back to the harbour, and into the apes dive.

Day 3
Again a three-dive day for some of us. We sailed to an area known as The Straights of Tiran, past the stranded wreck on top of Gordon's reef, and to our first site of the day on Jackson's reef. Again this reef has the remains of a wreck visible on the reef table. As we descended to 28m down a wall, which drops off to about 80m we had the company of a large Napoleon Wrasse. Back up shallower, from about 15m upwards, we were rewarded with what was probably one of the best dives some of us had ever done on a reef, for variety of marine life. We were joined by a giant turtle, which appeared unfazed by our presence, and carried on feeding on the colourful soft corals. Clown fish darted in and out of their anemone homes, and giant morays sat half out of their holes watching us pass. We were then accompanied back to the boat by the turtle, which had come up for air. It was so good in fact that we made our second dive of the day on this reef, this time taking a different route, and being somewhat disappointed after the fist dive, although it was a reasonable dive in its own right. The third dive was at a site on the way back called Ras Gharmilla. This was a slow drift dive, through small coral heads; we spotted a good scorpion fish on this dive, which took some finding. Following something to eat and drink, we relaxed in a couple of bars and the hit the sac looking forward to the next days diving.

Day 4
Ras Mohammed national park boasts some of the best dive sites in the Red Sea. This morning we were due to dive one of them, Shark & Jolanda reef, the latter named after a ship that was wrecked on the reek in 1980, and now lies at the bottom of the reef in about 900m. I dived this site twice last year, and have never seen such great shoals of large fish such as Barracuda and Jacks. This year however was a slightly different story, the viz was down to 15 - 20m, and we were against quite a strong current at the start of the dive, so had to stay off the wall, missing the best of Shark reef. Once on Jolanda reef, the current had dropped significantly, and the dive became more enjoyable with better viz. Around the remaining wreckage of the Jolanda were numerous blue spotted stingrays and puffer fish. The cargo the Jolanda was carrying at the time of her sinking gives this reef it's, other name "Bog reef", it was carrying a large consignment of toilets, which now litter the dive site.

Dive two of he day was also in the Ras Mohammed area and is known locally as Jackfish Alley, although it's real name is Fisherman's Bank. At 6m there is a small cave, the entrance to which was guarded by a giant moray. We quickly explored the cave, and moved on to a second cave system slightly deeper, and slightly larger, which is home to thousands of glassfish. Once out of the caves, we explored several large coral heads, which are home to many forms of marine life. This is where I spotted the fish I had been looking for all week, the illusive Crocodile fish.

We were then picked up by the boat and headed back to Namma Bay, where after eating an early night was in order as we had an early start the next day.

Day 5
The alarm went off at 3.30am, and everyone arose in a slight stupor. We had changed boat for this trip; we were now on the Delfinus. Once on board we all found our own little place and grabbed a couple or hours sleep, while we sailed to the site of our final days diving, the famous wreck discovered by Jacques Cousteau, The Thistlegorm. Having dived on her twice before, I was still excited about getting on this wreck again, knowing that this time, I was going down with a twin set, thus having longer to explore. I had made arrangements prior to leaving the UK for the twin sets for Gary and myself, for which the extra charge was paid in sausages and bacon, as these are in short supply in Egypt. We had talked the dive guide into letting Gary, Rick and myself dive together, as we intended staying down a little longer and hitting about 10 minutes deco.

The Thistlegorm was a WWII British supply ship, laden with war supplies for the North African army. She was laid at anchor over night together with several other ships, when a lone German bomber, which had been searching for a British cruiser reported to be in the area, spotted her. Unfortunately for The Thistlegorm, the bomber had not found its target and spotted her under the full moon. Two bombs were dropped, both of which hit hold 4. Unfortunately hold 4 was the munitions hold, and the Thistlegorm lay upright at 30m of water within 3 minutes with the loss of nine lives. She is virtually fully in tact apart from hold 4. The roof was blown off part of the bridge and the funnel has since been knocked over by passing ships over the years. The seabed is littered with debris, including various size shells, Bren gun carriers and locomotive engines. The deck guns are still in place on the twisted stern and the single propeller is clearly visible. We ended up with 11 minutes deco on the first dive, in a very strong current. We hung onto the shot line like flags, following a very enjoyable dive.

The second dive was a full-length penetration dive of the cargo holds following another look at the rear deck gun and stern. This time the current had dropped, and visibility had increased, making the large shoals of barracuda and Jacks visible. We ended up with 16 minutes of deco on this dive, and I am already looking forward to the next time I get to dive this underwater WWII museum.

Days 6 & 7
The next two days were leisure days, the first we spent on a private beach, which we eventually found after a taxi ride and long walk. The weather this day was not too good, it was dry, but a little cloudy and windy. The beach was excellent for snorkelling, so quite a bit of time was spent swimming around the reef, which is easily accessible from the beach. The evening was spent around the town. The final day was spent around the pool in glorious sunshine. Gary, Bill and myself took two hours off from the sunbathing and headed out into the desert on quad bikes, fortunately with a guide. During the trip we stopped off at a couple of Bedouin tents for liquid refreshments. There wasn't a cloud in the skies, and this rounded off a brilliant week. It was then off to the airport and home! The cost of the trip was £299, including five days boat diving. There are extras to pay for such things as extra dives, night dives and the Thistlegorm trip. I will be arranging another trip to the Red Sea again next February.

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