Diving the Red

Todays diving is one of those days that just HAS to be written about! To all you non divers out there who have no interest in the deep water please skip to the next Blog!

After my disastrous first dive in the Red Sea, things gradually picked up over the week. The second day of diving had me kitted out in well fitting wet suits and diving within the National Park.

Graceful red Spanish Dancers oscillated in front of us, pulsing polyp coral opened and closed its tiny 'hand' searching, finding and drawing in food from the surrounding water. 

A huge crown of thorns grazed its way through the towers of coloured coral while a Blue-spotted Stingray lay silently behind an outcrop. Lion fish cruised the depths in pairs,

a gigantic Black spotted puffer-fish looked warily at us as we passed, huge shoals of red hovering fish filled the caves we entered, a crocodile fish lay unmoving in the sand outside.

The water was still cold (22C) , the visibility poor but the abundance of life amazing. Our dives that day lasted 36 minutes and 30 minutes, any longer and I would have been too cold to have enjoyed them and so we returned to the hotel happy. That evening however we took the free bus into town and bought Peter some fins that fitted, size 11 with a 9inch width requirement was proving impossible to find aboard the boats and the poor boys were thrown into a panic every time they saw us. We came home that evening with a bag that bulged with new boots and strap on fins for Peter. I re-located his old booties in prepared anticipation of our next dive.

Our next day of diving began with a small hic-cup – no transport appeared at the designated time!

 In a way it did turn up, for we were greeted and acknowledged by our usual pick up guy, but because we were not on his list, we were left waiting while he phoned the main office to make new arrangements. An hour later we were still sitting on the step in front of the hotel waiting quietly as the heat of the day grew. We called George, our smiling price beating salesman, who quickly promised a taxi within the next 30 minutes. 20 minutes later we were whisked away by said taxi to Sharks Bay Beach not far from the hotel. Here we were handed fins and masks and escorted aboard a speed boat!!

As we hurtled our way across the rolling waves the dive boat came into view altering its direction to meet us. 

Royalty could not have recieved better service as sets of hands reached down to help us aboard, fingers reached down to take our bags, fins were handed over, strong hands and arms lifted us from our tiny craft and we were set for the day!

We waved goodbye to our personal lift, smiled at the wondering faces peering from the upper decks and set to work assembling our equipment. 

Two wet suits had been requested for me and two had been put in my box. Two Short Suits!! I queried the lack of a full suit – I would not dive without a full suit AND the short suit I informed the Instructor. 

A full suit was removed from another instructor and in a 7mm full suit plus a 3 mm short suit along with Peters old booties I hit the water.

True bliss!! Never have I felt quite so warm under the water, a total of 10mm wrapped around my body in 24C water and apart from a slight coldness in my head ( a hood has been requested for the next dive) I was in true heaven. 

Our instructor was in a wee bit of a rush as he headed off along our route, or maybe he has seen so much pulsating coral that it no longer holds any fascination for him, what ever the reason he soon rushed off into the distance with Peter kicking madly to follow. 

I grabbed Peters new fin just before he raced away and pulled him back. “Shanty, shanty,” I signalled, the instructor would soon come back once he realised we were not there. We dived slowly, looking and observing. The instructor did indeed return only to rush off again. I decided that he was simply fitter than us and one of his fin swipes took him 4 times the distance of one of ours. He got used to sitting in the water waiting for us as we nosed our way along the reef.

A tiny Ghost pipe fish nested in the lee of a mushroom leather coral. A huge Masked Butterfly Fish sailed past, shoals of tiny fish danced their rhythmic steps, turning first together, then crossing and merging, disappearing into the coral as we approached, re-emerging as we passed.

Everywhere we looked there was life. The visibility was still not good but in my warm encasing I did not mind. We dived for 40 minutes and I emerged smiling and muttering words of encouragement to the shivering Instructor wearing the short suit!

If the water is as warm as everyone keeps telling me then why do all the instructors wear a minimum 5mm, more usually 7mm full wet suits, with thick rash vests, hoods and boots!!!

I kept the wet suit on as we motored to the next dive site fully aware of covenant eyes that watched me pass. Our second dive of the day took place at Middle Garden near the shore. As we entered the water the noise was incredible. The sound of a jack hammer battered our ears, vibrated through our bodies. Thinking it was a miss functioning engine somewhere we began the dive hoping the captain would turn it off soon.

The noise continued, distracting us from the surroundings. The hammering vibrations intensified until the pulsating jolts could be felt inside every bone and deep within our chests. As we cleared a large outcrop of coral a sandy expanse came into view. There in the middle without a fish in sight was a work man with a jack hammer twice his size!! The noise now was deafening, did he have ear protectors I wondered? My whole body shuddered with each hammer hit to the sea bed. It is no wonder the dolphins moved away from the Irish sea when they began their oil explorations, my hearing was taking a beating and I had only been under the water for 30 minutes!

We gratefully returned to the boat, another day of unusual experiences completed.

Our fourth day of diving turned out to be the most adventurous of all out dives. We were to dive Gordon Reef again, an event we were mildly disappointed about as we had already dived this route twice. 

Our Dive Master suggested a drift dive instead of the usual circular route and we readily agreed. We ran through all the various scenarios and dives we could achieve dependant upon the current direction. We went over all the signals, pick up procedures and discussed what conditions we could expect.

At the reef the boat master informed our DM that the current was moving left to right and with a smile we dropped into the water. 5M below the surface we were whisked away by a current moving right to left. The three of us tried to swim against it but made only a tiny bit of headway. At one point all three of us stood still finning for all we were worth, the piece of coral below us unmoving.. Our DM instructed us to rest on the bottom while he surfaces to inform the boat of the new end location.

We dropped onto the sand between the coral, found hand holds and settled down to wait. And wait we did. We did not mind the passing time as the fish, aware that we were not moving, began to come to us curious to see what we were doing. All around us fish resumed their normal behaviour undisturbed by the few bubbles being swept away in the current. We did become a wee bit concerned after a good 5 to 10 minutes had passed and no DM returned but seeing how strong the current was we just figured it was taking him some time to find us again and so we waited alone with our fish at the bottom of the sea.

Eventually a yellow blur could be spotted in the distance, we swam quickly toward him and our group was together once more. We linked hands and thundered our way across the current in a diagonal direction before turning to ride the flow out to the left. We did not fin, we did not move a muscle, we just rode the rapid water enjoying the exhilaration of the speed and wondering where we would end up.

The current eventually slowed or more than likely we were thrown out of its path. We explored the reef seeing the biggest Emperor Angelfish I have ever seen and enjoyed the calmness after our tumultuous ride. Again fish filled the 'sky-line', corals pulsated beneath us and all too soon it was time to rise to the surface. I still had 120 bar after the 40 minute dive but both the DM, on his way to find us, and Peter had worked hard and were nearly out of air.

We surfaced far out to sea and well away from the dive boats. We began to head back in towards the reef but the surface winds and currents were having nothing to do with it. Huge 8 foot swells tipped and swallowed us up, hiding us from view while finning kept us in the same spot rather than moved us towards our boat or the reef.

It is times like this that you wish your DM had packed an inflatable marker or even had a loud whistle. He waved, he whistled with his mouth but the waves were huge, the wind was strong and after 15 minutes were were getting tired just finning to stay in the same place. I was reminded of the film Deep Blue and asked Peter if he remembered the film. It was not the most encouraging thing to say at this time he commented as the boat bobbed nearly a kilometre away in the opposite direction to the current and totally unaware or our DMs waving.

 

But the sun was hot, my wet suit was warm (a full 5mm under a short 3mm with booties) my BCD was full of air and I was content that it would not be dark for another 7 hours. We stopped finning so hard and just stayed together drifting slightly but in this swell I don't think it made much difference. Suddenly there was movement from the boat and it began its journey in our rough direction. Our DM waved more frantically and it turned to a more accurate setting, it had seen us. We relaxed and drifted freely as the huge boat powered down on us. It is amazing how big a hull looks when it is powering past less than 20foot away. I lazed on my back and was surprised to be hit sharply on the head by the thrown buoy attached to the pick up line – you can't fault their accuracy I suppose!!

Despite the huge swells, the racing current, the fact that we had nearly been lost in the vast Red Sea, the crew still stood patiently as I removed all my equipment in the water. I have learnt from experience that I simple can not heave myself plus BCD up a ladder in even the best circumstances. To achieve the climb with a 10kg weight belt in huge swells with a rocking ladder was impossible for me, so my ever patient DM took my weights, unclipped my BCD and waited while I heaved myself slowly up the ladder.

I do not understand Arabic but I do understand body language and it was not a happy reunion for our DM. Voices were raised, arms were waved, he dropped his BCD to the floor in an angry manner and disappeared only to reappear 10 minutes later with a cigarette and looking a wee bit calmer.

I stood on the back of the boat buzzing with adrenaline as we powered our way through the troughs and swells to the next dive site. The intro dives would take place here after lunch had been served and Peter and I would do our second dive of the day. As we rocked in the shelter of the cove letting our food settle, we discussed our various dive experiences with Islam our 24 year old DM. 84 minutes had been his longest dive, 76 had been mine. He used 150 bar an hour on a good dive, I used 100 bar and so the conversation continued.

We kitted up for our final dive of the day and dropped below the surface. Our dive was wonderful. No current to speak of, slow and relaxed, our fins moved in small movements more for direction than speed. 

A beautiful Lion fish clung beneath a coral overhang, in the next clearing an even bigger one glided down the coral wall and over the sand. I stopped all movement hanging suspended as it passed within 4 foot of my mask. The magnification of the water making it appear much much closer. Not a fin nor spine moved, no twitch of a tail, not even a rotation of an eye could be detected as it sailed past like a galleon in full sail.

Further on an octopus moulded itself to a rock changing colour as I approached. I called Peter back to see, signalling to Islam as I did. Together we gathered around the soft body noticing all the changing patterns as it worked it way up the rock only to shoot back down and into a hole as it realised we were there.

At a clearing Islam turned to lie on his back in the sand blowing bubble rings as he relaxed. I followed suit but mine were not as impressive as his. Kris still blows the best bubble rings I have ever seen though and this is not a mothers bias opinion, even his fellow dive instructors sing his praises and photos of his achievements eventually appear in the advertising of every place he has worked in!!!! Isn't it nice to have hidden talents no matter how unusual!!

There was no bone vibrating noise as we dived, a new mooring now lay anchored to the spot where our jackhammered workman had cleared the area of all the fish (and divers) two days before. The fish had also returned although there were few around the new site. A purple jelly fish hovered 3 inches above the sand and I amazed myself by being able to hover level 6 inches above the sand and follow its movement without disturbing it or the sand beneath me.

Peter reached 70bar and began to share our DMs supply. Another huge Lion Fish was spotted on the coral. Fan-fish, striped red and white, pulled in their umbrella spokes when we came to close. At first I thought it was another Loin fish so graceful were the delicate flat striped fronds that waved fractionally between the rocks. Their spontaneous withdrawal revealed a tiny tube opening and no matter how long I waited they did not reappear!

Islam asked how much air I had left, I was still on 130 bar. He signalled OK and the dive continued. At 110Bar he asked me to share my air with Peter, reserving what he had left for himself. We began to climb still swimming, still looking. Tiny iridescent jelly fish could be seen around. We settled for our 5m stop and the more I looked the more of these tiny iridescent shapes came into focus. I raised a finger to point at one but it shot of with a speed I had not anticipated. Larger jelly fish floated near the surface but my tiny shimmering ones were more beautiful.

With our three minutes over, we surfaced right beside the steps of the boat. This time I did not need to understand Arabic to know we were late! People looked at their watches, pointed to the sun, engines were started, moorings cast off and we were moving before Islam had fully climbed aboard.

57 minutes, the longest dive we had had since we had arrived. The water temperature was rising each day. I was getting more acclimatised each time we dived plus the wet suits I was wearing were getting better and thicker each day! The visibility had also cleared giving us wonderful views over drop off's and along lanes of coral teaming with fish and life.

We booked a final two dives as soon as we got back to the hotel. What had begun as a huge diving disappointment with cold waters, poor visibility and bad fitting equipment had transformed itself into a dive experience not to be missed.

Today I dived the Red Sea, with her currents, her waves, her rocks and her life force all gathered around. I had been truly blessed with what has to be some of the best diving I have experienced to date. I look forward to the rest of my life diving around the world and will never judge a country on its first dive again!

Thank you to my Dive Instructors for the use of their underwater photographs xxxx

Eat!! In Egypt

If India was my Pray part of the voyage and New Zealand and Moorea with Peter was the Love part then Egypt All Inclusive just Has to be the Eat part!!

Having arrived in the UK on March 21^st , Peter, the children and I flew out 2 days later for a 2 week family all inclusive holiday in Egypt. The sun did its very best to shine through the early morning mist as we left the country but with an outside temperature of minus numbers we were glad of the superb heating system of the new Mini bus!

Our arrival in Sharm El Sheik was greeted by sun, not the overwhelming intense sun of the Pacific but defiantly warmer than the UK sun. A quick Taxi ride, that reduced itself in price with every new offer we received as we walked from departures took us to our hotel and taught us Lesson 1 in Egypt – never take the first offer you receive as there are at least 4 other guys around who will do it cheaper!

The Three Corners Hotel in Palmyra is huge, as are most of the tourist built resorts near the coast and is spread out over what must be 5 acres of desert.

The grounds are immaculate and artistically designed with bridges, arches, walkways,

hidden corners, numerous pools that drift from area to area and two pools that are even heated. 

 

There are slides that defy gravity,

allowing you to hurl yourself from the highest roof top down an open tube that dips and rises, curves and twists until.........

it empties you into the small pool with a splash that can reach the bushes if you are good enough!

 

 There is a pool bar,

table tennis table under shaded canopies,

 a dart board in the sun, 

 

organised activities available all day 

and evening and then there is the food!

Each morning as the guests sleep an army of chefs and cooks chop and sizzle, 

carving and moulding the days extravaganza into creation. 

While the pool boys clean out the pools,

towel boys lay out the complimentary towels, 

in various ways,

gardeners brush, sweep, clip and clear, 

inside the hot kitchen master-pieces are made.

At 7am the doors are flung open, boys in immaculate dress and with beaming smiles greet you. 

Tables await, laid with red and while table cloths, condiments and napkins wrapped around shining cutlery.

As the guest your only duty is to walk along the four cold counters gazing at the glazed croissants, the Danish pastries, chocolate dribbled coverings on mouth watering delicacies all catching the morning light. 

There is freshly sliced cheese, hams and meats. Salads and fruit await as does piles of butter, jams, marmalades and hot fresh toast.

A separate hot counter displays crispy topped creamed potatoes which lie next to a huge tray of grilled tomatoes topped with mozzarella cheese, over sized harricot beans swim in a home made tomato sauce, sliced sausage and scrambled eggs await the meat eaters. Teas, coffees, cold and hot milk lie along one wall, cereals, yoghurt, muslies along another. 

Fresh juice of mango, pineapple and a strawberry syrup turn slowly in their chilled dispensers.

At the far end of the room , next to a mountainous assortment of bread rolls, wait two immaculately dressed smiling chefs who will mix and cook your personal requirements into an omelet or a combination of ingredients that resemble an omelet while you wait. 

Eggs are mixed with the range of ingredients chosen from the display, a hot plate sizzles as the mixture is poured into a tight circle while spatulas guide and mould the perfectly round combination into your breakfast, which is then scooped up and deposited onto your plate with a flourish and a smile.

The dining area spreads out around the central display, seats can also be found outside in the morning sun, waiters hover discreetly, clearing plates as they empty, allowing seconds or even thirds to be obtained on clean plates with out the guilt of accumulated dishes. Glasses are refilled or removed, favourite drinks remembered and served with pride and a wink.

These boys work 12 hours a day for about £80 a month. Their lively hood is dependant upon tips from satisfied customers. Yet at no time do you feel duty bound or pressurised into tipping. Their service is attentive and superb whether there is a tip waiting at the end or simply a pleasant Thank You as we leave.

Lunch is served in the same way with shredded salads, hummus, sliced eggs, feta, peppers, dressings and cheeses replacing the croissants. 

   

Jacket potatoes, steamed vegetables, fish, rice, and meats await in the hot counter. Pizza and chips wait for those who desire. Beer is now available as is wine spirits and fruit juice.

As evening aproaches people dress for dinner. Once more foods in rich sauces await near kettles of various soups. 

There are salad that can be made into starters or side dishes, rices, oriental potatoes, veal, turkey, beef, fish all displayed and replenished by the army of smartly dresses attendants and chefs.

Desserts are now the highlight of the evening with filigree nets of sugar spun into designs of sail boats and decorative curves. 

 

Chocolate carvings adorn plates of cakes, bowls of mousse, trays of pastries. Fresh fruit is piled high, coffee lies steaming to one side.

Three course meals have become the norm over the past week and diets will be resumed after the feast has ended.

Egypt has proved to be a country of quite diversity. Fellow guests come from Poland, Russia, Swansea, Leeds, France, Spain and Belgium to name a few. The languages spoken around us have us guessing for hours a persons country yet most of the staff speak more than two languages, Arabic and English are fluent with everyone we have met and most can speak French, German and Spanish!

Over the years Arabic people have accumulated some unfavourable publicity around the world but our experience so far has been rewarded by overwhelming hospitality , service of outstanding quality and smiles that beam across faces like the sun shine overhead. 

Admittedly everyone we have met so far has either been an employee of the Hotel, a shop keeper or someone else who would wish to part us from our money but that is the same the world over.

Our only not quite as favourable experience had been with the diving!!

Diving in the Red Sea is suppose to be one of THE things to do in ones life time (if you are a diver that is!). We booked our 4 days of diving plus an introduction dive for Cian and a refresher dive for Jec through George a charming young man who chatted for hours negotiating prices and terms as we sat by the pool one day. (Our first price was easily beaten by George!)

On Wednesday at the designated time we stepped into a mini bus along with 2 other people from the hotel who were going snorkelling on the same boat. We stopped at 3 other hotels waiting patiently in the sun drenched bus as others. Who were not so accurate in their time keeping, were ushered from their rooms to join the patiently waiting excursion!

At the docks 60 or 70 people jostled their way around a counter, while Arabic boys yelled instructions and tried to arrange the milling crowd. “Divers this way. Do you have your fins? OK then go there first!” We milled along with the growing crowd, fins were found, swapped for bigger sizes, matched and miss matched before we were hustled down to the equipment room. 

Here two boys looked at us and assigned wetsuits and BCDs, regulators and weight belts (without the weights) into boxes for us. Their eyes and estimations were not as accurate as they should or if they had taken their time could have been and I questioned the Large BCD jacket thrown into my box!! They had no small so an extra small was put in instead. 

A wet suit was handed to Peter and his doubt with regards to it fitting was voiced, “No Problem” we were told, “There are spares on the boat!”. A wet suit that looked too big for me was added to my box and we were off! We felt rushed and very unsure of what the end result of all this rushed estimation would be. We walked to the boat and lined up with the huge crowd awaiting the security check out of the country and onto the Red Sea.  

Ten boats bobbed on the jetty beyond the gates, people roamed everywhere, masks, life jackets, snorkels and dive equipment bumped along next to bags, hats and sun screen until we found our boat and stepped aboard.

The boat itself was wonderful. Clean, well furnished, and nicely set out. Large seats with soft cushions awaited on the upper decks, a high roof sheltered large areas from the direct sun. People settled, applied their sun blocks and waited until our final passengers had cleared the security checks and were aboard.

As we slowly left the jetty the boat briefing was given, clear and informative, covering all aspects of the boat and the routine of the day.

Our instructor came over to meet us, he explained the plan for the day and with a much more relaxed attitude we settled back and enjoyed the ride out to the first dive site.

Kitting up was completed, with a bit of alterations on Peters part as the wet suit that Peter had had his doubts about did indeed prove to be too small – by about a foot!! 

A short suit was found amongst the spare suits and he was fine! 

I was handed two suits, one shorty and the large full suit I had been given from the store. Both were too big but I figured they would do. 

Weights of enormous proportions were issued, 8KG for me and 12KG for Peter, In Moorea I had dived with 3KG and 2 suits, but the salt content of the Red Sea makes buoyancy a problem and with belts we could barley walk in we approached the edge of the boat.

The initial shock of 15 degree water did not wear off as I expected it too. Water poured into the over large wet suit chilling me to the bone. 

Determined to overcome what at the time I felt was just my bodies need to readjust to cooler water I sank below the surface with Peter, Leanne and our instructor and began the dive.

The visibility was bad, 10m at the most. Cold water continued to rush into my suit chilling me more and more. 

 My mask filled with water repeatedly and while the camera man clicked away with his camera to make a 'memorable souvenir', I struggled on.

Within 20 minutes I was shivering so badly I was unable to concentrate on the things around me, after 30 minutes I had stopped breathing correctly, my breaths were a mixture of shivering gasps and held breath as I tried to control the shaking of my limbs.

I reached out to touch Peter but the cold water that rushed through the wet suit shocked me once more and I returned to simple hugging my body to reserve what little heat I had left.

After 40 minutes the dive was over, I reached the surface with relief and then hysteria. Tears began to fall, I couldn't move my hands, my feet felt numb.

I removed my equipment in the water unable to pass it up to the boat forcing Jec and Cian to reached down to take it from me. 

As I climbed out of the water the wetsuit emptied the last molecule of heat I had left onto the deck and I began to shake uncontrollably. 

Tears now poured from my eyes, my breath came in ragged convulsions, the wet suits were stripped from my body by hands I could not see and I was placed in the sun. 

A cup of hot water was handed to me but I was shaking too much to hold it.

Being cold is one thing, re-heating a excessively chilled body is something else. Pain coursed through my fingers, muscles jerked uncontrollably, lungs searched for breath fighting for a rythym against the convulsions of my chest. 

Never have I been so so cold!

By the time I could walk 20 minutes had passed. 

Cian by now had done his dive and loved it.

Jec had had problems with his ears again and had aborted the dive. His short diving career was over. 

I tried to locate my equipment as I had no idea where my stuff had gone and neither did anyone else. 

Bits were located and reassemble but my mask was missing and was never found. I sat in the sun and tried to forget about everything!

At the next dive site I refused to go in without some better fitting wet suits. We had paid for 8 dives each over four days and I was determined to do them but with equipment that fitted! 

Cians wet suit was removed from him and handed to me. It fitted better but was still not tight. One of the small snorkelling instructors handed me his suit. It fitted like a glove even though it was frayed around the edges and torn on the leg. I entered the water again. This time the cold hit my face and hands but my torso remained relativity dry.

Once more the visibility was poor but I was able to look around. Soft living coral surrounded me swaying in the current. Fish similar to Moorea swam past as we floated with the current. 

A spotted Ray hid quietly behind an outcrop and the biggest Giant Moray Peter had ever seen swam across a patch of reef and then peeped his head out of a hole in true Moray style.

I was cold but it was bearable. Having upgraded my diving experiences from the Med to the Canaries, then to Asia and finally to the Pacific , this diving was definitely a step back in the comfort zone of diving. But I had done it. I had dived the Red Sea and as I climbed aboard after the 40 minute drift dive I was cold but able to speak, able to move and happy with what I had seen.

Back at the hotel however Peter went straight to see George! Rushed service and poor fitting equipment had nearly ruined our day. If we had been doing just one day of diving I would probably have never returned again. We changed the date of our second day of dives electing to have a day of sun and heat between each dive day to try to forget the painful cold of the water. George agreed and said he would sort out better fitting equipment for us ready for the following dives.

I sat for 15 minutes in a piping hot bath that evening, letting the heat infuse its way through my body. We dined slightly subdued in the Great Dining Room, smells and delights of the previous days failing to arouse us from our fatigue. We were in bed by 9pm, in warm beds, with quilts and soft pillows and as we drifted off to sleep I tried very hard to forget the frightening experience of heat depletion, the panic of not being able to breath properly and the bitter bitter cold of the Red Sea!!

I dive in 29C water wearing a 5mm full suit plus a short 3mm! I will complete my diving here but then I plan to upgrade to Bali next year!!