Even though we both loved working for
Huw and Wil at Aquasport Taba, crossing the border every day and
the irregularity of staff transport plus the high cost of living
in Eilat, we decided it was time to move on again in the endless
search for our perfect location. So the natural progression was
down the Egyptian part of the Sinai and into the Red Sea proper!
Having arranged our one month Sinai pass in the Egyptian consulate
in Eilat off we headed to Tarabin, about 60km down the coast to
a dive shop called Sinai Dolphin Divers, and hopefully to a job
that Huw had sorted out for us with an old employee called Samer
who was now running his own dive shop.
After a reasonably trouble free journey
we arrived at The Nakhil Inn, where the dive shop is located.
After an introduction and a quick view of the dive shop (all brand
new equipment) we were shown to our supplied accommodation, a "housha"
(straw hut!) on the roof of one of the local hotels! Tracy got
her first student the same day, a German girl called Anna who
wanted to do Open Water AND Advanced, so it was straight into
work. The next day after a very uncomfortable, hot night in our
housha, Tracy began teaching and Terry learned the dive sites and
ran around all the local dive shops scrounging teaching materials
as Samer was not yet up and running fully!
We ended up staying in Tarabin for 2 months
with a steady flow of work and trying to make a go of Samer's
new business for him as he seemed to have very little business
acumen! In that time we moved from our housha to a lovely air
conditioned room in the Nakhil Inn thanks to it's owner (another
Samer with a bit business sense). We ate at the Sababa Camp restaurant,
run by Sabri, as he gave us a 50% discount. We made many friends
in Tarabin, some of which were our customers, in particular, Bob
and Saskia, Anna and Alisha, Yossi Oldak, Dog and John to name
but a few. There was also Dessie and Corinna who worked at La
Sirene Dive Centre in Nuweiba training to be DM's who Tracy was
glad for company in the mostly male populated area. Terry befriended
two German guys Mike and Thomas who were working at the Helnan
hotels' Dive Camp Nuweiba. One particular day the three of them
took a day off and went to Dahab. They returned that evening having
dived the famous "Canyon" to 50m and the "Bells
/ Blue Hole" to 30m! If it wasn't for Mike and Thomas showing
Terry the way he would never had got Tracy to go 2 days later!!!
Eventually we left Tarabin as, due mostly
to the troubles that were brewing in the Middle East, the worked
began to dry up. We did leave having made quite a bit of money
though, mainly doing countless intro dives for a Dutch tour company
called Djoser, and so decided to have a little holiday.... diving
on a live aboard, but as customers this time!! We shared a taxi
with John, originally a customer and now a friend, to Dahab first
(what a horrid place). Terry got ill from the local cuisine but
we did the Canyon thing , then said goodbye to John and headed
down to Sharm El Sheik to do the live aboard which we arranged
through Lighthouse Divers of Dahab. The Boat was beautiful but
the staff on board were useless, we were taken to a lot of 'dead'
dive sites which was very disappointing. Having said that, The
Thistlegorm which we dived on our own was amazing as was the rip
of the current at Shag Rock with it's breathtaking reef, but more
info on the dives sites in the DIVING section below....
Holiday over, we head back up to Taba
and work for Huw and Wil again at Aquasport, just to help out
during an Israeli holiday period (Yom Kippur). This time we slept
on a mattress in the back of the dive shop - various safety measures
had to be taken to protect Tracy's honour from the prying eyes
of the Egyptian staff who also stayed there! Then, after 3 weeks
it was back to Eilat where a woman can wear shorts and a T-shirt
without fear of being gawped at and the men can have a decent
pint of Guinness. Is Israel the only civilised country in the
Middle East? It would appear so! Top
TARABIN DIVE SITES:
Magana:
Not only is this a nice place to dive
but it has a great restaurant with friendly staff and nice housha's
(if you wanted to stay there), right on the beach. It also has
the only fresh water showers around! A typical days diving would
be as follows: Set up the gear on the beach (there is a large
covered area) and kit up in the water - it's all shore dives.
First dive, you follow the reef to the left and drop down through
a swim through at 24m. Follow the reef along then follow round
to the left up a canyon and work your way back along the shallows
to the entry/exit point. Not a great amount of fish on this reef
but unusual coral formations and it is easy to navigate and suitable
for beginners.
Set the gear up ready for the second dive,
then go and have a bite to eat and a good surface interval in
the restaurant. The Special Pancake and Sahlab are definitely
worth trying!
Second dive, follow the reef to the right!
It is a much shallower dive and it's nice to weave back and forth
along various parts of the outer and inner reef. There are a lot
more fish on this dive including the odd Leopard Ray, Giant Barracuda
and Carpet Flatheads if you look closely not to mention a plethora
of Morays, Angelfish, and the usual colourful reef fishes. As
a good part of this reef runs around 5-6m it is also good for
snorkellers. Top
House Reef/M.F.O:
Different dive shops in Nuweiba/Tarabin
have different names for this site. Emperor Divers at the Nuweiba
Hilton call it the House Reef as it is a short walk from their
shop - as Samer used to work there, that is the name he uses.
It's a remote site (from anywhere but the Hilton) off a sandy
beach (Dive Camp Nuweiba at the Helnan Hotel do go there by boat).
Terry dived this site 2 different ways depending on the divers'
experience. The easy way is to go descend straight down in about
2m , hit the reef at 5m then follow the slope down to 27m to a
giant Gorgonian Sea Fan. Cut back across to the left then down
the reef to 34m where you find a concrete block with chains attached
going up to 7m to a submerged buoy. The blocks are home to Lionfish
and Scorpion fish and the chain is covered with colourful soft
corals and circled by a school of Glass fish, Emperor Angelfish
and the odd turtle. From there, ascend the reef to 26m where you
will find a Black Coral Tree which hosts a couple of resident
Frogfish. Ascend the reef to 10-12m then safety stop on the reef
at 5m where you are spoiled for choice with the array of fish
of all shapes and sizes. An alternative way to dive this site
(and Terry's favourite) is to do a leisurely surface swim out
to the submerged buoy (usually easy to find). Descend to the buoy
for a quick look around then free fall down the chain to 34m and
do the dive in reverse!
M.F.O/Pipeline: Also known by different names by different dive
shops. We knew it as M.F.O. A hard site to find as it is down
a sand slope with no natural references so it is always best to
dive this one with a guide. Drop down the slope and bottom out
around 20m. Loads of Lionfish and Undulate Morays - go into the
centre of the reef (all of which is visible on a clear day) to
a coral strewn rock which has various fissures through it and
a very small passage through it which is usually blocked by a
school of glass fish and Lionfish. The rock itself is covered
with soft corals, a variety of puffers and if you look out into
the sand you can usually find a ray or two - Terry was even joined
once by the famous Nuweiba Dolphin! Safety stop unfortunately
only in sand and grass but keep a lookout for the rays to pass
the time. Top
Ras El Shatan (Devils
Head):
Terry's least favourite dive site, not
because of the diving which is excellent but because of the bad
service and inflated prices of the restaurant - sometimes they
even try to charge you 5 Egyptian pounds each to dive there.. bloody
cheek! As with Magana, it is good for 2 dive sites, the deep site
is on the right this time where it is easy to hit 40m and still
have things to see. The prettier side however is the left side
and it's fairly shallow at a maximum 15m. Simply follow the reef
out on your left to 100 bar then back on your right. Loads of
Surgeonfish, Unicorn fish, morays (look closely in the shallows
for a pair of Snowflake Morays). Great dive for all levels of
diver - if you are diving later in the day , look out for Lionfish
which swim around the entry/exit point and also the sand becomes
alive with long spined sea urchins, so careful where you tread! Top
Ras Abu Galum:
About 3 hours drive from Nuweiba in a
Bedouin Jeep (in other words 3 hours in the back of a clapped
out old Toyota Land Cruiser hitting every pot hole on the way).
Through a couple of army check points and you are there. Usually
kit up on the waters edge then down you go, literally, no slope
here, just straight down to 200m So if you haven't dived for a
while, do an easier site the day before so you can be sure of
your buoyancy control! This probably was a nice site once, but
now it is covered in litter as it's in a natural cove, and there
are not many fish. Saying that, the drop off is quite spectacular.
Lunch is cooked for you by your Bedouin driver before you drive
about 11km to another dive site still regarded as Ras Abu Galum,
but far, far prettier with much more marine life and makes up
for the disappointment of the first dive. Then it's the bone shaking
drive home. This is what is romantically known as a "Dive
Safari" - so beware!. Top
Ras Mamlah:
Same road journey from Nuweiba as for
Ras Abu Galum, but only half the distance to reef split in two
with once again a massive drop off. The way to do it is dive the
left side as a deep dive, loads of Gorgonian fans and glass fish
to greet you, then back into the shallows for all the usual reef
fish in great abundance. Then lunch, (we were treated to deep
fried Coral Grouper and rice (very tasty)). Next dive, follow
your way out at 90 degrees to the shoreline as per the first dive
but when you get to the edge of the drop off, stay shallow and
follow the wall, then cut back across the sand where there are
hundreds of table corals and quite a few rays of various shapes
and sizes. Finish in the shallow entrance and enjoy the view.
Short drive back to Tarabin. Personally, Terry thinks this is
the better of the dive safaris offered in Tarabin. Top
DAHAB DIVING:
The only reason we dived in Dahab is because all our customers
asked about "The Canyon" and "The Blue Hole"
and we couldn't give then an honest answer, but now we have, we
can say "over rated" (especially the Blue Hole)
The Canyon
Having said that, the dive we did in The
Canyon was great but that was because Terry had already dived
it with Mike and Thomas. We dived it on our own with no other
divers around until we came up into the shallows to do our safety
stop. If you dive in a group (which you will have to if you are
not a DM or instructor as they will not hire tanks to you), you
will get taken to about 30m or so along with the other hundreds
of divers that day. So if you are qualified, kit up on the beach
and drop into the lagoon (definitely need booties and open healed
fins for the walk to the lagoon!). Come up shallow over a rocky
ridge then follow the reef to your left until you see a rock ridge
descending with the sea bed. Forget the shallow chimney entrance
as you will probably encounter divers on their way out and the
channel is narrow. Rather, follow the ridge on the outside until
the sea bed opens into a 30m deep cavern. Drop into this, then
follow the passage down and out at 50m (there are various points
on the way down to turn around if you don't feel right). Follow
the canyon back up on the outside now, then drop back in at the
30m cavern and now follow the canyon up and out. Then drift effortlessly
along the reef and do a very long safety stop, then back into
the lagoon and out. There is not a great deal of life actually
in the Canyon itself apart from a school of glass fish, but the
sight of the sunlight coming down through sea bed into the canyon
when you are at 40-50m is something not to be forgotten. Top
BELLS/BLUE HOLE
Once you have dived the Canyon, especially, as in our case, if
it was a deep dive, you now have to decide where to spend your
surface interval. The natural choice is to head on up the coast
to the Blue Hole. This area is now host to ten or so restaurants
and various places to relax. Unfortunately, no one has had the
gumption to install toilet facilities so if you need to do the
business, then its behind a rock, or in most cases, behind a restaurant
you go! All very hygienic, and people wonder why they get stomach
ache!
Anyway we spent a 3 hour interval in one of the restaurants' relaxing
areas. Luckily we met a friend, Thomas who we used to socialise
with in Tarabin so the time went fairly quickly. Once you've kitted
up and having left any valuables either with your dive shop or
restaurateur, the next step is to negotiate the 100m or so hike
to the Bells entry point! The entry is a tiny crack in the shore
line which you can either jump into or climb down. Once you're
in you then descend to around 12m, turn yourself headfirst, and
away you go through the almost vertical passage way coming onto
a sheer wall at around 30m. This is the highlight of the dive.
From here you proceed your way along the wall with the shoreline
on your right side. The wall is pretty dramatic and there are
some nice coral growths. As you carry on along and up the wall
you can eventually cross a shallow part in the reef at 7m where
you can gain access in to the "Blue Hole".
The Blue Hole was a big disappointment for us as it is over dived,
overrated and pretty dead. The only real attraction is if you
are either a snorkeller or you have come to do the deep exit at
60-70m and as we were here for neither, we opted for surfacing
as soon as we could after the obligatory safety stop.
There is a lot of hype about the Blue Hole. Don't get sucked in
by it. Take the Bells option instead - it's far nicer. Top
SHARM EL SHEIK
SHAG ROCK
This was the highlight of our live aboard trip, second only
to the Thistlegorm. But is a lot less known and spoken of. This
site is really alive, plus a fast current, it kind of reminded
us of our days in Indonesia. Start the dive off on the wreck
having a quick look around even though it is pretty broken up.
Swim through the gap between the propeller and the rudder, make
a note of the spare propeller still resting on the cargo deck,
then get whisked away by the current keeping the reef on the
right. Just enjoy the ride taking care not to damage anything
along the way!
The reef, unlike others has not been over dived and is home
to many crocodile fish (Carpet Flathead) and schools of Sweet
Lips. Gorgonian Fans in pristine condition can still be seen.
For us, this was the most beautiful and plentiful dive we had
in this part of the world, a proper sensory overload. We were
like children in a sweet shop pointing out our favourite treats,
not knowing what we would espy next! Top
THE
THISTLEGORM
Located at LAT 27 42’ 00N, LONG 34
05’ 00E and lying on the sea bed at 30m. The 415 ft long
British built freighter, The Thistlegorm, was sunk at 1.30pm on
6th October 1941 by German long range bombers which were actually
searching for the Queen Mary. The Thistlegorm was sitting at anchor
in the Straits of Gubal whilst awaiting permission to travel up
the Suez Canal when the bombers scored two direct hits in it’s
No. 4 hold which unfortunately was full of ammunition destined
for the British 8th Army in Africa. The hold exploded tearing
the ship open and sending it to the bottom of the sea.
The Thistlegorm today is one of the most
famous dive sites in the world, with it’s cargo holds still
full of BSA motorbikes, trucks and ammunition and the sea bed
around scattered with debris including a couple of overturned
Bren Gun carriers and one locomotive standing upright like a ghost
train in the deep.
We dived the Thistlegorm 3 times and even
Tracy who is not particularly fussed about wrecks was amazed by
the endless opportunities to penetrate and explore the holds and
the vast array of marine life on and around the wreck. All three
dives held something new especially as the current across the
wreck changed direction during the day bringing with it various
Pelagics including Giant Trevally and the faint glimpse of a shark
or two. Our first dive was a deep one to the Bren Gun carriers,
which Terry wanted to photograph but his camera refused to work.
The from the propeller to the bow where our boat was moored and
did our safety stop. The second dive was back to the same place
as Terry with his camera now working insisted on going back to
the Bren Gun carriers! The a quick search through the holds and
up. The third dive was far more sedate, just diving in and out
of the holds full of motorcycles and trucks then through the bridge
and finally back to the winch for a good long safety stop and
then, reluctantly, back to the surface. There is so much to do
and see on this wreck that it is a must for anyone passing through
the Sinai. Top
DUNRAVEN
Located on a shallow reef called Sha'ab
Mahmoud, and lying up the reef slope ranging in depth from 28
to 15m, The Dunraven, an 82m cargo ship hit the reef and sank
in 1876 with it's cargo of timber and Bombay spices. The wreck
is over turned belly up and pretty broken up. It is possible to
penetrate the wreck in a couple of places. We opted for the midships
section and squeezed ourselves past the boilers and through the
thousands of swirling glassfish. The wreck is totally overgrown
with soft coral and sponges and the seabed is host to many Crocodile
fish. From the wreck drift along the reef wall, it's not the most
colourful of sites but it is home to some rather large moray eels,
one of which took Terry rather by surprise, so he had to shoot
it - with his camera of course. Top
JACKFISH ALLEY
Our first dive out from Sharm El Sheik
as paying customers instead of employees for a change! So with
high expectations we head off. These expectations were soon dashed
as you could instantly tell that our dive crew were not in the
slightest bit interested in their customers. The dive itself wasn't
too bad, we eventually decided just to do our own thing and enjoy
ourselves. Apparently there are some nice caves here but our guides
didn't find them but instead went off into the deep. We did find
the actual Jackfish Alley, which is a sandy passage, between reef
wall and fringing reef at 17m but this was more through luck than
judgment as we had now decided to follow other groups who seemed
to know where they were going. We were treated to some very large
and inquisitive Jackfish and a couple of large Napoleon Wrasse.
We did our own safety stop and almost got run over by another
dive boat as we surfaced. Apparently this is quite common due
to the large amount of divers who come to this site. Not a bad
site just a bad dive operator. Top
SHARK REEF & YOLANDE
REEF
The site is made up of two coral islets
being Shark Reef and Yolande Reef. A huge drop off surrounds Shark
Reef. On the outside of Yolande Reef is a plateau with a depth
of approx. 20m. Dividing the two sites is a shallow section at
about 15m and a "lagoon" at around 10m.
The dive starts around the east side of
Shark Reef where there is quite a strong current and some quite
large schools of Snapper. With the reef on your right, drift to
the south across to where the wall meets the dividing section.
At this point the current appears to be from all directions. Come
in to the shallow side of this section and you will be on Yolande
Reef. Though we were assured that there were sharks on Shark Reef,
we never saw anything bigger than a Titan Trigger Fish (memories
of Thailand sprang back to Tracy's mind)!
The most memorable part of Yolande
Reef was the toilets scattered around the place, being the remaining
cargo of The Yolande wreck which long since disappeared into the
depths. The outer section of the reef is scattered with soft corals
where we saw many Moray Eels - some quite large. We finished our
dive around this area as quite frankly, despite what we'd read
about its amazing marine life, we were quite bored and rather
disappointed. Top
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