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Egypt – Underwater Magic in the Red Sea
“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
Egypt is known as one of the most popular dive locations in the world, with tropical waters, reasonable flight times from the UK and many itineraries to choose from depending on your experience. Most recently though, the focus has not been on the magical waters, but rather the safety and security of travellers following the horrific Russian Airline bombing in Sharm el Sheikh last year. In February, we flew into Hurghada, our final destination being the dive camp Roots situated in the small town of El Quseir. Many would call us mad for travelling to this country: “Why risk it?”, “It isn’t safe!” – but our mentality has always been that if bad things happen they can happen anywhere, and there is no point avoiding living for fear of dying. Unfortunately, this is not the view shared by most people – Sharm, once a popular holiday destination for 15 million tourists, now lies a ghost town.
Our choice to visit Egypt was an easy one; diving in the Red Sea is incredibly diverse, and thankfully it doesn’t take a whole day to get to! Roots Red Sea Dive Camp is a custom built camp situated in the middle of the desert, about 1.5 hours south from Hurghada and 1.5 hours north of Marsa Alam. The accommodation is traditionally built with the budget to boutique rooms offering solutions for everyone. We opted for the beautiful higher end Boutique rooms that offer en suite and plenty of space. Despite being in the middle of the desert the set up is a home from home with the staff offering a real family feel. Steve & Clare who run it are always about, happy to share stories and offer advice for the novice diver/underwater photographer (like me!). It’s funny – there you find yourself, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and oddly enough, it’s exactly where you want to be.
We spent the week diving the house reef, a last minute dive trip to practice using my new camera… which to my surprise was exactly what I needed! The house reef splits into two arms North and South, following a slowly descending mouth. As you enter from the beach the reef is immediately visible with many banner fish as close as 10ft from the shore waiting to say hello. To the left you have the North reef – an easier dive in my opinion because of the shallow nooks of the rocks that allow for endless photo opportunities with lots of natural light. Further along, outcrops bleed out from the wall offering lots of life; one in particular housing two beautiful Anemone fish guarding their young. However, the star attraction is by far and away on the South reef – leading in with a large dominating wall you come to reef that drops to about 30m. As you turn to go along it at about 20m there is a small pinnacle that has one of the most stunning red Anemone’s I’ve ever seen. We must have spent 50% of our diving just documenting this beauty.
Another star of the reef is the local Pufferfish we nicknamed Paul – a Yellow Spotted Burrfish variety who was extremely calm and relaxed around us divers. He is larger than average, so is easy to spot and has saucer like eyes that melt your heart. Safe to say I was smitten with this fella and took many a pic of his cute, spikey face.
There is an abundance of life on this reef but I will admit after 5 days I was restless, so would advise others to take advantage of the day trips on offer. The diving is hosted by Steve & Clare’s dive centre Pharaoh Dive Club with trips like Elphinstone and the Salem express offering wrecks and sharks for those who want more variance, as well as other local shore dives.
A fantastic week of winter sun diving in a country that has wriggled its way into my heart and is there to stay. Egypt, once the heartland of diving is now struggling to stay ‘above water’, yet the diving remains exciting and beautiful. With flights not due to resume to Sharm until October you may be considering other alternatives for your next dive trip; well pause and take a breath – Roots Red Sea & Pharoah Dive Club offer all the best bits of Red Sea diving in a relaxed, luxury setting. Don’t take it from me, check out the links below and discover this hidden gem for yourself…
Pharoah Dive Club Trip Advisor
For more from Hayley, visit www.blackmantaphotography.com.
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
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Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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