News
Ross Kemp on… Blue O Two’s Blue Melody
Blue O Two were recently delighted to welcome Ross Kemp on board their award-winning Red Sea liveaboard, Blue Melody. He was filming for his latest documentary series, Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter, which is now on Sky History on Mondays at 9pm (UK).
The series follows Ross as he explores remnants of some of the most significant moments in British history. During his stay on Blue Melody, he uncovered some of Britain’s Imperial past in the Red Sea.
Other episodes include a visit to the site of one of the most famous shipwrecks ever discovered, the Mary Rose, to mark the 40th anniversary of the ship being raised. Ross and his team also dived abandoned D-Day and Cornish wrecks. Among others in his team, Ross was joined in the Red Sea by marine archaeologist, Mallory Hass, legendary Dive Master, Neil Brock, as well as safety diver, Mark Culwick.
Aside from his many other exploits, Ross is a recognised figure in the UK diving industry. He delighted audiences at Go Diving Show 2023, as one of the speakers.
Mel Hicks, Blue O Two’s customer representative in the Red Sea resort, gave the low down of her experience with Ross.
“I spent the day with him and the crew on Saturday as we had a bus to go around Hurghada and do some filming on land. He got recognized by some Brits on holiday while we were out and was very down to earth and chilled out about it – not like his Eastenders character at all!
I asked him if he gets recognized a lot still and does he mind it. He said not at all. When he’s out drinking, people often like to buy him drinks and have a good knees up, like Grant would do in the Old Vic pub, and only the occasional drunk ones want to try and fight with him.
The crew were constantly joking with him while we were driving around and he took it really well. News got around Hurghada that he was here and he said he would be happy to sign autographs/photos to send to people as he couldn’t make a night out due to prepping for filming.
For his departure transfer me and Teresa did sing the theme tune to Eastenders for him, which if you have ever heard me singing karaoke, it’s not a pleasant experience!”
Poor Ross! And what a lovely chap he is.
Visit www.blueotwo.com to find out more about Blue Melody and the wonders of diving in the Red Sea.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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