Monday 1 June 2009

Four different dive spots – Day 6

We are all surprised how much we eat on this type of holiday. One of the dive group has said that divers use up about 600 calories per dive. If this is true then it explains why we like being fed often. We never eat very large meals, just lots of them. We are diving for up to four hours a day, sometimes easy, sometimes physically challenging so our calorie count is probably true. A typical day would  be:

Breakfast: cereal, eggs (hard or fried), ham, cheese, fruit, refried beans (an Egyptian staple), toast, fruit juice etc
Lunch: Rice,Coleslaw, Deep fried cauliflower, Langoustines, Tomatoes; Vegetable stew, Watermelon
Tea: Cake and Fruit
Dinner: Turkey, Stuffed Zucchini; Beans, Salad, Vegetables, Rice, Cake

Tea, coffee, chilled water and soft drinks are available throughout the day and for diving safety reasons, we are encouraged to drink about 6 litres of water a day but as soon as you have a beer, it means no more diving for that day. Perhaps because we are so tired, beer does not feature high on our agenda and we have only drunk five cans between the two of us so far on this trip.

Dive 14 – Sha’ab Claudio (Claudio Reef) 

Sah'ab Claudio Dive 14

A straight forward dive around a large coral reef with a few caves and swim throughs. We followed Kati (Dive Guide) since experience has taught us that on complicated sites requiring many depth levels, you get more out of it following someone who knows where they are going.

Plenty of fish (some being hunted by a large Ray), interesting anemones and coral gardens. The caves were more challenging with some swirling

Shoal of

a shoal of fish

Puffer Fish

Large Puffer Fish

Parrot

a Parrot fish

Anenome and Fish

Sea Anemone

Anenome and Comic

Anemone with Comic Fish living in it 

Coral Pinancle and Fish

Coral Pinnacle with lots of little fish living off it

currents (“water movement” in Dutch) and a large Napoleon awaited us back at the boat.

Large Napoleon

Large Napoleon awaiting us under the boat 

Dive 15 – Abu Galawa Soraya

After breakfast we move one hour north for the next dive, again on a reef but this time with a fairly recent wreck (1992).

Abu Galawa Soraya Dive 15 

This reef has a long channel through the middle and we went through the channel in an anti-clockwise direction in order to use the currents. The profile was a bit up and down with the deepest part towards the end.

Coral Pinacle

a coral pinnacle

Coral Growth

a strange coral growth a bit like a pod

Puffer 2

Ben’s best picture of a puffer fish

Fish 1

Butterfly fish

Wreck 1

The wreck was that of a sailing / motor yacht which had sunk on the reef in 1992 after hitting it and loosing its rudder. Apparently having lost its rudder,

Wreck Bow 

it then tried to anchor itself away from the reef but sunk two days later having been driven on to it. Most of the equipment on board was “liberated” by the dive boat which rescued the owner. It must have been a really beautiful and expensive yacht before it became a wreck. Now all that is left is the hull (and the ship’s toilet).

Wreck toilet

Dive 16 – El Shaleniate (The Points)

El Shaleniate Dive 16

A rib drop off on the far side of the reef. Finned from there around the island and back to the ship. Lots of very amazing coral gardens,

Coral 1

Coral 2

Coral 3

Coral 4

some fish activity including a Racoon Butterfly Fish eating a jelly fish

Fish eating a Jelly Fish

which seemed to be very abundant in this area.

Fish 2

Coral Hind Grouper

Fish 3

Wrasse

Dive 17 – Dahara Wedi Gimal

Dive 17 - Daharen Wadi Gimal

An unremarkable “last night“ night dive, saw a very large Moray Eel and a Moses Sole but not much else.

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