Several
members of Maidstone Sub Aqua Club set off in October for the beautiful warm
and calm Red Sea. The venue this year was the Ocean Sands Hotel. It had been
booked on a bed and breakfast basis as there were some non-divers in the
party. As it happened, the non-divers all took to the water like ducks, and
were out on the boat every day!
As
always, the first dive of the week was a test dive, to try out correct
buoyancy and to give the Divemaster some idea of the diver's skills. It was a
joy to cruise along in the warm peaceful waters again, spotting old friends
like the blue spotted ray and the humpback wrasse. The second dive of the day
was slightly more restful at 14 meters, with puffers and lionfish exciting the
first-timers! The large fan coral had escaped the novice fins very well. Our
second day started with a wall dive in a heavy swell. This was no problem
underwater, but getting back onto the boat was very tiring, as it launched
itself two metros up into the air, the diver clinging onto the ladder and then
plunged down again, bruising knees and shins before the deck was reached. All
this wearing full kit and unused muscles threatening to give way! Luckily, the
afternoon dive was in much calmer weather and was a slow drift dive from one
reef to another; out into the blue. A weird experience to those of us used to
muddy green murkiness at home. A shoal of big jacks chased by long thin
barracuda, a batfish and a big turtle eclipsed the first sighting of the
Yolanda wreck.
Day
three and the much-vaunted Thistlegorm wreck was
today's destination. Up at 4 a.m. and breakfast on board before settling down
for another nap till the sun came up. Two brilliant dives on the wreck ably
guided around the engine room and deep inside the holds to see the lorries,
motor bikes and jeeps by our Kosovan guide, Vladimir. A rare crocodile fish
was dozing on the decking and an even rarer black and white banded sea snake
was seen wriggling off into the sand.
Into the Straits of Tiran for the next day's diving, Woodhouse reef, Jackson reef and Thomas reef were explored, with lots of glass fish, orange altheas, green chromis and blue jacks much in evidence. Two turtles had a real dingdong of a domestic entirely oblivious of the divers passing underneath. Three dives again on our fifth day in Ras Mohammed Marine Park. In and out of the caves, up the chimney and through Jackfish alley for the first dive. More barracuda and jacks and a strong current over the Yolanda wreck - no stopping - for the second dive. Then the night dive at Middle Garden to really taste the adrenaline flow! The fish and crustaceans are quite different when there is no sun around, and there is a lot of activity by the feeding coral. The sea urchins, looking like old fashioned pencils, are ruby red in the torch light, brittle stars in pink and white long spined black sea urchins and a huge shoal of sardines flashing silver bodies as they passed by. We turned our torches off and marvelled at the phosphorescence we created by waving a hand in the water. To our amazement Dave Green didn't get lost this time!!
