The Eid!

The end of Ramadan is called the Eid. We get a long weekend for the holiday and Max organized a live aboard dive trip through Sinai Divers out of Sharm. We left school at 4 after Tara and Max had to run home to get their credentials. 6 hours later we arrive in Sharm and board the Ghazala II (Gazelle), Ahmed is again our dive master and Mohamed our captain with his fabulous crew.

Our meal was awaiting us and we quickly ate then headed up on deck to stack out our sleeping quarters. Cheryl was an early riser and captured us still asleep that is Mike and I in the middle double mat.

Before each dive we get a briefing and learn about the area, current, length and depth of the dive as well as info about the animals we will see, and possible dangers. Ahmed draws a bunch of the sites while others he uses a book.

Of course the first dive takes some time to prep for. We are headed out on the zodiac. We flip over backwards to get into the water.

I am in purple (arms) adjusting the fins, Mike is to my left fixing his too. Ahmed the dive master is waiting all ready to go.
Now the mask.
Still the mask.

Second crew is off.

Back on the boat we relaxe and discuss our dives. We get excited about the many things we saw. Sharks, moray eels, blue spotted sting rays, lion fish, clown fish, and mt favorite the small white ones dipped in chocolate (ok I don't know their names).

We did some wreck diving as well. While this is not the photo of the wreck it was the view we saw for a day and a half.

Within Ras Muhammed National Park there is the wreck of the Dunraven, which was a steam freighter from the first part of the century. The ship was captained by a man who did not pay much attention to his surroundings. Thinking a passing vessels light was a lighthouse and the land they were headed for the Shadwan Island in the Straights of Gobal, they headed towards land. They saw a dark shape in the water and took it for a buoy. They crashed in to the rocks and later discovered they were in the Sinai. I ma really glad that this captain's vessel contained cargo and notpeople. A passing shipped saved them all but the freight ship slipped into 27 meters of water. It is a great spot for some larger sea life.

We saw a school of emperor angel fish, a crocodile fish, and a moray eel. Not to mention the other things I do not know the names of: light bright purple ones, scary red ones, etc....

Pre night dive comes with a beautiful sunset and apassing sailboat.

We wake to find that there are about 25-30 other boats in our area all getting to dive the same spot. Our captain, Mohamed has anchored us and we are the first crew to dive. This is much better because you do not have the confusion of other divers and the muke they leave in their wake as they scuff the sand causing particles to float and decrease visibility.

Sharm has vastly changed in 10 years going from a one hotel town to a 5 start beach resort with a goal of a 100,000 beds. Some of the people diving with us have been doing this trip for years and remember when they were the only boat in the sea. My how things change. The over diving in the area has caused the death of the reef close to shore as people walk on it, remove it, and pollute it with their garbage.

I look forward to stricter diving regulations so the reefs can become protected.