Following on from our successful trip down to the Southern Red Sea aboard Sea Serpent we decided to return for our 2006 Edenbridge Sub-Aqua Club trip. Coming along this time were Paul Feakes, David Jones, Howard Smith Daniel Snowden, Martin Greenwood,Dave Harrison, Neil Hucks and John Burden.

The trip was booked through Tony Backhurst who had given us very good service in the past and was only too happy to cater for our additional requirements

We had decided to return to the Camel Hotel , a favourite location with our club, due to the excellent standard of accommodation and superb location, in the heart of Naama Bay. The security within Sharm had been significantly stepped us as a result of the bombing, this was very reassuring. However, even though you were aware of the heightened security, it was not too intrusive, potentially ruining the holiday. We all felt they had got it about right.

Sunday 16th October

Up at the crack of dawn to be at Gatwick Airport for 07:00. The 5 hour flight to Sharm went pretty smoothly at the total chaos at Sharm airport never seems to get any better ! finally arrived at our hotel around 18:00 local time. We all got together for a very nice meal to kick off the trip, in the Italian Restaurant attached to the Camel Hotel, there is also a very nice Indian Restaurant attached to the hotel, they are both certainly worth a visit. A quick drink in the Camel bar and it's off to bed, ready for an early start in the morning (well 9:00 is early when you're on holiday...)

Monday 17th October

We all met at the dive centre to get checked-in and introduced to our guide for the week , Aeman (picture to the right) a very laid back guy - just what we needed for our relaxing week in the sun. We were allocated to the dive boat Sehhs for the weeks diving - the same boat we had been on for our previous trip to Sharm. An excellent boat and much to our surprise we were to be alone on the boat for the week, just our group of 8 divers. On our previous trip there had been approximately 20 people on the boat, so we were sure to have plenty of space.

Dive 1 : Fiddle Garden

Dive Time 49m mins - Max depth 17.7 Metres

Situated half way between Far Garden and Middle Garden, this sheltered dive site is ideal for the "check dive" that must be completed at the start of any trip. The seabed is sandy, flat and shallow (average depth 10 metres) with coral structures contouring sandy "streets" from where some massive pore corals rise up. A good opening dive with plenty of marine life to be seen, the highlight being a passing turtle. It was a good introduction to the Red Sea to the "new boys" joining us for this trip, Gary, and Neil. It was worlds apart from the club diving we normally associate with our dive club - Seaford Gulleys !

Back of our dive boat Sehss - taken from the surface above Fiddle Garden

Dive 2 : Near Garden

Dive Time 49 mins - Max Depth 16.5 Meters

Near garden is the closest dive site to Naama bay - there is also considerable disturbance from building work being undertaken along the shore, creating yet another large hotel complex. Diving begins with while descending to a sandy plateau at about 15-20 meters, which is bordered on the edge of the drop-off by a series of hard coral heads, including numerous gorgonian's.

During the lunch interval, whilst drifting off Near Garden we were joined by an Oceanic White Tipped shark - investigating our boat and feeding near the surface. The second dive was again very pleasant with plenty of marine life, unfortunately the coral was looking very sad, not surprising as this was probably one on the most frequently visited sites in the area - very popular with trainee divers.

Tuesday 18th October

Dive 3 : Jackson Reef - Straits of Tiran

Dive Time 50 mins - Max Depth 25.3 Metres

Jackson Reef is the most northerly reef in Tiran an is known for the wreck, partially demolished in 1996 of the Cypriot merchant ship Lara. Diving usually is confined to the sheltered southern side. The reef on the southern side in the shallows is cut with sandy splits, then descends to the sandy seabed at a depth of 45 meters. I will always remember Jackson as my very first reef dive in the Red Sea a few years previously. My very first decent down the sheer face of the reef, teeming with both fish, Corals and Invertebrates will always stay with me. Again we had an excellent dive. Whilst still on the boat I spotted Sue Williams, our guide from our last trip to Sharm, on the boat next to ours. We moored the boat for this dive at one of the anchorage points and dropped down onto a sandy plateau and headed off to the shear drop of the reef wall - an awesome sight ! The wall was covered in beautiful coral and an abundance of fish, including the usual Anthias, Angelfish, Butterfly Fish, Grouper and, Wrasse. We also saw a nice Giant Moray and a Blue Spotted Stingray. Some larger fish were spotted out "in the blue", but nothing spectacular - no sharks ! Sue spotted Howard during the dive and gave us a wave - apparently she recognised his fins and apparent height in the water - you can spot those Force Fins from a mile away (viz permitting !)

Dive 4 : Thomas Reef - Straits of Tiran

Dive Time 37 mins - Max Depth 23.5 Metres

This reef is one of the most spectacular diving site of the Northern Red Sea - or so the book claims... Unfortunately we suffered with very strong currents for our attempt at diving the reef. We descended down onto the plateau and it quickly became apparent that there was quite a current running. In our group we had several relatively inexperienced divers and the the constantly changing, very strong currents made diving a challenge - with divers constantly colliding - fighting with the current. We tried to change both depth and direction moving in close to the reef and out into the blue to ease the situation and get control - bit it just didn't happen and we aborted after about 30 mins. a good call in the circumstances, but a bit of shame - diving is never predicable !

Wednesday 19th October

Martin, Gary, Neil and Daniel were up at 04:00 today to dive the Thistlegorm - the rest of us, having dived the Thistlegorm on previous occasions decided to get a few extra hours sleep and join another group returning to the Straits of Tiran. I meant diving back on Jackson Reef again - but this is one of my favourite dives so I was happy to go back.. Our guide for the day was to be Amr and we would be sharing a boat, Sea Quest 3 with 2 groups of divers completing their "open water" training.

Additional information for each of the dive sites has been obtained from Alberto Siliotti's Sinai Dive Guide - ISBN 88-87177-65-1 - highly recommended to supplement any diving from Sharm EL Sheikh