Advice needed re: Marsa Alam diving in Dec & shark safety

[tabs]

Hi guys, I'm new to this board but have spent a good couple of hours reading through various posts so am pretty sure that I'll get some good advice here.

To give you a bit of background, wife and I are AOW divers but have only ever dived off Thailand a good six years ago. We swam with Grey Reef Sharks but they were pretty small and never came anywhere near us.

We've booked a week's holiday in Marsa, with the aim of spending a couple of days diving. We would not be going to Elphinstone, as we don't have sufficient dives logged. We would ideally also snorkel off the coast.

The reason I'm writing this is that I've been researching into the marine life of the area and am more than a little concerned about the Oceanic White Tips. I know that attacks are rare, but the...bulshyness...of the species has got me a little worried. Because of our limited diving experience (we have 17 dives each, but they were a while ago), I'm worried about showing fear if these things got close, which I know can make things worse.

I'm hoping that someone with recent knowledge of the Marsa area might be able to give some unbiased advice as to the risk of diving there. Are there many sharks around at the moment (bear in mind that I'd love to see them from a distance, but have no interest in getting up close and personal with them)? Getting bumped is likely to make me turn the water brown! What's the deal with snorkelling off of the shore?

Thanks, and apologies for being alarmist!

 

[diverLux]

Hi,
I have done the majority of my dives in the Red Sea in the Quseir - Marsa Alam area over the past 2 years and never seen a shark until last October when we met  two juvenil and one 1,5 m long white tip reef shark  on the Sha'ab Marsa Alam dive site 30 minutes off-shore from the harbour, that's all.   The sea will be rough in December  and most diving will be from  shore I should think.  Relax and enjoy your holiday.


Coraya Divers | Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam | Scuba diving reviews | Deep sea diving |

 

[Tigerman]

I wouldnt worry too much. Yes, there is oceanic whitetips and other sharks in the Red sea but considering the chance to get attacked by one is smaller than to kill yourself by slipping in the bathroom while doing your morning grooming, its pretty darned unlikely to get attacked.
I have not seen oceanic whitetips on my trips to the Red sea, but I have seen other sharks there. Theire so cute and gracious when theire not on a nature show eating seals or in Hollywood eating divers who at the end blow them up by shooting a scuba-tank (which btw a couple of scubaboard members busted before Mythbusters did )

 

[ElChe]

I dived with Oceanic white tips sharks and I can tell you it's a special experience. They are way too curious sharks and I wouldn't recommend to anyone to dive with them who afraid of them. You can meet them mainly in open water reefs like Elphinstone and St John's, where you dive in the big blue, swim against currents- if you become nervous you just attract more sharks. And sometimes they don't swim away in a minute but stay with the divers - I posted my shark adventure entry here, maybe you're interested in and the video I took there. They don't attack but every diver has to be careful. By the way snorkeling is more dangerous, many dive boats don't allow snorkeling at reefs like Elphinstone. If you a see shark, try to watch its moves, and stay with your group/buddy. They're wonderful animals and great experience to dive with. If you stay calm you'd enjoy the encounter. The dive guides will take care of you so you don't have to worry.

 

[ocdiver1]

Hi Tabs..I just returned a couple of weeks ago from a trip that included one week diving Marsa Alam/Elphinstone. We actually did not see one single shark, even at Elphinstone. Talk amongst the boats seemed to be that recently, up until my visit, for whatever reason not many had been spotted..although I'm sure the crowds that are always at Elphinstone didn't help. I've never seen an oceanic white tip (although I very much want too!), so I can't speak to their behavior, but I've dove hundreds of times with many species of sharks and have never felt even remotely threatened..actually have never witnessed even aggressive behavior...most sharks are incredibly timid. Don't worry...if you're lucky enough to see a shark you they'll likely be more scared of you than you of them!

 

[EmperorOceans]

This seems like an appropriate time to make a first post So yes I can help you with local knowledge though I reckon some could argue that it is hard for me to remain unbiased, I'll try though!
Firstly regarding your length of time out of the water, make sure you have some kind of refresher planned. While you will be able to find this out in resort at any reputable dive centre you may save some cash and also at least one precious dive of your holiday if you do this with a local dive centre in your hometown.
It looks like you've done your research by knowing about Elphinstone and the minimum dive numbers, and also about the marine life we find. Marsa has become a name for those hoping to dive with sharks but as some posters have remarked they are not ever present. 2009 was a fantastic year, with 3 months of Tiger Sharks and Oceanic Whitetips on every dive. 2010 was a pretty poor year sadly, though contrary to one poster here we've had a good 2011. The start of the year saw a Silky and Oceanics, with summer having regularly seen Hammerheads alongside Grey Reefs and more Oceanics. Aug, Sep and Oct things settled down but 4 days ago some guests saw (and photographed) a Whale Shark! We expect the Oceanics back anytime for a month or 2, but who knows.
Most sharks, especially the Oceanics, are proper pelagics, meaning that you rarely find them on the coast, certainly in the Red Sea. In 3 years of being based in Marsa, and having 'managed' somewhere over 5,000 dives there has never been a sighting of an Oceanic on any of the local sites. Marsa does not have many offshore reefs (Elphinstone, Shaab Abu Dabab, Shaab Marsa Alam and Shaab Samadai being the only ones) so most of the diving you will be doing will be based on the coastline, so please have no concerns about diving or snorkelling. I echo most of the other comments about diving with sharks - it is a breathtaking experience and one that is becoming ever more rare sadly, but I hope that one day you are fortunate to dive with an Oceanic.
Another poster commented on the wind and the diving options. It can be pretty windy in winter down south here, though it can also be dead calm, you never really know. There will be boat diving available and for my money opens up the best diving experience in the region. If the weather prohibits boat diving, in most instances it will also make shore diving pretty hairy if not impossible too but we have very, very few days where diving as a whole is 'off'.
When snorkelling, stay in the shallows for the best possible experiences and move slowly as a lot of the reef gems are well camouflaged. If you find yourself in a bay, don't be afraid to head out into the middle if there seems to be no/little boat traffic and you should find seagrass beds where you will find huge Green Turtles and possibly a Dugong. Marsa is more famous for these guys than sharks even.
If you have any other Qs don't hesitate to ask,
Regards,
Luke.