Best spots at Red sea

[Christian]

Cristian,

Excellent photos. How good is the infrastructure for divers?

R..

It is liveaboard diving and the comfort of the boats are not as good as the best in Egypt. But there are certainly a couple of good boats that will deliver everything a diver need. Think of it more as an expedition than a holiday.

/c

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Spieces diversity is richer in Sudan than in Egyptian waters. You can find all the stuff there which can be found in the Egyptian Red Sea, plus some more. It has to do with the extreme geolocical conditions (very deep waters) and an comparatively higher avarage water tempretaure, even at depth. So it's not only more and bigger. It is also more diverse, it's a scientific fact and not a matter of personal taste.

The deepest part of the Red Sea is between Sudan and Saudi, a little more than 3000 meters. It is actually the same rift valley as in Aqaba. It starts in Mocambique, goes through East Africa, over to Ethiopia/Eritrea and out in the Red Sea, up to Ras mohamed, through the gulf of Aquba, past Eilat, throgh the dead sea and then finally ending in Syria.

I guess you sort of answer your own question when you do the comparison Dahab/Sharm/South Egypt. Sudan diving is not the same as diving the south egypt. It is very different from the St John area. The most similar I can think of would be Rocky Island, but with a LOT more fish - big schools of barracuda, snapper and trevally. Schooling bumphead parrotfish and then, more sharks.

Christian,
The pics are just great. The sharks are wonderful. Couldn't be beaten on that.

However, the coral growth is hmmm. Attached are some pics from Ras Mohamed only, not to mention Tiran, Dahab, or even south Egypt. This is the variety I'm talking about. As far as I know, more than 1000 species exist in Ras Mohamed.

Regarding Dahab/Sharm/South comparison, what I meant is that there areas have different topologies so they have different species. However, South Egypt is, in a way or another, similar to Sudan from a geographical point of view (open sea I mean). That's why there're a bit similar, IMO.

Asser

 

[Christian]

I know the coral in Sianai are first class (where it is not broken). My intention wasn't to show coral with the pictures, just some examples of the marine life. I'm just an amature photographer and frankly, I have never focused on capturing coral.

There are not more than 1000 spieces of fish in Ras Mohamed alone, I can assure you that. That figure is for the whole of the Red Sea (it is closer to 1200). As a comparison, Sipadan Island, which lay smack in the middle of the most diverse area in the whole world (3000+ spieces of fish), has counted something like 400-500 different spieces.

Sudan off course also has different topography, with shallow sandy sea weed covered areas, like in Donganeb Bay / Mesharifa where you can see the manta dance. There are mangroves, sandy islands and coral pillars rising from the abyss. However the diving is mainly concentrated on 10-20 spots outside Port Sudan and on a fairly short stretch up to Abington/Angarosh/Merlo Reef. They represent the "typical" sudanese diving. But there are a lot more reefs to the north and to the south, and closer to shore as well, it is just not very well explored.

The best coral growth I have seen in Sudan has been in the north, Pfeiffer Reef, Elba Reef and a few reefs that didn't have names in that area. Unfortunatelly I don't have any pictures, because I didn't own a camera at the time.

Anyway, here are some "coral" pics

cheers


/Christian

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

I know the coral in Sianai are first class (where it is not broken). My intention wasn't to show coral with the pictures, just some examples of the marine life. I'm just an amature photographer and frankly, I have never focused on capturing coral.

Anyway, here are some "coral" pics

cheers


/Christian

Cheers Christian. Good pics.
Actually I'm not a photographer at all. Those pics where not mine.
Yes some corals in Sinai are broken because of inexperienced divers. However, this does not affect the whole picture because, as shown in the pics, it's more like endless coral gardens, not just some coral pinnacles.

Actually I'm very happy with this discussion because it leads to further exploration of the Red Sea, and at that point we have to thank Mania. Cheers Mania.

Attached is a pic of a white tip shark at Shark's Observatory in Ras Mohamed.

 

[Christian]

Cheers Christian. Good pics.
Actually I'm not a photographer at all. Those pics where not mine.
Yes some corals in Sinai are broken because of inexperienced divers. However, this does not affect the whole picture because, as shown in the pics, it's more like endless coral gardens, not just some coral pinnacles.

Actually I'm very happy with this discussion because it leads to further exploration of the Red Sea, and at that point we have to thank Mania. Cheers Mania.

Attached is a pic of a white tip shark at Shark's Observatory in Ras Mohamed.

Thank you for your kind words. You can certainly find nice spots in Sinai, but there are some sad examples as well. To be honest, I didn't think the images in your mail really gave the coral in the Sinai area a fair picture. It's actually nicer than what they musters to show (hope I don't make anyone sad here).
Most of the reefs in Sudan have "endless" coral gardens too, it is definetely not "just some coral pinnacles", but the soft corals galore, which is sort of the Sinai trademark, is harder to find.
It is always intersting to discuss different areas. And I love the Red Sea and I enjoy visiting Egypt and Sudan.
Cool shark!

cheers

christian

 

[mania]

There is nothing to thank me for.
Sudan is still waiting for me and I have heard that this is an incredible place.
Generally we agree on one thing - Red Sea rules!!!!!
Mania

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Thank you for your kind words. You can certainly find nice spots in Sinai, but there are some sad examples as well. To be honest, I didn't think the images in your mail really gave the coral in the Sinai area a fair picture. It's actually nicer than what they musters to show (hope I don't make anyone sad here).

cheers

christian

Not sad at all but wondering. Of course there're some sad examples everywhere, not just in Sinai, but how do the images give a nicer picture??? Actually these images were took as snapshots from different Ras Mohamed videos, so they don't give the complete picture. The global overview of the videos are much nicer.
Your images are very nice as well. However, I feel they lack something. They all concentrate of some big creatures in the blue. The whole thing is blue. I can't touch the integrity of bio-diversity between corals and fish and I'm sure Sudan has more to offer.
Christain, the images are just great. This is a pure personal feeling.

Yes Mania. Red Sea rules.

 

[Christian]

Sorry if I was a bit unclear, but I think you misunderstod. I didn't say the images portrayed the reefs nicer than they actually are. On the contrary, I said the coral in Sinai, in my impression, is actually much nicer than the pictures you enclosed show.

Like I said, I'm just an amateur photographer with simple equipment and I didn't really focus on coral pictures on the trips I made (there was too much going on off the reef ) ... I have some nice reef-pictures taken by a really good photographer, but I don't feel comfortable posting other peoples work. However it should be easy to find photos on the net, or in books covering Sudan diving - to give you a more correct picture of what the reefs look like than my "blue" pictures do.

cheers

/christian

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

You are right Christian, I misunderstood. I did not interpret your words correctly. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Jai Bar]

Besides, it was already agreed that best diving is in Oman. I can't just wait to get there :05:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1351999&postcount=4