Red Sea Over Dived or What !!

[maged_mmh]

i was there last October, nothing changed since 1992 (i was only doing snorkeling then); but really, nothing "so ruined" to speak about.

 

[String]

Red sea isn't really more over dived than the Caribbean (florida especially), Thailand and others. Yes some resorts are busier than others and the "easy" sites close to these big resorts are going to see huge amounts of diver traffic. However, the red sea is HUGE, even just the Egyptian part of it. If you go on the usual cattle dayboats then yes you're going to see crowded and more damaged sites. Pick smaller boats, pick liveaboards or anything that will take you more than a mile or 2 from the jetty and its perfectly possible to find undamaged and fairly quiet sites.

The Egyptians attitude is slowly changing now they're realising that their main source of income is the dive industry. The regulators are pushing things forward (examples HEPA, moorings and so on) but its a slow process.

Its certainly far better diving than the Caribbean !

As for the safety thing, Egypt spends a large amount of money on security and so on (it has to given where it is). To a large extent this works, you dont really notice unless you look around but the tourist police, even armed guards on the entrance to the hotels, marinas and so on - its a lot of behind the scenes effort. Although its a muslim country it isnt an extremist state, it does have a lot of other religions legally allowed there and so on so its a lot more relaxed than others. The locals are generally friendly and helpful (although you do want to strangle the street and shop sellers that pester you every 10 yards on a street) and ive felt a lot less safe in some areas of the UK than i did there, especially at night. As with anywhere you go though, be aware of where you are, be aware of local laws, customs and traditions and accept if you visit there you should comply with those. Things like men walking around with shirts off on main streets, bikinis outside the hotels and so on can cause offence.

 

[Scubadad1]

I recently dived with an instructor from Australia who felt that the diving in Sharm was better than the Great Barrier reef and the standard of divers we get was far better than in Aus.

Don't blame the local instructors - they value the environment and teach their students to do likewise. The problem comes from qualified divers and I won't even say always those newly qualified. I have had so-called experienced divers from the UK who have no respect for our coral and the environment.

At the moment there is an offer for one weeks holiday including flights, hotel and diving for Ž£179 (approx US$270) so we get anyone and everyone coming out.

The local authorities do pay some attention but yesterday I saw a fishing boat out on the Tiran Reefs - no one took any notice.

I'm afraid that local economics take precedent over environmental issues.

 

[alchemist117]

Having been there on a number of occasions, each dive operation we have been with have been excellent, but there are clearly those that cut corners catering to visitors from certain countries. I still have a vision in my mind from diving Jackson Reef this year. Out of the distance emerged 3 divers, one holding the tank valves of the other 2. I gave an ok, thinking they could have a problem, and received and excited ok from one of the dangling divers. A short while later another 3 appeared in the same formation. Clearly this dive op values neither their customers' safety, any potential damage to the environment, or even their employees' well-being. That said, it' s still a wonderful place to dive- see photo!

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

I still have a vision in my mind from diving Jackson Reef this year. Out of the distance emerged 3 divers, one holding the tank valves of the other 2. I gave an ok, thinking they could have a problem, and received and excited ok from one of the dangling divers. A short while later another 3 appeared in the same formation.

That was an intro dive I think.

 

[alchemist117]

Red Shadow, if it was an intro dive, why not do it in Middle Garden, where you've got the nice sandy floor at 15m.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Red Shadow, if it was an intro dive, why not do it in Middle Garden, where you've got the nice sandy floor at 15m.

Because of the day arrangements.

Sometimes groups book a diving package including (for example) 2 days in Tiran. So the op finds himself obliged to go Tiran on a particular day where it happens to have a lot of intro dives.

BTW, I'm not defending anyone but I'm just telling you what happens.

 

[Scubadad1]

Because of the day arrangements.

Sometimes groups book a diving package including (for example) 2 days in Tiran. So the op finds himself obliged to go Tiran on a particular day where it happens to have a lot of intro dives.

BTW, I'm not defending anyone but I'm just telling you what happens.

Sorry but the company who I work for will not, under any circumstances, do intro's in Tiran or Ras Mo. Even on the local sites we only take one at a time. The operator can always say no but some of them can't refuse the almighty dollar.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Sorry but the company who I work for will not, under any circumstances, do intro's in Tiran or Ras Mo. Even on the local sites we only take one at a time. The operator can always say no but some of them can't refuse the almighty dollar.

As per my original post, I'm not defending (or attacking) anybody. It's just what happens.

 

[samaka]

We have Hurghada Environmental Protection and Coversation Assosiation which is a NGO. They are the guys installing mooring lines on all the dive sites among many other things. They organize Reef Clean-ups and lobby for environmental issues in the Egyptian Government. The good dive operators are good at educate and train their DMs and Instructore and boat crews in how to do things the right way. There aren't any anchors in the reef any more. Though there are 164 dive centres in Hurghadda alone and obviously not all are good. But there is also a healthy stock of experienced and intellegent DMs and Instructors in the Red Sea who police the dive sites and report wrong-doers.

The reason some divers come back from dive hollidays in the Red Sea dissepointed saying that the reefs are dead can have a natural explenation. THe current generally comes from the north here and the reefs grow in a northerly direction leaving the south sid the dead side where nutrient water rarely gets to. The wind also genereally comes from the north which means that the mooring lines installed by HEPCA are mainly situated on the south side where the boats find shelter. The experienced, interested, enthusiastic and cleaver DMs and Instructors know where to put the boat, plan and execute the dives depending on site and conditions. The crap DMs and Instructors with no interest, experience or imagination jump from the boat and take their divers for a swim arounf and back to the boat in the dead area...

I have lived and worked in the Red Sea since 1999 and I have seen the reefs and divers on a daily basis for almost 10 years. I can honestly say that there is not much damage done by divers. Lets take Gota Abu Ramada as an example. This is a site with a max depth of 14 metres (about 46ft) meaning loads of DSD- and Course-dives. I would estimate that there are al least 600 visitors/day here and this is a mix of divers and snorkelers and it's still one of the best and most beautiful dive dive sites when it comes to hard coral.

There are of course dive sites that I see the wear and tear. These are mainly wrecks and other sites with lots of soft coral. These are easily "shaved off" by divers who doesn't know where they have their fins. As an example we can take Numidia which rests on the north tip of Big Brother. INteresting to note is that in the end of the season she is scraped bare but over the stormy winter when the north end and Numidia is less dived I see her recover her softcoral growth.

Regarding the wreck of the minesweeper El Miniya (by the way, she's named after president Nasser's home town El Miniya on the Nile) and the dead bottom around her: She rests on a flat bottom at 32 metres (about 106ft) where it's often murky and not much sunlight penetrates all the way down there. On top of this the wreck i situated between the main land and Abu Minkar Island where the current is funneled throu the narrow gap bringing in sand and sediment to cover and kill most that try to grow. She sunk after being attacked by Israeli Mirage/Phantom Feb 6th 1970.

This being said, there are still plenty of excellent dive sites in the Hurghada area and the rest of the Red Sea. To say that only Ras Muhammed is worth getting wet for is... How to put this in a polite way... a hasty generalization based on a limmited well of facts..?..

So what's happening? Is there any measures taken to protect the Red Sea?

One big threat to the Red Sea is plastic bags flying into the sea killing coral, turtle and other marine life. This is about to stop since HEPCA managed to put a ban on plastic bags in the Red Sea area. All the big supermarket chains like Metro and Abu Ashara have agreed together with the hotels to stop using plastic bags.Recykelling plants has also been built by HEPCA along the Egyptian coast to minimize the littering.

Another threat is of course over-fishing which is also to be stopped. The Egyptian Red Sea is to become a FIshing Free Zone! This also a result of HEPCA's hard work and lobbying. All shark fishing has been illeagal in Egypt since long and all trade in shark products is illeagal as well.

So... to add things up at the end: Divers and snorkelers does not have such a huge negative impact on the reefs as one may think. There are other issues that are more imprtant to focus on. Do NOT get me wrong now... I do NOT defend missbehaving on the reefs and I am very active in environmental issues. I'm just adding some facts to the thread. And despite how it sounds, I'm not an employee of HEPCA (even if I'm a huge supporter).

If you want to read more about the Red Sea I have info on HEPCA, Marine Life, Marine Protectorates, Dive Sites and much more on my website WELCOME TO AZIAB

.......anders.......
Red Sea Exspert ;o)
WELCOME TO AZIAB