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(Overnight in Sharm and Connections from North America to Sharm discussed in Post #2)
We boarded the the Liveaboard "VIP One" in Sharm el Sheikh (the Southern tip of the Sinai, North end of the Red Sea) on late Sunday Night (Monarch flight Southbound from Gatwick was 5 hrs late) and got underway Monday Morning after getting clearance from Harbor Master.
The tip of the Sinai is flanked on the Western left by the Gulf of Suez and on the Eastern right- by the Gulf of Aqaba with the Straits of Tiran as a SE starting point. We did a quick weight-check dive on a rather bleak spot but were pleased to find all of the regular fish plus daylight Octopus, Cuttlefish and several Pipefish. We were marauded by one of those "1/2 submarine" tour boats wanting to give their passengers a look at SCUBA diver's butts.
We then did: Ras Katy, Alternatives, Shark Ryolanda, Alternatives (night). Then Shark Observatory, Small Crack, Thistlegorm, Thistlegorm (night). Then Thistlegorm, Thistlegorm, Shag Rock, Shaabau (night). Shark Observatory, Dunnraven, Shark Observatory, Raas Am (night). Ras Za'atr, Thomas (Tiran), Jackson, Gordon, Woodhouse (night) in 5 very full days of diving. I could swear we did Ras Burg, Thomas and some others, but I can't recall. The character of this group was that most of us were well beyond logging dives. Memories suffice, cameras were all but universal. This was a self reliant yet helpful group that one dreams of diving along with.
They were largely Brits so I learned some new words in English, as well as phrasing by preceeding every exclamation with "right well..." This was very confusing for me as there was a Canadian (eh?) with us plus two Scotts. The Brits were largely Northerners and their language is truly handed down from the aliens that built Stonehenge. I asked them and they said that they understood everything I said, but I got abot 45% of what they said. Man- and I lived in London for a while. I did learn some useful things including the universal catch word: bollocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollocks
The VIP One is well set up for diving and handled out 14 divers with no problem. They provided nitrox and alternative larger sized tanks if you suck air. The food was plentiful and good. There was a "mark what you take" bar and unlimited free bottled water. http://www.vipone.com/index-h.html
The water temps were in 82* "bathtub water" (July 06). (28 Celcius) Some wore 3 mils, a few of us went in swim trunks. The air temps were 90-105*, (35-40 C) most nights dropping to the upper 80's with an all but constant breeze.
The real plus was the dive briefings as the dive site maps were very well drawn and quite descriptive of what we would find. The DM, James, also lead us on one whirlwind tour of the 127 meter long Thistlegorm before we set off on our own repetitive dives there. She went down in 1941, during WW2 and settled in 60-100fsw, fully laden with cargo of Enfield Rifles, railroad tank cars, locomotives, scores of BSA motorcycles, Morris Trucks, Mine-sweeping Paravanes, Tires, Grenades, Ammo, 16" Naval shells, airplane wings, tracked weapons carriers (light tanks), Wellington Boots and more- 10.3" & 4.7" deck guns, huge prop and easy swim throughs. http://touregypt.net/VDC/Thistle.htm Cousteau "discovered" her in 1955, we all watched intently on "Silent World"... Well us old farts, anyway.
We visited a number or wooden hulled steamship/sail wrecks, as well as the Yolanda (the famous Toilet Bowl bathroom fixture wreck). Many seem to need their picture perched atop one of the bowls! The wreck's captain vainly attempted to lighten his ship, finally tossing his own BMW overboard- all in vain. We also stopped to dive on the Dunraven, Kingston (1881), and to gawk at the Loullia (1981).
The other great positive to the VIP One was its English Captain. He knew "when to make his move". We arrived at even the most popular dive sites well ahead of the marauding "day dive boats" that disgorge multitudes upon the popular sites. He timed our entries to occur just before they arrived, we exited as they entered. Our night dives were always on sites that we had seen in the daylight. He is not afraid to move the ship and burn some fuel, which is quite cheap by our Pacific/Caribbean standards. The boat is constantly on the move.
The cabins were more than adequate, as good as any of the better liveaboards. Remember that almost all of them are refitted luxury cabin cruiser yachts, so don't think Hughes or Dancer. A lot of wood and fancy stuff- so no shoes! The cabins smelled just fine and- as is the case with most similar liveaboards, the a/c was marginal to acceptable, varying throughout the day with no rhyme or reason. The service of the crew more than made up for any very minor shortcomings of the boat. If I had one (again- very minor) criticism, it would be that the rear platform ladders were vertical. The one strandard and one tree-ladder were not angled, so the pull up is somewhat harder than if angled. The recoveries, many times, were done professionaly from RIBs, and the transfer back to the VIP One was well attended by crewmembers assistance. We never had to touch our gear.
Sharks? Sure- lots of Sharks. Call me jaded, but I've seen my Sharks. I was more taken with the quantity of Pipefish and the most unusual Sea Moth http://www.photocean.com/seamoth.html. These critters seem to travel in pairs, but that one evening I found five in a cluster. I spent 45 minutes at 18fsw and did everything short of tasting them! Previously in that same shallow dive, I spent 25 minutes watching a Blue Trigger tend its nest, aereating it in a circular pattern that was not to be interupted. Earlier, I watched as two Titan Triggers terrorized two other divers from our group.
I had a run-in with a Titan Trigger, and true to form, it attacked my flippers, but he would divert his attack if I swept him with my flashlight. Next case.
Also spotted: Slipper Lobster, Hooded Cuttlefish, Bigfin Reef Squid, Red Sea Partner Goby & Snapping Shrimp sharing a hidey-hole, Sugarcan Shrimp, Burrowing Snake Eel, Snake Blenny (nocturnal), Needlefish, Eyelash Spider Crab, Network and Schultzs Pipe Fish, Blue Spotted Ribbontail Ray, Dolphin, Gorgonian Goby, Squat Cleaner Shrimp, Anemone Bubble Coral Shrimp, Nudibranch egg ribbons, Orange and Blue Thecacera Nudibranch, Pyjama Slug, and Ruppell's Wart Slug. Not a complete list!
There was quite a debate amongst several of our fellow divers as to what type sharks they were seeing, as there was one that did not seem to appear as a localy known species in any book. Off of Alternatives we easily located a huge school of circling Baracuda, and upon dipping lower- Sharks would appear and approach doing the arched back dance. Hey, Chum, what kind of Sharks are they?
Thank heavens for the reef critter ID book I found called "RED SEA REEF GUIDE" by Helmut Debelius, also available anywhere in Sharm.
My favorite site above all of the rest was easily Ras Za'atr with its dramatic overhangs and swim throughs. The lighting was spectacular at the time of day as our Captain intentionaly presented it to us.
We saw the 1967 remnants of Russian armour being pushed off of cliffs before retreat from the invading Israeli forces. A quick look at the jagged, un-eroded straight-up walls of the Sinai Mountains... That would have been a terribly costly battle to move through that natural fortress. The mountains are simply breathtaking. The eroded bits of sand near the ocean are apparently from a freak 3 day deluge storm in 2002.
Now, for our last night a stop in Sharm. It's hot. But it's a dry heat. Kind of like a Pizza Oven.
We booked this through Longwood Holidays. http://www.longwoodholidays.co.uk/ We had to handle everything up to our arranged Monarch Flight to Sharm.
Above water PIX? See http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/doc_adelman/album?.dir=/8d2bre2
(See "Part 2", our Overnight in Sharm and "Part 3", Travel from North America Via London)
We boarded the the Liveaboard "VIP One" in Sharm el Sheikh (the Southern tip of the Sinai, North end of the Red Sea) on late Sunday Night (Monarch flight Southbound from Gatwick was 5 hrs late) and got underway Monday Morning after getting clearance from Harbor Master.
The tip of the Sinai is flanked on the Western left by the Gulf of Suez and on the Eastern right- by the Gulf of Aqaba with the Straits of Tiran as a SE starting point. We did a quick weight-check dive on a rather bleak spot but were pleased to find all of the regular fish plus daylight Octopus, Cuttlefish and several Pipefish. We were marauded by one of those "1/2 submarine" tour boats wanting to give their passengers a look at SCUBA diver's butts.
We then did: Ras Katy, Alternatives, Shark Ryolanda, Alternatives (night). Then Shark Observatory, Small Crack, Thistlegorm, Thistlegorm (night). Then Thistlegorm, Thistlegorm, Shag Rock, Shaabau (night). Shark Observatory, Dunnraven, Shark Observatory, Raas Am (night). Ras Za'atr, Thomas (Tiran), Jackson, Gordon, Woodhouse (night) in 5 very full days of diving. I could swear we did Ras Burg, Thomas and some others, but I can't recall. The character of this group was that most of us were well beyond logging dives. Memories suffice, cameras were all but universal. This was a self reliant yet helpful group that one dreams of diving along with.
They were largely Brits so I learned some new words in English, as well as phrasing by preceeding every exclamation with "right well..." This was very confusing for me as there was a Canadian (eh?) with us plus two Scotts. The Brits were largely Northerners and their language is truly handed down from the aliens that built Stonehenge. I asked them and they said that they understood everything I said, but I got abot 45% of what they said. Man- and I lived in London for a while. I did learn some useful things including the universal catch word: bollocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollocks
The VIP One is well set up for diving and handled out 14 divers with no problem. They provided nitrox and alternative larger sized tanks if you suck air. The food was plentiful and good. There was a "mark what you take" bar and unlimited free bottled water. http://www.vipone.com/index-h.html
The water temps were in 82* "bathtub water" (July 06). (28 Celcius) Some wore 3 mils, a few of us went in swim trunks. The air temps were 90-105*, (35-40 C) most nights dropping to the upper 80's with an all but constant breeze.
The real plus was the dive briefings as the dive site maps were very well drawn and quite descriptive of what we would find. The DM, James, also lead us on one whirlwind tour of the 127 meter long Thistlegorm before we set off on our own repetitive dives there. She went down in 1941, during WW2 and settled in 60-100fsw, fully laden with cargo of Enfield Rifles, railroad tank cars, locomotives, scores of BSA motorcycles, Morris Trucks, Mine-sweeping Paravanes, Tires, Grenades, Ammo, 16" Naval shells, airplane wings, tracked weapons carriers (light tanks), Wellington Boots and more- 10.3" & 4.7" deck guns, huge prop and easy swim throughs. http://touregypt.net/VDC/Thistle.htm Cousteau "discovered" her in 1955, we all watched intently on "Silent World"... Well us old farts, anyway.
We visited a number or wooden hulled steamship/sail wrecks, as well as the Yolanda (the famous Toilet Bowl bathroom fixture wreck). Many seem to need their picture perched atop one of the bowls! The wreck's captain vainly attempted to lighten his ship, finally tossing his own BMW overboard- all in vain. We also stopped to dive on the Dunraven, Kingston (1881), and to gawk at the Loullia (1981).
The other great positive to the VIP One was its English Captain. He knew "when to make his move". We arrived at even the most popular dive sites well ahead of the marauding "day dive boats" that disgorge multitudes upon the popular sites. He timed our entries to occur just before they arrived, we exited as they entered. Our night dives were always on sites that we had seen in the daylight. He is not afraid to move the ship and burn some fuel, which is quite cheap by our Pacific/Caribbean standards. The boat is constantly on the move.
The cabins were more than adequate, as good as any of the better liveaboards. Remember that almost all of them are refitted luxury cabin cruiser yachts, so don't think Hughes or Dancer. A lot of wood and fancy stuff- so no shoes! The cabins smelled just fine and- as is the case with most similar liveaboards, the a/c was marginal to acceptable, varying throughout the day with no rhyme or reason. The service of the crew more than made up for any very minor shortcomings of the boat. If I had one (again- very minor) criticism, it would be that the rear platform ladders were vertical. The one strandard and one tree-ladder were not angled, so the pull up is somewhat harder than if angled. The recoveries, many times, were done professionaly from RIBs, and the transfer back to the VIP One was well attended by crewmembers assistance. We never had to touch our gear.
Sharks? Sure- lots of Sharks. Call me jaded, but I've seen my Sharks. I was more taken with the quantity of Pipefish and the most unusual Sea Moth http://www.photocean.com/seamoth.html. These critters seem to travel in pairs, but that one evening I found five in a cluster. I spent 45 minutes at 18fsw and did everything short of tasting them! Previously in that same shallow dive, I spent 25 minutes watching a Blue Trigger tend its nest, aereating it in a circular pattern that was not to be interupted. Earlier, I watched as two Titan Triggers terrorized two other divers from our group.
I had a run-in with a Titan Trigger, and true to form, it attacked my flippers, but he would divert his attack if I swept him with my flashlight. Next case.
Also spotted: Slipper Lobster, Hooded Cuttlefish, Bigfin Reef Squid, Red Sea Partner Goby & Snapping Shrimp sharing a hidey-hole, Sugarcan Shrimp, Burrowing Snake Eel, Snake Blenny (nocturnal), Needlefish, Eyelash Spider Crab, Network and Schultzs Pipe Fish, Blue Spotted Ribbontail Ray, Dolphin, Gorgonian Goby, Squat Cleaner Shrimp, Anemone Bubble Coral Shrimp, Nudibranch egg ribbons, Orange and Blue Thecacera Nudibranch, Pyjama Slug, and Ruppell's Wart Slug. Not a complete list!
There was quite a debate amongst several of our fellow divers as to what type sharks they were seeing, as there was one that did not seem to appear as a localy known species in any book. Off of Alternatives we easily located a huge school of circling Baracuda, and upon dipping lower- Sharks would appear and approach doing the arched back dance. Hey, Chum, what kind of Sharks are they?
Thank heavens for the reef critter ID book I found called "RED SEA REEF GUIDE" by Helmut Debelius, also available anywhere in Sharm.
My favorite site above all of the rest was easily Ras Za'atr with its dramatic overhangs and swim throughs. The lighting was spectacular at the time of day as our Captain intentionaly presented it to us.
We saw the 1967 remnants of Russian armour being pushed off of cliffs before retreat from the invading Israeli forces. A quick look at the jagged, un-eroded straight-up walls of the Sinai Mountains... That would have been a terribly costly battle to move through that natural fortress. The mountains are simply breathtaking. The eroded bits of sand near the ocean are apparently from a freak 3 day deluge storm in 2002.
Now, for our last night a stop in Sharm. It's hot. But it's a dry heat. Kind of like a Pizza Oven.
We booked this through Longwood Holidays. http://www.longwoodholidays.co.uk/ We had to handle everything up to our arranged Monarch Flight to Sharm.
Above water PIX? See http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/doc_adelman/album?.dir=/8d2bre2
(See "Part 2", our Overnight in Sharm and "Part 3", Travel from North America Via London)
