In Djibouti or other hot climates, there is no need for exposure suits against the cold for a typical dive lasting between 45mins to 1.5hrs. Long decompression stops may well need exposure suits and 'normal' precautions and organisation is required.
I don't know about all places in the Red Sea but there is a pretty large swing in water temps from around 21-30C through the year in Sharm. However I guess the coral and the associated algae has adapted to such temperature changes. It tends to grow quickly in Jan-Mar and then tolerate the hotter water in July/Aug. The coral also suffer due to divers during the summer from what I have seen.
In some places, a change of a few degrees is enough to start bleaching- Maldives got hit hard back in the 90's and the temp was around 35C in some places. This was enough to cause a massive bleaching epidemic where in some atolls 90% of the reef died over a period of a few months. The 'normal' temp is around 29C here in Maldives. In my time here I have seen 27 on a couple of occasions in strong upwellings and 32. Lagoons can often be 33 at the surface.
Right now in Laamu Atoll, the barrier reef in front of my place has small (dinner plate size) table corals bleaching. It started about a month ago when the winds changed direction. My first reaction was one of alarm, but on reflection, I now believe that this is a natural yearly cycle. The barrier reef here is made up of 'rock'. The depth is about 1m underwater. There is not much living coral to see besides massive Porites 'boulder coral'. The rest looks like a large slab of concrete. But this is a 'barrier' reef. On either side- especially on the deeper side, the coral is healthy and growing. My theory is that the small bleaching coral grows and dies every year with the change of monsoon cycles. The bleached coral eventually crumbles and adds to the 'cement' of the barrier reef, which in turn protects the island from erosion. So with this in mind, I look at these small bleaching corals as a natural phenomenon akin to wild fires which on first appearance appear to be destructive, but in the long term are needed for a healthy environment.
What I think is that the same coral species in different areas have adapted to the local conditions- no surprise there. But the difference is in places like Djibouti where the coral every year is forced to tolerate very high temps which would kill the coral in the Maldives for example in a few weeks. The Red Sea coral has adapted to a wide swing of temps which may well stress the coral of Djibouti which never sees temps below 27.
The coral in Djibouti is on a whole very nice. The Gulf of Tadjura is pretty mediocre diving IMO- there are some nice places here and there but nothing got me too excited except for the whalesharks starting from Dec. A lot of benthic rays in the shallows and some large groupers at depth- approx 40m. The northern side of the gulf has more dropoffs- the southern side where I was based was sloped. As you go west, there is a squeeze (can't remember the name) and I never dived there. But apparently the current is out of this world and a lot of sharks including Hammers can be seen there.
I don't know about all places in the Red Sea but there is a pretty large swing in water temps from around 21-30C through the year in Sharm. However I guess the coral and the associated algae has adapted to such temperature changes. It tends to grow quickly in Jan-Mar and then tolerate the hotter water in July/Aug. The coral also suffer due to divers during the summer from what I have seen.
In some places, a change of a few degrees is enough to start bleaching- Maldives got hit hard back in the 90's and the temp was around 35C in some places. This was enough to cause a massive bleaching epidemic where in some atolls 90% of the reef died over a period of a few months. The 'normal' temp is around 29C here in Maldives. In my time here I have seen 27 on a couple of occasions in strong upwellings and 32. Lagoons can often be 33 at the surface.
Right now in Laamu Atoll, the barrier reef in front of my place has small (dinner plate size) table corals bleaching. It started about a month ago when the winds changed direction. My first reaction was one of alarm, but on reflection, I now believe that this is a natural yearly cycle. The barrier reef here is made up of 'rock'. The depth is about 1m underwater. There is not much living coral to see besides massive Porites 'boulder coral'. The rest looks like a large slab of concrete. But this is a 'barrier' reef. On either side- especially on the deeper side, the coral is healthy and growing. My theory is that the small bleaching coral grows and dies every year with the change of monsoon cycles. The bleached coral eventually crumbles and adds to the 'cement' of the barrier reef, which in turn protects the island from erosion. So with this in mind, I look at these small bleaching corals as a natural phenomenon akin to wild fires which on first appearance appear to be destructive, but in the long term are needed for a healthy environment.
What I think is that the same coral species in different areas have adapted to the local conditions- no surprise there. But the difference is in places like Djibouti where the coral every year is forced to tolerate very high temps which would kill the coral in the Maldives for example in a few weeks. The Red Sea coral has adapted to a wide swing of temps which may well stress the coral of Djibouti which never sees temps below 27.
The coral in Djibouti is on a whole very nice. The Gulf of Tadjura is pretty mediocre diving IMO- there are some nice places here and there but nothing got me too excited except for the whalesharks starting from Dec. A lot of benthic rays in the shallows and some large groupers at depth- approx 40m. The northern side of the gulf has more dropoffs- the southern side where I was based was sloped. As you go west, there is a squeeze (can't remember the name) and I never dived there. But apparently the current is out of this world and a lot of sharks including Hammers can be seen there.
