Red Sea diving in May 2002

We dived the Thistlegorm, Dunraven and the Red Sea from Sharm El Sheikh

May 2002

Egypt

In May 2002 we dived in the Red Sea based in the Naama Bay hotel, Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai. Several of us saw our first Manta ray, all the diving was good and we also tried a few 'dry' activities too. Big Col organised our trip through Explorer Travels from Gatwick in the UK. The airplane had no beer! on both trips, some seats couldn't recline, there was no form of in-flight entertainment (not even a radio) and there is no leg room for anyone of 6 foot or more. The hotel, staff and other arrangements were good.

Accommodation

We stayed at the Naama Bay hotel which was very good, and yes we would go back again. It is located in the centre of Sharm el Sheikh, opposite a shopping centre and small market.

Sharm El Sheikh is very definitely a tourist town. We only found one diving shop selling mainly Mares gear. The other shops are full of tourist souvenirs - clothing, own design tee shirts, spices, jewellery, pots and collectibles and many restaurants (including Chinese and Indian), Hard Rock cafe. The local beer is drinkable but we couldn't find a good camera shop or any sign of a hardware store.

A lot of dive boats are based in Sharm port, which is a short drive from the town. The sea was calm all week. Twice we were escorted by a small school of Dolphins and a 7 foot/2m Manta ray slowly glided around our boat between dives.

The Diving:

Although we arrived early in the morning most divers were up to the first days diving and it was one of the best as it included turtles, a shoal of barracuda and an octopus among the thousands of fish and coral. The water was around 26C/78F, most divers wore 3m shorties with a few wearing full wet suits. Viz tended to be around 20 meters but it could get down to 10-15m on some dives.

We dived the wrecks of The Dunraven and The Thistlegorm.

The Dunraven is breaking up which makes it an easy wreck to get inside. It is upside down and the 6foot/2metre propeller is still in place. We entered near the stern first, then came out and used an entrance by the bows to go to midships. We disturbed some large fish.

The Thistlegorm is well known world-wide as it was carrying munitions and vehicles for war. The remains of trucks, old English BSA motorbikes and munitions boxes are some of the clearly visible cargo. Click here for many more photos of the Thistlegorm.

Here are our marine life pictures:

Fish and scenes in the Red Sea. We were diving from Sharm El Sheikh. All these pictures were taken by Big Col, Dogsbreath divers chairman.


	Please mention you heard about the air station from Dogsbreath Divers when you buy your air or mixed gasses.

And there was a reverse bungee jump while we were there. 55 metres in 1.3 seconds! Keith & Big Col took their seats.