THE ULTIMATE DIVING EXPERIENCE – THE RED SEA
This year our International Trip was to the THE ULTIMATE DIVING EXPERIENCE – THE RED SEA.
3 of our staff members were lucky enough to embark on the trip of a lifetime and see some of the most incredible wrecks and reefs that the Red Sea has to offer.
After our flight with Egypt air from Johannesburg to Cairo and then Cairo to Hurghada, we were met by the friendly Red Sea Jol Team! A short bus trip later and we were aboard the Beautiful MV Nouran and ready for the adventure to begin.
The Check Dive was conducted at Shaab El Erg AKA Dolphin house, one of our Lucky dive Groups had the incredible opportunity to see Dolphins on Scuba too!
The Reefs
One of the most incredible sightings for us, was the vast amount of life on every reef we dived. The Reefs themselves were like nothing we had ever seen before either.
The usual situation of being dropped on a Reef and descending down to the reef below is not what you experience in the Red Sea.
The Reefs begin on the surface, about half a meter or so below and you dive these incredible walls that descend far below 60m. The Crystal blue water makes it easy to see the bottom and gives the illusion of being at only 10m, when you’re close to 20 – 25m. The light coming from the surface and through the blue water illuminates the reef and the colours are just mind boggling. If the beauty of the reefs themselves wasn’t enough, the sea-life was bound to keep everyone guessing as to what we would see next.
Some of the sightings included:
- Dolphins
- Massive Napoleon Wrasse
- Eagle Rays
- Crocodlefish
- Scorpionfish
- TONNES of Lionfish
- Huge Moray Eels
- Octopus
- Longnose Hawkfish
- Huge schools of snappers, trevallys and Goldies
- And the List continues, A true photographers paradise!
The Reefs were so abundant in life that you could stare at one tiny spot and see the most incredible fish-life.
The Wrecks
Divetek is very much a company that portrays the simplicity and serenity of recreational diving. We love nice and easy dives. We are very much a recreational diving company and we would never have thought that the wrecks would have been such an awesome dive! Just WOW! Lets just say we would like to plan a few more trips to dive the wrecks around the World after this Introduction to Wreck Diving!
The Wrecks we dived were as follows
- Chrisoula K
- Giannis D
- The Ulysses
- SS THISTLEGORM!!!
- The Barge
- Dunraven
Of all of the wrecks we did, each with their own charm and gorgeous swim-throughs with Aquamarine Water coming through, we have to make special mention of the Majestic Thistlegorm. Both the history and size of this wreck makes it a divers playground and paradise. We were lucky enough to have two dives on this wreck. One to have a look inside and the second to fly alongside the wreck in amongst massive schools of fish all the way down from bow to Stern. This is something that EVERY SINGLE Diver has to experience at least once in their lives. words truly cannot explain the immensity and beauty of diving this historical WWII Wreck icon. A truly world-class wreck dive! We can honestly speak for all of our divers and say that we could have spent the entire trip just exploring this wreck.
The Night Dives
As a South-african Diver, we all know the difficulties involved in the planning and preparation of a night Dive. If you have been lucky enough to catch our South African Waters on a good evening and the Night Dive went out as scheduled, it makes you rather unique in having been able to experience a Night Dive. For the rest of us, Miracle Waters becomes the playground for our Night Dive Experiences.
The Night Dives were a real treat in the Red Sea! We explored the most devine reefs during the day and were able to take a simple Giant Stride off the back of the boat and explore them at Night Too! A real crowd pleaser were the massive amounts of Lionfish that came out, no longer in their docile day state, to hunt. And the best place to hunt…..Right behind your torch light!
Our best part was to sit on the Safety stop and look up through the school of fish to the lights from the boat above, creating beautiful silhouettes!
So all in all it was a fantastic trip! A real group of Diving Fanatics enjoying the amazing reefs and wrecks of the Red Sea. A big thank-you to Red Sea Jol, for an Unforgettable Diving Trip.