Red Sea Holiday Nov 15 – Part 1

Red Sea Diving Holiday – project shark – Best of the Red Sea

6th November 2015

An early morning meant a few red eyes when we met at a rainy Gatwick Airport. Everyone checked in smoothly (no visa issues this year), and the check-in staff turned a blind eye to the extra kg’s of dive gear.

After a cheeky beer we boarded the plane and headed South. Jenny, Lianne, Ben and Alex (JLBA) bonded over a few bottles of Champagne, much to the amusement of the other passengers. By the time we arrived in Hurghada the initial sounds of slurring started to appear.

In the terminal we were welcomed by the Blueotwo crew who directeI d us to the bus for 3.5 drive to Port Ghalib. JLBA decided this would be the ideal time to down a 1ltr bottle of rum – neat.

At 8pm we arrived at our home for the week ‘Blue Horizon’, a luxury diving liveaboard. Most of the group were very impressed by the levels of comfort and the fact that it has a large jacuzzi – currently empty and there was a fridge full of beer.

Ben could barely speak or stand, Jenny decided to introduce herself to the rest of the group by giving group hugs and Alex decided to be as LOUD as possible.

After a sumptuous chicken curry, 1/2 the group decided to pop to the local shisha bar and sup a few Heinekens. Ben and Lianne “impressed” the other people in the bar by cutting a few shapes in front of the house DJ. Think Strictly Come Dancing on acid.

7th November

The following morning we enjoyed a feast of ‘cheese omelettes’, toast and pancakes. The boat left the moorings and we headed out to sea. The first dive site ‘Abu Sayan’, was a nice easy check dive but for the Red Sea newbies was highly impressive. Ben and Jen sat it out as they declared themselves “unfit to dive”, a very wise move.

Weight checks done we plunged in to the blue. This part of Egypt is famed for its stunning colourful corals and they didn’t disappoint. Our professional gardener on the trip was in awe and loved the freedom of not having to be guided. Giant puffer fish, clown fish, lion fish, blue spotted stingray were in abundance. The highlight for most people was the Octopus that put on a display of different colours, shapes and textures.

After lunch we headed off for our 2nd dive site, Abu Shouna. The dive guide briefed us on the chance of seeing Turtles and a manatee. Unfortunately we mostly spotted sand, more sand and some rocks, covered in sand. My favourite bit was watching a school of sardines with their mouths wide open eating the copious amounts of plankton. “A bit snotty” was a fair description of this dive site. Perhaps our guides thought some of the group needed to improve on their buoyancy and allow the sandy bottom to be used as a trampoline. In fairness everyone seemed to soon adjust to the underwater world, even Ben and Jen didn’t have any issues.

After the dive our guide Chrissie gave us our first shark presentation. This centred on the main shark species we will hopefully encounter, how to recognise them and their breeding behaviours (chuckle chuckle). Straight afterwards 1/2 the group went for a night dive to look at more snot. The rest of the group cracked open a few tinnies.

To be continued….

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