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Aboard

MV Coral Queen

In July 2001 a group of twelve divers from the club travelled to Egypt for a very special diving Trip.

We flew from Gatwick to Hurghada, a town on the northeast coast of mainland Egypt then undertook a seven hour journey by bus down the east coast road to a place called Wadi Lahami just north of the Ras Banas penninsular.

From here we boarded MV Coral Queen and headed off for the far South to a region known as St. John's Reef.

The following pictures tell the story of that trip.
The map above shows Eastern Egypt and the location of Hurghada and Wadi Lahami.
Coral Queen is a beautifully designed 24 metre twin screw motor cruiser fitted with modern navigation and safety equipment. Built in 1996 she is owned and run by Guido Sherif, a dedicated diving enthusiast. Inside she comprises a very spacious air conditioned saloon with television, VCR and sound system, together with six comfortable, twin berth, air conditioned cabins with en suite showers and toilets for the passengers. There is a large sun deck on top and the aft diving deck is laid out for ease of kitting up and water entry.

MV Coral Queen
We headed south towards the Sudanese border for the first half of the trip to dive the various reefs that make up St. Johns Reef then we headed north to dive the reefs of Fury Shoal.

The map below shows the areas we visited during our trip.

The Team

Peter Rees, Gareth Griffiths,
Mark Jones, Shoni Upright,
Jeff Canning.

John Evans, Gareth Jones,
Phil Marshall.

Gillian Berntsen, Peter Swarfield,
Gail Richards, Andrew Pipien.
Ahmed our dive guide
for the trip.
Coral Queen moored
on the south side of
MIkauwa Island.
An example of the pristine coral reefs
found around the islands in this area.
Ahmed in charge
and looking super cool.
This particular reef is called Malahi
and is a superb dive site because of
the many channels, canyons and
swim-throughs it contains.

The fractured nature of the reef can
easily be seen from this surface
photograph.
Most of the reefs in this southern
section of the Egyptian Red Sea
are in superb condition.

An example of a coral reef
with a shallow lagoon
in the centre.

Mikauwa Island in the distance.
This picture shows a diver descending from Coral Queen to the reef below.

A typical Red Sea reef scene
with dozens of Anthias.


The shadow top right is the
hull of Coral Queen.
A diver (Shoni Upright) examines
a soft coral
The visibility was more than 30 metres on many of the dives. This particular reef was one example.
Another reef with its hundreds
of Anthias.
More brightly coloured soft corals.
Schooling Bannerfish
Some sections of the reefs were
predominantly made of hard corals.
Other sectionshad a mixture of
hard and soft corals growing together.
More schooling Bannerfish
A pair of Masked Butterflyfish.
Many reefs had caves and gullies for divers to explore. This one has a nice example of a giant anemone.
A giant anemone with
lots of Clown Fish.
A pair of Clown Fish.
A lone Clown Fish.
A diver (Shoni Upright) exploring the many gullies and passages on
Malahi reef.
Shoni in another a cave inside
one of the reefs.
The wreck of a yacht.
A shoal of Jacks.
The dreaded Titan Triggerfish.
These have been known to attack
and bite divers.
An Arabian Angelfish.
A Giant Clam.
Close up of a soft coral.
A Hammerhead Shark.
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For more information about MV Coral Queen
and to charter her contact:

on 01323 648924

email: info@oonasdivers.com
© copyright 2002 Llantrisant Sub-Aqua Club