|
 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 right 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. |
Many reefs had caves and gullies for divers to explore. This
one has a nice example of a giant anemone. |
A pair of Masked Butterflyfish. |
More schooling Bannerfish |
A giant anemone with lots of Clown Fish. |
A pair of Clown Fish. |
A lone Clown Fish. |
An Arabian Angelfish. |
A diver (Shoni Upright) exploring the many gullies
and passages on Malahi reef. |
Shoni in another a cave inside
one of the reefs. |
A mini-shoal of Jacks. |
The dreaded Titan Triggerfish.
These have been known to attack and bite divers. |
A Giant Clam. |
Close up of a soft coral. |
A Hammerhead
Shark. |
The wreck
of a yacht. |
| Top
of Page |
For
more information about Red Sea charters
contact:
on
01323 648924
email:
info@oonasdivers.com
|
