Southern Red Sea - Blue Pearl

What a fantastic experience this was going to be! Having only ever previously dived in UK waters I was really looking forward to a trip to the Southern Red Sea in October. The trip had been organised by Steve (Sladie) and was a live-aboard and we wouldn't see land for a whole week!

The group met at Manchester Airport and after having a four hour delay, flew to Marsa Alam in Egypt. After a short bus trip to Port Ghalib which is all still fairly new and under development, boarded the Blue Pearl. Heading out to sea I found that I hadn't quite got my sea legs and spent most of the evening lying on the deck staring up at the stars. The following morning it was up at 5.30 am ready for the dive briefing and our first dive to do a weight check. My first ever dive in crystal clear waters and you could actually see the white sandy bottom and coral pinnacles from the boat!

Buddied with Hilary we all went into the water off the back of the boat. This was Abudabab 1 - white sand with coral pinnacles dotted here and there. The visibility was fantastic and so clear that you could still see the other divers in the far distance. There were all different types and colours of sea creatures and fish clustered around the many coral pinnacles - black and white box fish, Angel fish, Blue Clam, Blue spotted rays and many others. It was like a rainbow with the multi coloured corals dotted with the tiniest bright coloured fish swimming around them. It was so amazing - you could see the surface and bottom of the boat at 16 metres, it was even better than I could have imagined and more. Heading for surface after 46 minutes with a brief stop at 6 metres I just didn't want to get out of the water - it was truly majestic!

The second dive of the day - Abudabab 3 was a little deeper at 24 metres and again was so clear and teeming with life - Moray eel which had been hiding in some coral, Parrot and Surgeon fish and a shoal of Angel Jacks, you could never be disappointed in what you saw on any dive.

After a very long trip to the middle of the sea, still feeling a bit green around the gills and wishing to be beamed up 'Scotty', we finally anchored ready for an early start the following day. Waking up to the sight of a large coral reef with a lighthouse through the porthole in our cabin, this was Daedulus and with this was the possibility of seeing the much larger type of fish!

Our Dive Guide Hassan led us around the reef and almost immediately saw a an Oceanic White Tip, Angel Jacks and Barracuda, there were a lot more of the same type of fish in shoals from small ones to the larger Trevailles which are similar to Tuna. As we rounded the South East side a Hammerhead was swimming towards us but was unfortunately frightened off as it was camera shy. Rounding this side of the reef it was layered with large fan tail coral all the way down to the bottom. As we were being picked up in the zodiac there were some Oceanic White Tips swimming about and as Hassan waited to get aboard one of these sharks appeared in the wave just behind him - he wasn't scared and got back in the boat still in one piece!

The second dive on this reef we headed straight down because of a faster current running and very big waves breaking on the surface. A lone Grey Reef Shark about 10 metres below us and some Barracuda, I managed to get a photo of a turtle - hope it turns out okay! On surfacing we had a long wait as the zodiac had broken down which was a bit hairy as we'd spotted a few Oceanics on the way up and the waves were really breaking hard against the reef.

The third dive around Daedulus a group of us had to fin like fury against a really strong current to get to the anchor line suspended out into the blue! There appeared to be lots of craters on the sandy bottom which were possibly turtle nests. Gripping onto the anchor line three Oceanic White Tips started circling but not too close but as divers returned to the surface and boat they started coming in a bit closer - my buddy James and I were closely followed by two as we snorkelled back to the boat.

The next day two dives around Rocky Island had been organised - the first West to East again with a negative drop and a drift dive along a beautiful wall reef - lots of life again with Lion Fish hiding in the crevices, Parrot fish and the tiny bright coloured fish and lots of different coloured and type of coral formation, one which looked like a huge cauliflower! The current just carried you along the reef and you had no choice but to go were it took you to the end of the reef where we picked up in the zodiac. The second dive we went North to East, again straight down and go with the flow - very large fan tail coral (sea fans) jutting out from the reef. Lots of brightly coloured Butterfly and Parrot fish. James went into a cave that had an exit in the roof space. The sunlight was shining down into the depths, lighting up the reef and the waves crashing against the reef itself was a sight to behold.

Our third dive of the day was Zabad where the Blue Pearl anchored to a reef surrounding this rocky island with an aqua-marine coloured lagoon. This was a slow drift dive along a reef wall teeming with life were we found a large Grouper hiding in a rocky crevice. Back onto the Blue Pearl and set sail again ready for a new dive spot for the following day with the added bonus of a small school of dolphins to see us on our way!

Today I am feeling much better as Hassan had given me some 'magic tablets' to take away my constant headache and sickness - I was cured! Dolphin Reef was a dive straight off the back of the Blue Pearl onto a sandy bottom that eventually shelved into the blue depths beyond. Small coral pinnacles dotted along the bottom clustered with all types and colours of marine life. Moray eel and a Stingray were spotted as we gently floated past a reef wall full of Parrot and Banner fish. Again the really tiny brightly iridescent fish swimming amongst the coral, lots more Banner fish and shoals of Goat fish followed by a Silver Jack, possibly looking for a tasty treat and a large Grouper and Lion Fish hiding in crevices spreading their fins as another fish approached them.

Our second dive dropping to a sandy bed saw us meeting up with a huge Napoleon Wrasse with a big chunk missing from its top lip. It swam right up to me so I could see its full colour in glory - a deep velvety green, marked with turquoise and gold - pretty colours but an ugly looking fish! It followed us for a while and then gave up and swam away. Hassan took us through some caves in the reef which led to a larger cavern where you could see the blue sky and all the fish suspended in the water. Exiting through a narrow passage into a smaller cave and back onto the reef where we again noticed the Napoleon Wrasse still hanging around. We spent some time watching the Nemo fish in an anemone as it undulated in the current.

Our third dive of the day was at Coins which turned into a twilight dive. There were a few other boats around and quite a few divers went in at the same time as we did, which got a bit confusing as I realised when following what I thought was our group turned out to be complete strangers! We managed to find our group - as the water and visibility is fantastic it is much easier to spot divers for quite a distance. Twilight is a good time for diving as a lot more different marine life seem to come out. Hassan pointed out two brightly coloured Nudibranches (sea slugs) blue/purple with orange and cream stripes and finally, wondering what he was pointing out at first, saw the eyes and head of an Octopus emerge from a brain coral.

We moved onto another dive location - Dahara and this would be the first night dive. This time I went in with Neil as I'm not too keen on night diving - we just did a gentle mooch about, found some sleeping Goat fish, Puffer fish resting on the coral, spiny Black and Red Sea Urchins, Torpedo Ray, Angler fish, Parrot fish, two orange and cream Lion Fish one of which quickly gobbled down an unsuspecting fish for supper and a Moses sole - when you shone your torch up to the surface there were lots of larger fish that seemed just to be suspended in the water - it was quite surreal!

Setting off on another fairly long sail to our next dive destination, Elphinstone although this didn't particularly bother as I seemed cured of my sea sickness. The first dive we went straight down into the blue and then swam towards the reef, we were told there might be a possibility of spotting some larger palaegics but other than seeing some small fish and Lion fish and a Moray Eel foraging for food there was little else to be seen which was a little disappointing.

The second dive was on the Shona Reef which was a nice gentle reef dive were we spotted Moray eels, Crocodile fish, some really tiny blue fish in the coral, a Moray at one of the cleaning stations, Moses sole and a snake tongue fish which was almost transluscent with dots and Trevailles. I started getting very cold so we headed back to the boat where we saw another Moray and groups of thin silver fish which turned out to be Ramora.

Another day another location, this was coming to the end of the holiday and we could see land and that's when the flies and mosquito's came along too! The dive spot was Umm Rus near Mars Alem and swimming down on the North side of the reef working our way back round to the boat we saw Blue Spotted Ray, Hermit Crab in a cone shaped shell, Lion fish and lots of Puffer fish, a Porcupine fish, Moses Sole, Needle Worm on coral, lots of Ramora under the boat with Pipe fish and Coronet fish - it was only 3 metres under the boat so just had a relaxing mooch about before surfacing.

Our second and final dive of the holiday was in the same location but on the South side where it was a sandy and grassed bed - a good location to find turtle and Dudong we were told! Hardly any life when we first went in, initially we all kept together as a large group and fanned out to try and spot any large marine creatures and the visibility wasn't very clear with it being a sandy bottom and at first we only saw lots of small fish, crocodile fish and Trevailles.

Staying for a short while at 19 metres we then went up to 17 and spotted a Green Turtle on it's way up to the surface for air. The group then split up and James and I went on ahead where we came across two huge Green Turtles munching on the sea grass. We swam to shallower depths and at around 9 metres James spotted a large shadowy shape in the distance - it was a Dudong with loads of Ramora stuck on its back - James got quite close and took loads of photos until it eventually surfaced for air and swam off. It turned out that half the group got to see this phenomenon but one half didn't! I don't think, even now, that Hils has forgiven Sladie for missing this magnificent creature!

Back on board showered and having lunch back in Port Ghalib, it seemed a lot hotter back in port after being in the middle of the sea all week were there was a gentle but deceptive breeze, no flies or mozzies. A few of us decided to have a wander around the deserted town, stopping for a nice coffee and cake at Costa Coffee and a beer at one of the local bars before returning to the boat for a nap before dinner. Sladie had found a luxury five star hotel complex where they had ice cubes in the men's urinals - this we had to see (well the men anyway), so a few of us went for a drink and a look round at this fantastic "Palace".

After going through security, handbags were x-rayed too, we had a guided tour by the Customer Services person, she was quite evasive when asked how much it cost to stay there and said we would need to check their website - there were a 1,000 staff employed and only 15 guests staying at the hotel complex at that time.

It was truly magnificent with a large oasis designer pool surrounded by three hotel complexes, one of which was a super luxury five star, although we didn't get to see that one! It was like being in a ghost town and we were getting a bit worried that we wouldn't have enough money to pay for the drinks! But the prices were the same as in the local bars so no problem. A nice stroll back to our boat and our last night of sleeping on board - packing the next day ready for the off in the afternoon where again we had a delay before heading back to Manchester.

My first experience of diving abroad and living on a boat for a week - early morning rising so you could get at least three dives in the one day, well organised dives and guide, the crew extremely friendly and helpful, food was fantastic - they even cooked a full roast turkey one day! As Sladie says never trust a thin chef so it was a good job ours was quite chunky!

If you want a wild nightlife then maybe this kind of trip wouldn't be for you - playing cards and the 'name' game was probably the most taxing of an evening as most people were early to bed ready for the 5.30 roll call.

It was a fantastic trip, especially for me as it was my first time and getting to see all the different marine life in my first ever trip I'm sure must be a fantastic bonus! All thanks and credit go to Steve (Sladie) who did a great job of organising the trip and everyone else which is no easy task - great trip and many thanks for the magical experience!