After I finished up my year abroad, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this blog site, but now that I have some new photos to spread around, I'm glad I kept it up and running. It makes for a pretty convenient way to store and share photos, so without further ado... Red Sea diving!
First off, don't expect any photos of the pyramids, mummies, or me riding camels; I didn't have much of an opportunity to explore Egypt since I was way down the east coast - Marsa Alam, if you're interested in specifics - and my main goal was diving (also, I've already ridden a camel). Since I started SCUBA, I've heard great things about the Red Sea, and I'd say it pretty much lived up to the hype. Aside from SCUBA, the central coast of the Red Sea is also a huge winter vacation destination for central Europe, so I spent my time in Egypt surrounded by Germans, Italians, and Russians. Not so much of a destination for Americans though - "You're the first American I've ever had in my shop", one local told me.
"It's like diving in an aquarium" was the repeated thought I had over the 6 days I was in the water. It's very clear, pretty warm even in the winter, and the coral is probably the best I've seen. What's even more impressive is most of the dives I did were shore dives, which means these beautiful forests and hills of coral were a 20 or 30 yard walk from the beach. There's very little development or pollution along the central coast, so the reefs look pristine compared to the Caribbean.
However, there was another reason it feel like it was diving in an aquarium, and that was because there were very few big fish around. Like most of the world, the Red Sea is getting heavily overfished, and the dive guides were telling me that they've seen significant drops in fish populations even over the last five years. There was no shortage of tiny, beautiful reef fish, but few jacks, tuna, or snappers, and no sharks. I did see the number creature on my trip wish list though, a dugong (a relative of the manatee). They're extremely rare, and the one I saw only stuck around for about 30 seconds, but that was long enough to get a photo. Plus, that same dive was probably a tie for the most turtles I've ever seen in one place; it makes sense, since both dugongs and turtles were there to chow down on the sea grasses.
Aside from these more exciting critters, there were also the usual reef suspects, like moray eels, lionfish, clown fish (aka, "nemos" as everyone calls them now).
The other couple of rare or unusual spots for me were a really nice octopus, hiding in a coral head, and a few schools of big-mouth mackerel. The mackerel (another "Finding Nemo" star) were swimming around in fairly large schools with their mouths open straining the water for plankton to eat, which was a pretty entertaining scene to watch; I failed to get a good photo or video clip to do it justice, but I've posted a couple that should at least give you some idea of what it looked like.
Based on this first trip, I think it's safe to say I'll be back for diving again, but the next time, I'll be more organized about getting out of the resort area and into the countryside. I wanted to see some tombs and mummies!
