Trip Report: Hurghada Egypt September 12 th 19 th 2008

Transcription

1 Trip Report: Hurghada Egypt September 12 th 19 th 2008 Having had a few dive trips overseas last year the gang and I got together and decided to organise this years expedition. We thought Sharm has been done to death (and there may be a trip summer 2009) we did Marsa Alam twice last year so we decided on Hurghada. I ran Regal Diving and set up a booking. After a bit of argy-bargy on the pricing and Dave managing to sort the dates out it was in the bag. In the end Rich booked with Longwood and decided on a two week two centre trip. For his first week he was in El Gouna with Dive Tribe, and the second week he joined us in Hurghada with Emperor Divers. This time there are two hotels, three airlines and one group of mad ones up for a laugh. I decided to get a Miflex hose for my BCD and am waiting to try it out, We have various bits of untested kit and welcomed the adventure. Pre Trip Dinner Usually when we organise dive trips we all fly out together, this time, Richard decided that he wanted a two week break and he organised to fly out the week before us and check out El Gouna. The usual custom is for all of us going on the trip to meet up the night before and hit a purveyor of bush meat for a slap up meal. This time it was a bit more of a challenge. Dave lives in Shropshire and works weird shifts and wouldn t be able to make it and the following week we are all running around like headless chickens tying up loose ends and doing suit work (ok Rich is painting like a demon to finish the current job). All of this madness in mind I brought the dinner forward by a week. I met up with Gul after work in Victoria and we did a spot of shopping on our way up to the Ha Ha bar for a swift one while waiting on Rich to get scrubbed up. The bar was full of suits and the music was so loud it could have been mistaken for a club, all this at 6pm, maybe I am getting old but I am beginning to develop an inherent dislike for bars and restaurants where you have to shout at the people next to you for a conversation! It wasn t long before Rich sauntered round the corner and took us to his local, a proper pub!

2 We had a drink with some of the local characters and Danny entertained us with his stories in his broad Scottish accent.

3 Eventually we succumbed to the need for food as we were all starving; Rich took us to the Dim-t in Wilton Street. Thankfully we got there before the suits and we had a lovely meal, for starters we had ribs, sesame toast & satay chicken. Main

4 Courses were green Thai prawn curry, beef curry and chicken curry, deserts were Ice cream, Banana fritters and cheese cake washed down with a round of drinks it came to 20 a head. The restaurant was new, the food brilliant, the table staff attentive and we had a great night. Afterwards Rich headed back to the pub as it s just round the corner from his digs and his local, Gul and I feeling slightly fatter (not like - full of blubber and covered in rubber) decided to walk to Embankment to stretch our legs and enjoy a lovely evening in the Capital. It wasn t long until Richard left for El Gouna and he was in touch letting me know that the diving was brilliant and it was like Port Ghalib but finished! I finished my packing and started watching the clock to see how long it would take for me to leave. The Friday morning arrived and the excitement was building. I arranged to meet Gul at Victoria Station at 0630 for the train ride to Gatwick. Having boarded the train we decided to take our time and chill out in stead of rushing through the airport and getting to the gate. We got to the Thomas Cook check-in in zone D and checked in without any fuss and bother, the bags were both under 26 kgs and we were informed there was a delay and we would be advised at mid day what time we would be departing. Having made it through the requisite checks we were Airside, I checked the monitor for an update and we decided on a leisurely breakfast followed by a tour of the duty free shops. We didn t fancy bush-meat from McDonalds or the UpperCrust so we attempted to join the queue at Garfunkel s. While waiting for a seat from the staff we were approached by a waiter who gave us a 10% discount voucher and said try Franky and Benny s, they were part of the same chain and it was near by. We thought what the heck and set about getting there. We were shown a comfortable seat in a booth and ordered coffee and

5 croissants. To say we were disappointed was an understatement, the fresh croissants were rock hard and I have had better coffee in Starbucks. We finished our breakfast and headed off to do some serious shopping. The Airside lounge was being refurbished and the choices were still there but not a lot of stock. I tried to get a bottle of Dunhill Editions and had to settle for Cacharel. Gul did her usual trick of getting a perfume and a selection of chocolate for the room! We were called to the information desk and handed a 5 discount voucher for lunch. This time we went straight to Garfunkel s and had fish and chips, something they do well. After lunch we settled down for a short rest on the chairs, our flight was called at 2pm and we headed to the gate to board. On the way I had a text from Richard saying he had arrived at the Marriott and Dave to say he left on time. We settled in to row 9 and as if by magic we were pushed back and airborne exactly 4 hours late, ironic that, if it was five minutes later they would have to pay compensation.. The meal on board was sufficient and the crew attentive, I had an afternoon knap to be awoken by Gul giving me a black coffee and saying we have about an hour until we land. On arrival in Hurghada we de-camped the plane and headed by bus to the arrivals hall. As you enter on the left hand side there are booths for all of the operators, you part with 12 here for the entry visa to Egypt then head to immigration. Clutching our passports I made my way to the front of the Regal Dive queue and moments later I was away with the stickers in the passports. I then looked at the immigration queues, it seemed that another two flights had landed recently and the place was awash with Russian visitors. It took us the best part of an hour to clear immigration and collect our cases. Making our way out of the airport we were met by Lisa, from Regal Dive. Within 15 mins we were at the hotel. I identified our bags and these were taken inside by the bell boys while I checked us in. As we walked in Dave sauntered up to us and gave us both a big hug and a beaming smile! We completed the check in procedures and agreed to hook up with Dave for a beer in an hour. Our room (135) was on the ground floor with a beach balcony, TV fridge, big bathroom and twin double beds. It was very comfortable and kept to a high standard by Hassan our room boy. The only thing lacking was plugs; this was sorted with a kettle and some tea and coffee. We got an extension lead from reception and were happy. Every day the room was refreshed and more water and sodas put in the fridge. We tipped Hassan nicely and he wrote us a lovely note.

6 That evening we didn t eat as we were stuffed full and after a drink in the bar with Dave we set about prepping the dive kit for the following morning. Having set the alarm clock we fell into a much needed deep sleep! Day one We woke at 0645 and having cleaned ourselves up we took our dive bags to breakfast with us. This was the usual Egyptian Buffet style, everything form hot food to pastries, cereals, yoghurt, fruit juice and coffee! I had the usual, sausages and a selection of hot things with a croissant, coffee and juice. Gul and Dave were more adventurous having yoghurt and other stuff. Needless to say it was much needed. We made our way to the front of the hotel for the Emperor bus collection at As the bus swung into the lay-by Rich was waiting onboard with his beaming smile saying welcome to Egypt! We took a ride through downtown Hurghada to the Docks at the far end of town, it looked interesting, and most of the signs on the shops were in English, Arabic and Russian. We arrived at Emperor HQ 20 mins later and sat down to fill in the paperwork. Gul had decided to do the Advanced Open Water course, Dave was doing Drift Diver and Rich and I were diving only. The paperwork completed we were taken down to the MV Pegasus; this was our boat for the week. The crew had already transported our gear to the boat and it was waiting for us on the wet deck. We hooked up our dive gear for the first dive then went into the cabin for a coffee while we prepared our cameras and listened to Richard telling us what he got up to in El Gouna. The Main Cabin and wet deck, more shots around the boat later on. An hours steam out of port and we were moored up on Abu Ramada. Soon after mooring, our Dive Guide for the week, Cat

7 Parfitt, rang the bell summoning us to the briefing on the upper deck. In true Emperor style she got the crayons out and the white board, drawing us the reef overview. The boat was quite busy and I paired with Gul and Rich with Dave. We descended the mooring line slowly and followed Cat around the reef. Just for a laugh we were making whale-song and monkey chatter into our regs and the rest of the divers didn t know what to make of it all. I then found my DA2 and switched it into underwater mode. I pointed it at Rich and gave him a burst. He didn t know what to make of it at first and thought he heard something strange. Then he figured it out and gave me abuse! Being the check out dive we took it easy with no real monkeying about well not much!

8 We made Cat paranoid as she was trying to figure out if she was hearing things down there. The dive was nice and gentle with plenty to see and there was little or no current, ideal conditions for a splash. Gul and Richard on the reef. Dave was lurking somewhere with his video camera taking some really good footage. There were plenty of fish lurking about down there, we reached a maximum depth of 15 metres for around 30 minutes then surfaced near the reef, swimming back to the Pegasus for lunch. The crew were observing Ramadan but they still managed to cook up a storm for the divers, a great buffet of foods catering for all tastes and diets, this and all drinks for EGP 40 per day per person, we all took turns paying for meals. Over the whole week the most we paid was 45 for an evening meal with drinks not a lot for the amount of food we had!

9 El Aruk Gifton After lunch the boat moved mooring to El Aruk Giftun for the second dive of the day. We decided to let the group go off with Cat as Gul wanted to descend the mooring line slowly and get her ears equalised then we would potter about the coral under the boat until the main group came back. Cat did the briefing and we were all set. The current in Egypt comes from the north and we were not expecting any. We watched Rich, Dave and the rest of the divers jump in and descend then we kitted up and strode overboard. Almost as soon as we got wet the crew told me we were changing position on the mooring and they wanted us to swim away from the boats as they were starting the engines. No worries I thought and we moved to a safe distance. As soon as we were a safe distance from the boats we were caught in a rip current, this dragged us two miles from the boat! There were other boats moored around the reef but none of them had a zodiac, I popped my signal sausage and we had no option but to swim for it. I headed obliquely to the boat and we made good progress, I wasn t going to dump our lead or anything like that. After an hour and a half of fighting the current we rested and let it drag us back to the stern of the boat, I shouted for a Zip line and grabbed it hard, putting Gul on it ahead of me. We pulled ourselves to the boat. I literally ran up the ladder and dumped my gear on the wet deck then grabbed Gul s tank strap. I was getting her to remove her gear when some of the other divers emerged; some of them were panicked as they too were caught in

10 the current, Gul let the most serious of these re-board Pegasus before she did. By now I was a tad upset but glad I got her back to the boat safe and sound. I hung our kit out to dry and had a long hot coffee then when I knew she was ok I passed out for a much needed rest. I told Cat what happened and suggested they have a zodiac for this sort of thing. We returned after the first days adventure to our hotel to get cleaned up. We agreed to meet in our lobby at 8pm to go and look for some food. Rich arrived on cue and we decided to walk in to town. How do I sum up Hurghada? A strange place with a mix of everything from Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Local foods. It is inhabited by locals and seems to cater for the Russian Market. Don t get me wrong the place is 100% Egyptian and as welcoming as Egyptians are but there is an undertow of pandering to the rouble in the air. We got half way through the main road and were getting hungry so we went to the first bistro we could see with spaces. We ordered Chicken Escalope s and chips, Rich and Dave had Steak washed down with home made lemonade (in photo) and beer.

11 The food took for ever to come and it was chewy but hot, after the days diving we were too tired to care, we walked back to our hotel, stopping for ice creams at a local shop on the way. It was really hot at night and we had a night cap with Dave in our hotel before crashing out.

12 Day 2 We woke up early for a three dive day, after breakfast we joined the bus for the transfer to the docks. Today Gul was with her instructor doing her Advanced Open Water course and Dave was doing a drift dive to complete his Master Scuba Diver rating. We set out from port and headed for Umm Gammar Umm Gammar Cat gave the briefing, assisted by Dave Wheeton (resident DM), and we kitted up for a commando entry. The boat reversed towards the reef and captain Mustafa gave the signal and we were in. Having unloaded the divers the Pegasus made its way to the mooring. On board for the day was one of the girls from Video Bubbles, they join the dive boats filming the adventure for the day. We had a lot of fun with her and Dave has the evidence! The boat safely steaming towards the mooring, we descended along the wall clearing our ears as we went. The current took us gently along the wall and there was surprising little to see. Rich and I were buddied up and playing about making silly noises and enjoying the ride. We rounded the point and ran into Terry Scuba-Toad and the boys from Leicestershire, they were getting frisky with each other much to the amusement of the videographer, she pointed the

13 camera at Rich and he removed his reg and blew her a kiss, I laughed so much I had to hold on to the coral to steady myself. We reached a maximum depth of 23 metres on this dive; we had to keep an eye on this as we were doing three today including a night dive. On the plateau we saw quite a few boats moored up having lunch, thankfully Emperor hang a spare tank at 5 metres and the boat has its name painted on the hull.

14 We played around in the sea fans until it was time to surface, we had a cracking dive and came up near to the reef, there was some Zodiac traffic out there and we swam to the rear of Pegasus and were assisted in resetting our gear by Hassan and the Mossad. It wasn t long before lunch was served, all the divers were safely on board and having set up for the second dive the boat was under way to Fanous Reef for dive 2. We had a fabulous lunch as usual

15 and on route to the site we had a pod of dolphin ride the bow wave for a short while before disappearing. Fanous We had a lovely lunch and a long surface interval the Pegasus was moored up in the brilliant sunshine on Fanous reef. It was quite busy there but most of the boats were either moored up to the west or leaving. As we arrived we were the only boat on our mooring. Having drawn the map above for us, Cat rang the bell and woke us all up for the briefing. Her style was perfect, the briefings interactive and informative. At the end of these she would assign the buddy teams depending on what we all wanted to do, either follow the leader, or, dive and return on time. We all enjoyed her sessions and no amount of trying managed to embarrass her! We were all excited as this was a favourite haunt of feeding dolphins and seeing some on our way in got us all in the mood.

16 We got our kit together and jumped in heading East along the reef wall There was a gentle current from the north as usual and we were enjoying our trip across the plateau. In the distance all we could hear was a dive Nazi banging on his tank as if he had an emergency. Eventually Cat got fed up and shot off to investigate, I stepped in and after a few minutes I turned the group back on the heading she took. Cat was back in less than five minutes not looking impressed but she thanked me for keeping the group on the level and in the right direction. We then headed north to the hollow atoll. This coral rock is full of glass fish and a really nice spot to visit. On the Plateau. A Titan Trigger fish Not to be messed with We soon arrived at the atoll and it was really nice, there were millions of glass fish hiding inside and nudibranch on the outside.

17 On of those shots when you know the lens on your camera won t do it justice. We returned to port to drop off a few divers and the videographer, transferring them via zodiac, and we then headed out to sea

18 reaching Fanadir for our night dive. Gul was enjoying her course and our Dave was close to his big 100th dive. The resident chef had baked us a cake for tea and we enjoyed this on our way to the reef. We were treated to a wonderful Egyptian sunset while telling tales of duck-pond diving in the UK, much to Cat and Dave s amusement. As the sun set on the horizon Cat gave us the briefing and we kitted up and jumped in. ScubaToad was on fine form regaling us with his prowess and stunning us with his rapier whit and humorous anecdotes, one day we will catch him at Stoney Cove!!!

19 The plan: Park up, get wet, have fun around an hours dive then dinner! We got in about 1803 half an hour after sunset but it was still light, in addition to the hang tank they deployed a strobe (to bait the barracuda). We dropped in on the plateau and didn t have to go far to find life. Just as we hit the bottom the light disappeared, I turned to see Dave cranking his lights on, he had an underwater studio hanging off his video camera. The Lion fish loved it. I had issues with my strobe and made a note to see if I can play with it in the next pool party; It misfired, cast shadows and made me miserable. I ended up spotting for Rich and Dave. I was watching Dave film a baby Lion fish when his Daddy came up, hovered above a smaller fish then inverted and swallowed it in one movement, Dave got this on video and I heard him scream yessssssss into his regs. On the way back to the boat we saw morays hunting in the corals and crabs coming out to play. We surfaced after an hour and the wind had picked up. The crew were on hand to remove the tanks.

20 I have done a few night dives in the Red Sea but the Lion Fish at Fanadir are the biggest I have ever seen, they are beautiful, bold and deadly! We returned to port and on to our hotel for an early start in the morning. We decided to go to Abu Nuhas Reef to explore two of the Red Seas famous wrecks, the Carnactic and Ghiannis D. We decided to give Nitrox a go so we could stay on the wrecks for longer. That night we all had a wrestles night. We were up at 5am for a very early pick up, arriving on the docks the boat was gassed up and ready to go. As we pulled out of the port, the sea was as flat as a mill pond; I had a coffee then settled down for a well needed kip. Day 3 Carnactic By now Cat had seen me taking photos of her art work and I came clean letting her know about the reports I write and I gave her a card with the web site address on it. I had another coffee and took a wonder on deck as we were still a long way from the site.

21 Looking for Dolphin on the bow. The gangway The Bridge and crew berths I soon discovered Rich and Dave asleep on the upper deck Just as I settled down Cat rang the bell and it was upstairs for the briefing, she gave us the full story of how the captain thought his boat would not sink and the storm from hell split her in two before his rescuers arrived. The port side, we dropped in heading to the stern, then through the cargo hold and towards the bow.

22 The Cargo hold with deck struts visible.

23 A shot Rich took of me exploring the cargo hold. We then headed to the bow section. I spotted Dave on the lifeboat deck with his video going ten to the dozen and Gul and Hannah doing the Deep Diver Drills on the sea bed adjacent to the wreck. My Suunto had lost its pairing with the transmitter so I pulled my gauges into view, only to discover my depth gauge had also failed.

24 Not to worry I knew how much air I had in my tank and my Suunto gave me depth and dive time information, I was staying put! The Bows were pretty beaten up but the forks holding the mascot were still visible, I signalled Richard my intention and I glided into position for a wicked shot!

25 We headed back to the stern for our ascent, and a few more shots on the way. Dave chasing fish over the props and rudders, we re grouped and started our ascent towards the hang tank for a safety stop.

26 I decided that the only way to end a brilliant dive was with a stunt, so I grabbed the tank between my legs and rode it like a camel across the Sahara Desert. Well it passed the time on a mid water safety stop and made us all laugh! As usual Rich was on hand with his camera to catch the action; I could hear Dave laughing loudly into his regs. We surfaced to a leisurely surface interval and the boat moved the 500m to the wreck of the Ghiannis D.

27 The Ghiannis D The Ghiannis D was a freighter that hit the reef at Abu Nuhas, one of the many wrecks accessible to divers from day boats and live aboards. We had a break of an hour or so then kitted up and went in again. The shot line was attached to the stern of the boat and we followed this down to the vessel. She lies in around 20m of water and is massive. We descended on the right hand line and were soon on her stern, I got a bit of ear grief which soon passed. The wreck was busy with divers and the buzzing of Zodiacs could be heard above us.

28 We soon arrived on the walkway at the stern on the ship; I could see quite a few divers in the water all having a look around. We enjoyed a good look around the stern section, it was pretty busy there with groups of divers poking around, I decided not to enter the wreck, and instead we had a good look around the hold section on our way to the bow. Rich and Dave were having fun with their cameras and videos and have got some wicked shots on the wreck.

29 I got one of Rich taking it all in and hanging in the water. We headed towards the cargo area and on towards the bow, this was one hell of a wreck, it was a super tanker in its day and I recall

30 thinking how fragile these things really are and how easily they come apart. The hull was really twisted up and I found the crow s nest well what was left of it!

31 We pressed on through the skeleton of the cargo section heading for the bows It seemed to go on for ever! The hold was enormous. We continued watching our air and depth.

32 Eventually we came up on what was left of the bows; the ship really hit the reef hard and came apart in a violent death. We turned around heading back towards the stern along the other side of her hull. I ran into Gul, Hannah and their instructor on the way back along the hull, I got a big OK from both of them and a smile. The smiles said it all so we continued back towards the stern on the ship.

33 As we came up on the stern there were divers everywhere. Midships I came across the mast; it was all torn up at the base. We completed the safety stop on the way up and Rich decided to get frisky with the safety tank, while Dave videoed him for evidence. When we recovered all the divers we had lunch waiting for us and a long steam ahead of us back to port. We all filled in our log books and watched pictures on each others cameras then enjoyed a long rest in the warm Egyptian sun.

34 That evening when we returned to our hotel room, Hassan had left us a surprise; on the beds we saw his new design! He left us another note saying thanks for the tips etc and he was going on a day off. He had filled up the coffee and the fridge for us and he popped by to see our reaction giving us a handful of extra fresh towels. We made our way to Richard s hotel for dinner, after a drink in the bar there we went over the road to Bulls. It was really good in there and the Marriott is the place to stay, I hope to get Rich to do a report for me on his hotel but his tour made the place look impressive and got us all jealous. We had another three dive day ahead of us and dinner with an old friend so we retired before midnight catching a taxi from the Marriott to the Sunrise Beach Resort.

35 Day 4: The El Mina This minesweeper was sunk in the harbour by the Israelis during an air raid, part of the seven day war they had with the Egyptians. The El Mina was a converted mine sweeper. It was less than five minutes from the dock and we were soon having the briefing from Cat. Gul was having a day off from the course and was buddied with me for this one. The boat dropped us off over the wreck on the descent we took it slow and drifted off course. We ended up on the wreck of the Mohammed Hasebella, this ship lies 10m off the bow of the El Mina and got snagged on it then sank. Cat came to find us and pointed us at the El Mina, we had the air so we did both!

36 Batfish on the tower!

37 We got to 30.4m on this wreck Following the hull from bow to stern We came up on the winches, then, in the distance off the stern we could see the rest of the group on the El Mina. We headed off to join them.

38 The El Mina has live ammunition in its hull as well as the full kit and caboodle for dealing with mines, peering through the hull you could see all of the equipment it sank with.

39 We soon ran into the boys they were snapping away like fury We had a good swim around her hull looking at the guns on deck then decided to return to the shot line for a slow ascent to Pegasus. On the way up I got Gul to watch her ascent rate alarm and the safety stop countdown. She did this really well and got the hang of it all, Being new to deep diving these things need to be taken into consideration when ascending from deep dives. Having returned safely to Pegasus we had breakfast and a two hour sail to Gifton reef.

40 Small Gifton The Boat got us close to the reef and sounded the horns; we all didn t need telling twice, like lemmings we all bailed overboard. When on the surface, the boat made its way to the moorings and Cat gave us the 10 Degree Down Bubble signal. We dropped down to 15m and along the wall were lovely sea fans.

41 I got a model for a few minutes and took some shots. Eventually the current caught up with us and we drifted along the walls edge towards the plateau and the moorings.

42 Rounding the walls edge we were shadowed by a Napoleon Wrasse, It hung effortlessly in the water, just watching us. Meanwhile Marloes and her dad were being taunted by a giant moray eel. It was having its teeth cleaned by small wrasse, I didn t want to get too close to it as it looked fearsome! We went over them and played in the shoals of fish nearer the surface. The water was a bit milky and I was getting a lot of lens flare even without my wide angle on so I enjoyed the rest of the dive surfacing after 45 minutes and heading back to the boat for a rest. We ad a spot of tea then the boat went on to the final site of the day, El Aruk Gigi.

43 El Aruk Gigi This is a string of coral pinnacles and a really nice third dive of the day. We decided to go in last and swim around the pinnacles taking our time and looking for critters. There were plenty of soft corals to see as well as fish species Well I had to get a Nemo shot, every dive trip should have one!

44 We surfaced after 47 minutes having had fun watching Fish TV as I called it. I was asked how I manage to do upside down diving and OK I ll admit it, I was going to turn someone upside down but when I realised there wasn t a dump valve on the back of her BCD I gave the idea up, if you have ever heard someone curse underwater you will know what I had! Needless to say it cost me an Ice Cream from the boat tethered to us on the surface. We settled down for the transfer back to Hurghada and started to look forward to our meal tonight with Mohammed Kamal. If you read any of the adventures from Marsa Alam you will know Mr Mohammed is convinced I am the Devil and Richard is the Anti- Christ. We kept in touch with him and he was going to be in town. At 9 pm I got a text from Richard saying they were outside, Gul Dave and I were in the bar enjoying our cocktails and we headed on down, outside our hotel were a pair of blue sky busses! I nearly died thinking he brought bus 10 ten, with him, the busses pulled away and there he was, the big smile on his face. We all jumped on him and gave him a massive hug! He was glad to see us. We all jumped into his car and decided to go and eat in the new marina. On the way to the car park we laughed so much we missed the turning and went round town twice! We walked through the bars

45 and bistros looking for somewhere to eat. Eventually our bellies got the better of us and we ended up at the lodge. There is one person missing from these shots, she confiscated my camera after taking these, we laughed and laughed over dinner even though they forgot to bring Dave his road kill. We had a great night with Mr Mohammed and he dropped us back to our hotel, it was really good to see him and I know we will see him again.

46 Day 5: Erg Abu Ramada. This had all the hallmarks of a wicked dive, we backed up to the reef for a commando deployment and we were all over the side within a minute, the Pegasus drifted away from us then started her engines heading for the moorings. We descended to the plateau at 15 m to explore. Dave brought up the rear with the monkey chatter in full flow, I am sure the fish thought we were mad.

47 There was quite a bit of life on the reef but in parts the coral was bleaching out. I checked on Gul and got the Big OK so we carried on drifting along the wall in the gentle current. This was her first dive as a fully qualified AOW diver and the smile she had on her face gave it all away.

48 I found another soft coral and a moray looking for a quick snack. We were nearing the end of the dive and heading towards shallower water to make our safety stops. Ahead of us were the majority of the divers including Hannah, Richard, Dave and Cat.

49 As we rounded a pinnacle, I saw Dave being attacked by a very angry Titan Trigger fish. During the spawning season these devils are not to be messed with, they have been known to go for divers, biting anything they can get in their vicious beaks, fingers, masks and fins apparently taste good! Dave was swimming backwards furiously with his video in his hands while this angry beast was lashing out at his fins (black and silver splitties). To his credit he managed to keep the camera on his attacker and his video is already on crime watch (or is that When we were all on the boat it turned out that the same fish went for Hannah biting her in the legs and chest, she was fine but a little shaken. Dave played the video to us all and it was wicked! We had our lunch and surface interval, no one sustained any injuries and we sailed on to El Aruk Diana for Dave s big 100 th dive. He was determined all week that he would do this in some cold and miserable UK Duck-pond.

50 El Aruk Diana Our Cat did a very special board for Dave s Big 100. This was a gentle dive in no more than 15m of water round the coral pinnacles. The boys shot off into the blue to get up to mischief with their cameras and Gul and I took our time swimming around the reef. There were some sea fans hidden in the coral that looked stunning. I knew the boys were close from the whale song and monkey chatter, I kept an eye on the mooring line as well as the stream of bubbles from where they were hiding. I was curious but as long as I could hear them I knew they were ok. So I replied with whale song of my own!

51 I got Gul to do some posing for me but the fish had other ideas. At least we can say we tried. I found a coral overhang and shot under for a closer look getting a nice shot off in the process. Got a good clam shot on the way out of the cave.

52 We spotted a few Trigger fish on this dive and gave them a wide berth. We headed round the pinnacle to the noises of humpback whales and monkeys and lots of underwater laughter, I found out what was amusing Dave and Rich. Dave had produced a monkey toy and had it sitting on the reefs edge filming it. I later found out that he had an octopus too that he was scaring the girls with! And I thought I lost the plot..

53 We returned to Pegasus doing another safety stop mid water. We both enjoyed this dive, and before we cast off we had a big round of applause for all the divers who qualified at something or reached big numbers with their dives. One reason I kept quiet when passing 150 at the beginning of the week. This was a really great dive with loads to see and amuse. We rested up before venturing to Felfela for dinner.

54 FelFela: We asked Mr Mohammed where the locals eat and he advised us to go to Felfela, it was less than five mins stroll from our hotel and a short cab ride for Rich. As it was Ramadan he advised us to avoid the first hour after sunset so we did meeting there at 8. It is sort of a cliff top thing with terraced seating, really nice and in true Egyptian style great value for money. We enjoyed a banquet of traditional foods both hot and cold and returned to our hotels with our bellies full.

55 The following morning we had an early start, we were heading out to Gota Abu Ramada, also known as the Aquarium. We eventually got to bed after midnight. We were being collected at 715, so we set the alarm and fell into a deep sleep. We woke and headed to breakfast. I was about to drink my coffee and my phone went, it was Rich saying they were outside and had been waiting ages for us, we grabbed our stuff and legged it to the bus. Having apologised to everyone we were at the docks before 8am and under way almost immediately. As it was the last day Gul was doing her PPB specialty as part of her AOW and as an additional certification. I decided to do the course too, I usually try and do a course when I go away so I picked this off. I forgot I needed to do the knowledge reviews and when Paul asked for them I quickly wrote the answers on a bit of paper for him. He explained what drills he was going to get us to do and we had over an hour until we arrived so we rested up. Day 6: Gota Abu Ramada On arrival we jumped in for some hover drill.

56 Paul was our zen-master for the morning. I had a bit of a rough entry on this dive, literally falling off the wet deck and almost taking out Paul who was below the boat. By the time I got this shot off it was too late for my Olympus, the housing has sprung a leak and there was a centimetre of water in there. I signalled Paul that I had camera trouble and headed at speed for the boat, I did an emergency ascent below the below the boat and handed my camera to Hassan who opened the back for me and put it all on a towel in the shade. I returned to Paul and Gul for the rest of the dive and the underwater Peak Performance Buoyancy course.

57 We did a second dive there in the current, and I remember how much fun it was, I saw Gul streamlined and literally six inches off the bottom having fun! We rounded the last bit of the reef on our way back to the boat and I nearly had a heart attack, there was an oceanic white tip in the gloom about 15m ahead, as I got closer I noticed it was a dummy tethered to a pyramid that extolled the virtues of diving and protecting the marine environment. We returned to Pegasus for lunch and the 2 hour trip back to port. That evening we were taken out for Diver s Night by Emperor Divers, the bus took us back to the marina where we literally took over the Pappas bar. We were given vouchers for the BBQ and had a lovely evening with all the divers and staff playing pool and other games.

58 This is a great place to go for a night out, there is a bar or a restaurant for all tastes as well as the new HedKandi beach bar which will probably be finished this year. We had a great time there both with Mohammed and the crew from Emperor Divers. More information can be found at If you think you are hard enough they have a bungee rocket on the docks. We returned to our hotel by cab around 11pm, on arrival we arranged for a late check out as our collection was for mid afternoon. Lisa arrived on the Blue Sky Bus on time for the transfer to Hurghada Airport. Our flight was two hours late which meant we had to get cabs home from Victoria as our tardy return to Gatwick put us on deck after the underground had shut down for the evening. I have since replaced my camera and popped the dive gear in for a service and O2 clean. The hotel: Sunrise Beach Resort We originally picked this hotel as it was mid priced and was advertised in the Regal Dive brochures as all inclusive. When I got the booking confirmation it stated the booking was on a bed and breakfast basis only. I rang Andreas at Regal and he told me it was a misprint in the brochure and on line, he corrected the website and offered us a discount and promised some Regal Dive Polo shirts at the NEC in November. The staff in the hotel on Reception, and in the rooms are really friendly. The chef at breakfast will make any type of omelette you can eat and the waiting staff are friendly and efficient. The Bar staff upstairs are generally nice but there is one of them who watches all of the guests like he works for the intelligence services, often to the point of making you feel uncomfortable. There are a number of shops and a bank located in the hotel, these sell convenience goods, spices, papyrus and T shirts. The room was of a really good standard, twin double beds, a balcony leading out on to the private beach, a big bathroom with shower, bath hair dryer and telephone.

59 The room had an Aircon unit, safe, a TV and fridge. The one thing it lacked was mains plugs and a kettle. I put in a guest appearance at reception and it was sorted. The hotel itself is nice however being totally open plan the wind catches the hotel room doors causing them to bang loudly. It doesn t help if you have a party of Russian guests above you moving furniture and having showers at 4am every night. I woke many times in the night to gunshots the noise the doors made when slamming shut. There is a disco in the hotel as well as a pool (chlorine) and a tidal pool. We never tried any of the facilities as we were either diving or out. If I returned to Hurghada I wouldn t stay here but in the Marriott, purely because of the noise from other guests at night. Although the staff generally made you feel welcome I got the feeling the hotel was catering to the Russian market. Emperor You need to have a zodiac on the day boats chaps. A gang plank on the docks would also be useful, there were several accidents that could have been avoided. We still had a wicked time though and a big thanks to all the ED team and Crew in HRG. Our trip took place from September 12 th to September 19 th Credits: Gul, Richard and Dave you guys are a blast and we will go again soon! Guys, thanks for the use of your photos in making this report Cat thanks for a great week and use of the artwork. Mr Mohammed Kamal you bad dude I will get you again for sure. The crew of the Pegasus Ramadan Karim! SubaToad watch your back we will pounce when you least expect it