I have always absolutely loved snorkeling in Dahab – it offers some of the best coral reefs anywhere. When Ally mentioned she would like to learn to dive, I was very excited because it has been a life goal of mine for ages now. I immediately thought of Dahab as being a great place to learn to dive. I even knew a good dive centre that I recommended to my passengers on the Oasis trips. And so our summer holiday came to pass…
The Sinai Desert
We flew in from Gatwick Airport. Arrived in Shamelshek Airport and the heat hit us like a physical force as we left the air conditioned plane. Well over 40 degrees. The relief of being out of rainy england was very short lived - it was swelteringly, uncomfortably hot. We got a mini bus to Dahab, an hour and a half away. The egyptians drive very fast so it was an exciting trip.
The photo above epitomises the terrain: hot, dry desert with sprawlings sands and crumbly mountains. We drove past Mount Sinai on the way, the mountain that Moses ascended in the bible to get the 10 commandments. The Sinai, of course, is the land that the Israelites passed through on their way from Egypt (remember the story of Joseph and Pharoah) to the promised land. I got to climb Mount Sinai on my previous visits but we were in no rush to do it this time. The Israelites took 40 years to wander through the desert. They probabbly also got sucked in at Dahab by the temptations of thick shakes and beautiful coral.
Our Hotel
We stayed at the Hilton, just outside town. It ended up just being a place to crash and night and in retrospect would have been better to say in the town itself. But the air conditioned rooms were large and comfortable. And the taxi to town cost us all of a pound. The hotel was surrounded by ten swimming pools which really attracted us in the brochure but it turned out 9 of the 10 were just for decoration and not to be swimmed in! Also found out that the week previous to our arrival a Swiss girl was attacked by a shark in the hotel's beach and lost an arm so that wasn't too auspicious! We ate at the hotel restaurant on the first night which was very mediocre and included a twenty pound half litre of wine (we stupidly didn't check the price on the menu) so we ate mostly in town after that.
Our diving group
The next day we went into Dahab to walk around and investigate diving courses. We investigated a few places but the diving school (Posseidon) I used on my Oasis Trips still looked to be the best. As luck would have it, Posseidon were starting a four day open water course in half an hour. There were four others (see photo) on the course: A lovely dad and his sixteen year old son and two giggly, very frienldy nineteen year old girls – all from the UK. We started off with some theory in the class room (hard to concentrate in the heat!) and then donned our wet suits and tanks for some “confined water practice” in the shallows.
It was a very weird experience sinking into the water the first time. We weren’t too sure what it was going to be like to breathe underwater and if we could trust the regulator. But once we sunk under the surface and got over the initial shock of it, it came very easily indeed. Just breathing in and out, with the sound of it loud in our ears, and watching our instructor as we did underwater exercises. Like filling our masks with water and then breathing the air out. Taking the regulator out of our mouths and putting it back in. “Budddy breathing” i.e. sharing air under the water as you’d do if someone ran out of oxygen. Rising up and down with our bouyancy jackets by blowing air in and out. And generally getting a feel for being under the water.
It soon became apparent that we had a wonderful diving instructor with a great sense of fun – and that we were in for a whale of a time. He was assisted by a dive master, who was a also a fun guy. His name was Mike and he was from Cape Town of all places. Not only that, but he lives in Almond Road in Newlands, a 5 minute walk from our house there.
After our confined water exercises, we got to go on some proper dives. The whole experience immediately captivated us both. You float on top of the water, put your regulator in your mouth and then deflate your bouyancy jacket (known as a BCD). Thanks to the weights around your hips, you start to sink down. There’s a bit of pressure on the ears as you do, but you simply equalise by pinching your nose and blowing. You need to keep doing this as you go down, although it gets easier the deeper you go.
It’s gorgeously cool as you sink, such a relief from the sweltering heat above. You gently kick your fins to move through the water. It’s hard to describe just how relaxing the whole experience is. It feels a bit like gliding through a weightless medium – gliding through a wonder world of colourful coral and exquisite fish. When we emerged from the water after a particularly beautiful dive, Ally asked the instructor if coral made a humming sound. The instructor gave her a very confused look. I then confessed that I had been chanting my meditation mantra and that this was unoubtedly the cause of the strange humming.
Unfortunately there are no photos of Ally under the water because all the photos were taken during the advanced course. Very sad – we only realised this when we got back.
We ate most our meals in town. Dahab brims with restaurants, all based right on the water. You have to be relatively careful what you eat because Egypt is notorious for giving you the runs - but the food in Dahab is suprisingly good and we did not get sick. We re-revisited some of my favourite restaurants from my tour leading days (when I always ate for free). It was great to be reunited with thick shakes (basically ice cream in a tall glass) and fruit pancakes.
Feral cats are rampant in Dahab so you always have to be on the look out for a rogue little fellow trying to steal some food. Some of them take the more traditional feline approach of trying to snuggle up to you and prise food out of you with their beseeching eyes, but most of of the cats are scrawyny and scruffy little creatures who you don't want to let close, so it's all rather sad.
Food is certainly not served fast in Dahab (or anywhere in Egypt for that matter.) Everythings runs on a very chilled schedule and you either learn to be patient or get extremely frustrated. Egyptian Time is Cape Town time times five. Being on holiday, it didn't phase us to much. After all, we had nothing else to do except eat, dive and sleep. It's amazing to see how Dahab has increased in size since I was here in 1997. Then it was a ramshackled town that attracted a lot of hippie types. Now, it has become something of a resort with a lot of smart hotels and package holiday types. Bit sad in a way. Although prices have still remained suprisingly low.
The underwater wildlife was spectacular. Stunning coral with darting fish of every conceivable shape, size and colour. We organised underwater housing for our cameras so we could take photos. Taking good shots proved to be challenging, especially getting the fish in focus. Some of the fish, especially those in the Blue Hole, are quite cheeky and they come up and nibble at your skin. Not painful, but enough to give you quite a startle. We took a fish identification guide into the water with us on one of our dives and must have identified over 30 different fish in a couple of minutes. Seeing a thousand fish in a life time wouldn't be quite as challenging as seeing 1000 birds.
Here's Nemo! Otherwise known as a "Two Bar Clown Fish" They really do live in red sea anenomes and are as cute as the movie version. By the way, good news! Apparently they have found little Nemo. Click here to see!
Underwater Nasties
Not all the fish are as harmless as Nemo, in fact some are very poisonous indeed. Thankfully these ones tend to stay hidden in thre coral. Lion Fish (pictured below), Stone Fish and Scorpion Fish are all pretty nasty and we got to see them all in the Red Sea. You wouldn't want to step on the Stone Fish's poisonous spines for example. The only way to get rid of the agonising poison is to put your foot in boiling water. That could sure spoil a holiday… The Lion Fish, which are common in Dahab, is not quite as severe but it's poison can still give you a very hard time.
A world of contrasts
Not all the fish are as harmless as Nemo, in fact some are very poisonous indeed. Thankfully these ones tend to stay hidden in thre coral. Lion Fish (pictured below), Stone Fish and Scorpion Fish are all pretty nasty and we got to see them all in the Red Sea. You wouldn't want to step on the Stone Fish's poisonous spines for example. The only way to get rid of the agonising poison is to put your foot in boiling water. That could sure spoil a holiday… The Lion Fish, which are common in Dahab, is not quite as severe but it's poison can still give you a very hard time.
A world of contrasts
The contrast between the dry, sweltering, stark barreness of the desert and the teeming, colourful life just below the Red Sea's surface is quite startling. That's one of the things that makes this place so special. Once we had completed our four day open water course, I was motivated to do the Advanced Open Water course (a two day course that takes you deeper and allows you to do some of the more adventurous dives in Dahab, including the famous Canyon and Blue Hole dives. Ally opted out as her ears were a bit sore after 4 days.
The Blue Hole
The Blue Hole will always rate as one of the wonders of my life. You kick out over a shallow coral reef, which then suddely plummets away into a hole that is 1000 metres deep (the equivilent height of Table Mountain). Floating over such a deep whole is one of those humbling experiences where you are reminded of just how very small we are in this enormous world of ours. Due to the depth, the water is a startling blue colour and there are fish everywhere you look. We dived 30 metres into the hole on this dive (which is pretty deep for diving) but it's like hardly scratching the surface when you look down into the fathomless depths below.
Many divers have died in the Blue Hole because they are enticed to dive deeper than they should. Nitrogen Narcosis then sets in which gives you an exhilerating high, makes you feel falsely invincible, and makes you do silly things like giving your regulator to the fish. Unconsciousness can then set in. We were given maths problems to solve under the water to check our own susceptibility to Nitrogen hallucinations - but thankfully none of us had any predispositions. That's not to say I idn't get my first maths problem wrong, due to a careless mistake! I am used to excel adding my numbers for me.
The Blue Hole will always rate as one of the wonders of my life. You kick out over a shallow coral reef, which then suddely plummets away into a hole that is 1000 metres deep (the equivilent height of Table Mountain). Floating over such a deep whole is one of those humbling experiences where you are reminded of just how very small we are in this enormous world of ours. Due to the depth, the water is a startling blue colour and there are fish everywhere you look. We dived 30 metres into the hole on this dive (which is pretty deep for diving) but it's like hardly scratching the surface when you look down into the fathomless depths below.
Many divers have died in the Blue Hole because they are enticed to dive deeper than they should. Nitrogen Narcosis then sets in which gives you an exhilerating high, makes you feel falsely invincible, and makes you do silly things like giving your regulator to the fish. Unconsciousness can then set in. We were given maths problems to solve under the water to check our own susceptibility to Nitrogen hallucinations - but thankfully none of us had any predispositions. That's not to say I idn't get my first maths problem wrong, due to a careless mistake! I am used to excel adding my numbers for me.
The Canyon
My second favourite dive was The Canyon. You swim down to 15 metres to find a natural crevice in the ocean bed that is an aditional 15 metres deep. It's a little scary swimming into this narrow compression but once you swim into the opening, it widens out quite a bit. The photo here was taken at the bottom of the hole, looking up. Not for the claustrophobic… There was an enormous Moray eal in the hole that was most put out with us. We hired a chap to come and video us under the water. He was a zany Aussie and full of fun, and very, very good at his trade. Without any editing or anything, he created a masterpiece with some fantastic funny bits too. I'm going to see if I can stream this video for you to watch online. Watch this space. If not, we have an extra copy to send home to you.
Night Diving
One of the exercises on the Avanced Open Water course was a night dive. It's a bit freaky getting into the black water, but once you’ve relaxed and get used to the underwater torch light, it's a great experience. The coral feeds at night which is fascinating to watch. Also lots of squid and shrimps about which you don't get to see during the day. Phosphorescent plankton in the water provides lots of fun. Not to mention the novelty of having hundreds of orange eyes staring at you from the darkness. Needless to say, we all kept pretty closely huddled together as we explored the reef - and we kept bumping into each other as no-ne really wanted to be the last one in the line.
My second favourite dive was The Canyon. You swim down to 15 metres to find a natural crevice in the ocean bed that is an aditional 15 metres deep. It's a little scary swimming into this narrow compression but once you swim into the opening, it widens out quite a bit. The photo here was taken at the bottom of the hole, looking up. Not for the claustrophobic… There was an enormous Moray eal in the hole that was most put out with us. We hired a chap to come and video us under the water. He was a zany Aussie and full of fun, and very, very good at his trade. Without any editing or anything, he created a masterpiece with some fantastic funny bits too. I'm going to see if I can stream this video for you to watch online. Watch this space. If not, we have an extra copy to send home to you.
Night Diving
One of the exercises on the Avanced Open Water course was a night dive. It's a bit freaky getting into the black water, but once you’ve relaxed and get used to the underwater torch light, it's a great experience. The coral feeds at night which is fascinating to watch. Also lots of squid and shrimps about which you don't get to see during the day. Phosphorescent plankton in the water provides lots of fun. Not to mention the novelty of having hundreds of orange eyes staring at you from the darkness. Needless to say, we all kept pretty closely huddled together as we explored the reef - and we kept bumping into each other as no-ne really wanted to be the last one in the line.
Farewell Party
On the last night, we had a festive barbecue at the dive centre to celebrate our graduations to the hallowed status of "official divers". We can now dive anywhere in the world - next stop, Great Barrier Reef. The party was quite a raucous affair (Divers like a good party) and some interesting tricks were performed.
On the last night, we had a festive barbecue at the dive centre to celebrate our graduations to the hallowed status of "official divers". We can now dive anywhere in the world - next stop, Great Barrier Reef. The party was quite a raucous affair (Divers like a good party) and some interesting tricks were performed.
Poem inspired by The Blue Hole
From the hot and stifling desert air
and hungry currents that ebb and whirl
From the blinding pierce of sunlit glare
and tiring kicks through stubborn swirls
I release my air in a gentle stream
and sink slowly down through the emerald blue.
Through shoals of irradescent, twirling fish
I float effortless in a weightless world
and at my side, a sheer cliff of coral stands, suffused
in firy tendrils of orange and gold.
Below, the ocean falls away to fathomless depths
as calm and still as eternity itself
and above, the soft rays of the filtered sun
carress the velvet surface of the ocean in a golden glow.
Floating free like a carefree child,
my spirit soars, my senses enthralled
by this underwater garden, abundantly rich,
of colourful hues and mysterious shapes
and as the soft tingle of living water caresses my skin,
my mind grows still; expands to meet the depths below
and I cease to exist; becoming one with all
From the hot and stifling desert air
and hungry currents that ebb and whirl
From the blinding pierce of sunlit glare
and tiring kicks through stubborn swirls
I release my air in a gentle stream
and sink slowly down through the emerald blue.
Through shoals of irradescent, twirling fish
I float effortless in a weightless world
and at my side, a sheer cliff of coral stands, suffused
in firy tendrils of orange and gold.
Below, the ocean falls away to fathomless depths
as calm and still as eternity itself
and above, the soft rays of the filtered sun
carress the velvet surface of the ocean in a golden glow.
Floating free like a carefree child,
my spirit soars, my senses enthralled
by this underwater garden, abundantly rich,
of colourful hues and mysterious shapes
and as the soft tingle of living water caresses my skin,
my mind grows still; expands to meet the depths below
and I cease to exist; becoming one with all
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