Scuba diving trip to Egypt

As published on TRENT college

At 0530 on the morning of 10^th July, our party of eighteen scuba divers left Trent College on the 2010 Red Sea diving trip. We flew out of Manchester airport and in to Sharm El Sheikh. From the airport in Sharm we were taken by coach to the main jetty for boats and we went on board our two liveaboard boats: King Snefro 5 & King Snefro 6. We had our evening meal on the boat and then settled down for a good nights sleep. In the morning we had our first dive briefing and our first dive of the trip. The dive was to one of the local Sharm dive sites and enabled everyone to check their buoyancy and make sure they were carrying the correct weights. Once this was checked we enjoyed a 30 minute dive in clear warm water (a welcome change from Stoney Cove). After the dive the boats cruised to the Ras Mohammed Marine Park where we enjoyed 3 days superb diving. We saw turtles, jacks, barracuda, rays, octopus, moray eels, groupers, wrasse, bannerfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, triggerfish and many, many more types of marine creature.

The staff on the boats made us feel very much at home and kept us well watered (the intense heat meant that dehydration was a danger) and really well fed. Most of the party chose to sleep on deck rather than in the air conditioned cabins & enjoyed the clear starry nights.

On the 13^th we had our last dive on the liveaboard boats and then transferred to the Rosetta Hotel where we were to spend 4 nights. The first stop off in the hotel was the pool where everyone cooled off before heading into Naama Bay for our evening meal. This was to be the pattern for our 4 nights: cool off in the pool; head into Naama Bay for food and then return to cool off in the pool again. Our days were spent diving with Emperor Divers in the local sites around Sharm (including the Straits of Tiran and Shark/Yolanda Reef – both sites rated amongst the best in the world). We also dived in Fiddle Garden and saw some baby barracuda & at The Tower on the final day, where we saw a majestic 7 foot manta ray. Some of the party also saw a black tip reef shark on the final day diving.

Virtually everyone agreed that the best part of the diving was the manta ray elegantly gliding past is in crystal clear water. For many of the pupils the highpoint was the ‘banter’ amongst themselves and the crews on the diving boats. All divers showed themselves to be competent and confident in the water. Those who only recently qualified really impressed the dive instructors and showed they had learned all their skills and could apply them so they dived safely and responsibly.

The trip back from Sharm on the afternoon of 17^th July eventually got us back to Trent at 0045. Everyone was tired after a great week diving and full of tales to tell of our adventures in Egypt.