Dragon Divers On Tour 2013 - Red Sea, Egypt

PROTARAS, Cyprus - June 9, 2013 - PRLog -- The Advanced Party left Cyprus on Thursday 30th May to ensure everything was ready for the main party on the following day.  The time spent planning, organising and liaising was worth it as everything came together well with only minor tweaks to the original plan.  Divers from the UK, Abu Dabi and Cyprus met on the boat during the evening of Friday 31st May 2013.  After a short boat brief, equipment was set up and tested and we got our heads down ready for a week of diving.

The first dive was carried out on Poseidon Reef at Shaab El Erg.  This was a gentle 12m reef dive to allow all the divers to check there weights were correct and adjust our senses from seeing little marine life to being swamped by it! Camera's were definitely on overtime taking shots of some of the amazing marine life the Red Sea had to offer.  5 minutes into the dive and one of the groups were delighted when a Manta Ray decided to give them a visit.  Fortunately, I was in that group so it started the holiday off on a massive high and the dives got better and better!

Although all the divers had at least 50 dives logged, some of them had never experience currents but they were about to get a "crash" course on the second dive. The Barge at Bluff Point hosts some magnificent wild life including one of the biggest "Giant Morays" I have seen.  No one knows from where she came or why she sunk yet she is a well known wreck and the Captain of the Emperor Superior (our home for the week) moored our boat directly above her.  Once informed on the dive brief that there was a current moving from left to right (South to North) you could see the trepidation grow in some of the divers faces.  The group was split into two waves to save 24 divers all jumping in at once and we started to get changed. This is where the challenge of diving in Egypt begins.

As we dropped onto the wreck the speed and strength of the current became apparent immediately, so divers were informed to stay low on the wreck using it to shelter from the current.  Once the wreck was covered, seeing some amazing creatures from huge Scorpion fish, Anemone fish (Nemo) to Lion fish we left the sheltered surrounding of the wreck and let the current whizz us off down the wall of the reef.  Where as some found the rush and speed of the current exhilarating, some found the lack of complete control daunting and my group did extremely well staying within the distance I asked of them during our brief.  After 40 minutes it was time to carry out our safety stop before being whisked off the reef and into "The Blue".  This was the hardest part of the dive for some as we battled to stay at 5m whilst staying out of the way of the DSMB so no-one got tangled in the line. An awesome dive but definitely a wake up call for some.

The itinerary we followed was "The Famous Five" which took us to some amazing dive sites. The Thistlegorm, The Rosalie Moller, Shark & Yolander Reef, Anemone City and The Kingston were dive sites we dived in the Northern area before a 12 hour journey south to "The Brothers". Those that didn't have sea legs found this part uncomfortable but not unbearable despite high winds and swells! Eventually after a display of amazing skills, in 2-3m swells the crew members had the Superior tied off onto "Big Brother". Now to see some sharks!!  We were not disappointed! Reef sharks, White tips, Oceanic and a Hammerhead graced us with their presence after a couple of choppy zodiac rides to the drop off points.  Was it worth it? Hell yes!!

Dragon Divers mainly from Cyprus but also UK and Abu Dabi had a brilliant time with Emperor Divers on board the Emperor Superior and we have already entered the planning stages of Dragon Divers on tour 2014

Photographs taken on the trip can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.163566813823718&type=1

Hammerhead video http://youtu.be/QpBISrqnibo