Hi,

I had not written up this blog from my November trip as I have been waiting to see if any underwater photos arrived from my diving colleagues. They haven't and I don't have contact details so will have to go without them....

Finally a holiday abroad in 2008! In between jobs, I headed off to Sharm El Sheik on the tip of the Sinai peninsula, where the Gulfs of Suez and Acquaba meet. I had visited there before and it is one of the world premier diving sites.

The boat was populated by two groups of Irish and English divers plus myself. The company was good and the diving even better....

Highlights were:

1. Seeing my first HAMMERHEAD SHARK! Large and beautiful. An amazing creature...I hope that a video of it will appear on this site eventually.

2. On a night dive on the third day, I saw my first octopus, moving against the coral it changed colour to its background as it moved. A fantastic sight.

3. On the last day, having failed to organize a trip up to Mount Sinai, (due to the altitude differences) I took a road trip up the coast to Dahab. There we dived in two famous spots, the Blue Hole and then the Canyon. The latter was in fact the last dive of the holiday and one of the most unique and spectacular. The Canyon is a huge crack in the sea bed going down to fifty metres plus. We entered at thirty metres and swam up at roughly a 45 degree angle to about 15 metres. The light coming into the canyon plus the spectacular shoals of fish within made this a memorable experience.

All the usual Red Sea suspects were present on the dives. Parrot fish, Banner fish, Angel fish,Moray eels, Anthias, Puffer fish, Giant Trevally, Torpedo Rays, Sea Anemone, Wrasse, Barracudas, plus fan, table and cabbage coral. Special thanks to Arnie the dive leader, a splendid Belgian with a chequered life.

Not much to say about Sharm itself. It was all about the diving. Am now up to 90 logged dives and hope to break the 100 next trip, all being well.

Sorry the photos are all above water, If I get sent the underwater ones I will post them on.

Until the next time.

Take care

Murdo