Well I tried to fit the entire two days into one blog, but that just didn’t happen. So, here goes the next day of that course which happened to be our last day diving. Michael and I finally dove together in the same group. We did some pretty strenuous diving that stressed me out just a little bit. I was really pushed to my comfort zone level in the sea, but I am really proud of myself for doing it. Now I know that I can do these dives. That will definitely help me in the future with air consumption.
Dive number one was at a place called Shark and Yolanda Reefs. This area is actually two reef pinnacles on the southernmost point of Sinai. In addition, it is a pretty difficult dive because of the kinds of currents that flow through the area. The currents come in from the east, the west, top and bottom of the reef, and occasionally stream around the pinnacles to create two currents pushing in one direction. Yet because of that, the area is one of the top ten diving sights in the whole world with nothing but the blue directly next to the reef. Needless to say, I was very uneasy about being so close to the blue without much of a reference point. Michael’s presence is really what kept me semi-calm during the dive. The dive was a drift dive that required everyone to be ready at the same time and to descend almost immediately upon impact to the water. We dropped down by Shark reef into a school of Snappers, Unicorn Fish, and Bat Fish and descended to 29 meters. What is particularly dangerous about this drop-off is that the pinnacle continues down for about 700 meters, thus making it very easy to keep going down, down, down. While we were descending and throughout that entire dive, I was glued to my instructor since I was so nervous. However, one of my friends was with us, and he just kept descending without realizing it. My instructor could not get his attention, so Michael made a heroic save by going down to get him at 34 meters. Michael slowly brought our friend up who was quite shocked that he had managed to drop that quickly. Then the current whipped us around the reef into an area with a sandy bottom. While going around the reef, we swim directly through a large school of Unicorn fish, saw some abnormally large Bat Fish, and had six Barracudas stroll by us. The sandy area gave way to some rather pretty corals and a Blue Spotted Stingray. No sooner had we entered the area did the current pick us up again to move us around the Yolanda Reef. On the other side of Yolanda were the remnants of a shipwreck. In 1984, a cargo ship, heading to a hotel, crashed into the reef leaving a massive amount of toilets, bathtubs, and Jacuzzis behind. We swam around that portion of the dive for a while until it was time to be picked up.
Two hours later we went of dive number two which to a famous shipwreck. The Dun Raven was a British ship carrying cotton and spices from India that crashed and caught fire on the reef in 1876. It was later discovered in 1977 and is the site of our second dive. Again, the dive was a drift dive but not as scary as the first one of the day. When we descended, we swam a bit and came upon the bow of the ship. Underwater, the ship was flipped so that the deck was touching the sandy bottom. We swam along the top of the ship and through the hole of the propellers to get to the other side in order to go into the wreck. Since the ship had been there for so long, the corals on and around it were simply phenomenal. There were so many different colors and fish hanging around the ship. Once at the stern, we entered the ship, and I discovered that I do not like going into wrecks. Inside was basically a hollowed out shell because there was a fire on the ship when it sank. There were some fish in the ship, but other than that it was rather uneventful for me. In spite of this, Michael had to save our friend yet again. Our friend got himself stuck in the ship and could not figure out how to get out. Michael calmed him down, helped him get his bearings straight, and led him out of the ship. We then swam back down the ship into the corals that lay waiting for us at the end of our dive. Oh, we saw some Stonefish which are very poisonous so do not touch!
With dives one and two out of the way, we relaxed for another two hours before our last and final dive of the trip. We went to Ras Ghozalani for a semi-drift dive. It was a very easy dive which was such a relief after the first two dives. I saw tons of Clown Fish and some little baby Nemos swimming in the safety of their anemone. Clown Fish are funny creatures because divers can actually get them to play. The fish see their reflections in the mask of the divers so this tiny little fish charges at the diver’s mask thinking it is scaring away another Clown Fish. In addition, Clown Fish mate for life guarding their anemone with their partners. Oh, I saw a Sea Turtle on the dive as well!! It came out of the blue and onto the reef. Other than that, the dive was rather calm but absolutely freezing! Seven minutes into the dive we hit a thermocline dropping the temperature of the water to 75 degree Fahrenheit. That may not sound cold, but for 44 minutes it gets quite chilly.
Overall the trip was an amazing experience and gave me a whole new appreciation for the underwater world.
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