Red Sea - Scuba Diving Expedition Blog
20 October 2012
It feels like the blink of an eye and the trip is over. With a 100% pass rate it has been a huge success. Everyone is in good spirits and a little sad that it is all over. It was fantastic to see everyone out diving together as qualified divers although some still need to do a bit of work on their buoyancy. This evening all those that completed a course received their certificates from the various instructors before having a group meal on the roof of the hotel. The food was very nice as was the view over the bay. Staff, parents and pupils headed off in to the bright lights for the last time, some to buy presents, others ice cream! Tomorrow is a day of sunbathing and swimming before we head to that airport at 1530 ready for the five hour flight home and the up hill drive back to school. SteveG
19 October 2012
Today was a day of adventure. Seven of the team went out early to dive the SS Thistlegorm ( the Blue Thistle). The boat was sunk during the Second World War and was packed to the gunnels with trains, motor bikes, trucks, small arms, large shells, rifles and other military hardware. The ship rests in 30 metres of water upright and has a huge hole towards its stern. Descending the line you can't help but be impressed by the abundance of fish life and the size of the ship which seemed to go on for miles. The first dive was a tour of the outside which took us past the propeller before we went up to the bridge which we breached. The second dive was impressive as we swam through the various cargo holds over the top of numerous motor bikes, tracked vehicles, bedford trucks, and more boxes of rifles. Absolutely amazing!
The open water divers continued with the rest of their qualifying dives, reaching the dizzy depths of 18m. Most have now successfully completed their course. They saw an octopus, moray eels and stone fish as well as enjoying jumping off the boat and snorkelling in between dives. The remaining divers also had a busy day exploring the undersea world.
Tomorrow is fun dives in the Ras Mohammed National Park, one of the top dive sites in the world; something that we are all looking forward to. After a week of early starts, long, tiring days and some idyllic diving we will have a chance to all dive together in a truly memorable location before returning to reality!
Nemo has now been found.
SteveG
18 October 2012
Yet another beautiful day in paradise.... All rescue divers completed the various sections and training with each having to run and then complete a missing diver scenario in crystal clear waters. Advanced divers continued to work through their adventure dives and certainly seemed to be enjoying the different dives. Those that are free diving continued to be in awe of the huge range of corals and fish life they are seeing which included pillars of colourful coral, bump head snapper, barracuda, giant morays and parrot fish.
The open water divers completed BCD, weight belt remove and replace and swimming without a mask. It wasn't all work,as they went to explore the marine world, finding a range of wildlife including rays and eels.
In the evening the open waters stayed at the hotel and went out for food in small groups whilst the others stayed on the boat to do a night dive, which was amazing. Lion fish came out, in what looked like gangs, roaming around, looking for toddlers to eat! The giant morays also came out and looked like massive snakes as they twisted and turned in and out of the corals looking for food.
Tomorrow we are all going to be together on the 'Obie Wan'. It will be great to have everyone together on the boat so they can exchange stories.
17 October 2012
What a fantastic day! Blue sky and warm water, what more could you ask for! All of the dive courses are going fantastically well. Rescue divers have now finished all of the skills and exams, all they have left is the rescue scenarios. Advanced divers completed their drift and navigation dives yesterday out on the boat and returned full of joy and food from a well stocked boat.They should finish on Wednesday, all being well.
Open water divers have a few more skills sessions left to do including their surface swims. Free, rescue and advanced divers are all going out on the boat today (can't wait especially when the boat is named Obiwan! ). We will also be carrying out a night dive this evening; the thought of kitting up and throwing ourselves off the back of Obiwan with the sun setting and into a water temperature resembling that of a bath is something that everybody is dreading.....! Last night, the group meal was tasty and authentic although 'Ronaldo' our Egyptian waiter was not the most time conscious person to be served by!
The best fish seen so far is the crocodile fish. It looks scary and flat but isn't really!!! Although Parrot, Lion, Pipe and and Angel fish are all in abundance. All the pupils, parents and staff alike are having a fantastic time although a certain member of staff is devastated to not have found Nemo.....yet!
SteveG
15 October 2012
All the groups started their various courses (rescue, advanced, open water and pleasure dives). Everyone was a little worried and unsure what to expect but soon got in to the swing of things. One 'O' went bang which worried a few of the people around the shop.
The rescue divers had the unenviable task of saving Mr G several times although one or two did start to contemplate leaving him! Advanced people did some basic drills to refresh before getting stuck into their first speciality, peak performance buoyancy which involved a lot of hovering and swimming through hoops. Open water divers started working through their various skills and seemed to have a great time.
14 October 2012
All arrived safely and had a good meal last night and a relaxing sleep. The weather is good and hot. All are looking forward to getting in to the water. Open water, advanced, rescue and pleasure dives will be running at the same time so lots going on. Kit issue and theory starts at 0900.