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Sudan Red Sea SANGANEB The coral reef surrounding the site of the famous British built lighthouse at Sanganeb has everything a diver could wish for. Rising from depths of 800m, the drop-offs boast caves and gullies, and one of the richest displays of soft coral in the Red Sea. Guests will spot an abundance of species in just 20m of water. In the depths, graceful Hammerheads sweep back and forth waiting for a photo opportunity.
SHA'AB RUMI SOUTH POINT Prone to strong currents, this dive begins at the top of a coral formation and gradually drops to 20m, where you encounter three routes all falling away to 700m. Most species endemic to the Red Sea can be found here, including large numbers of Barracuda and sharks that are not afraid to pose for camera. Night dives are held in an enclosed lagoon.
The best diving is in the summer. It is recommended to bring mosquito repellent and wear longer clothing in the evenings during the cooler months of the year. There can be mosquitoes and occasionally malaria is found in the area though a much less severe form than that found in countries further south such as Kenya. If you are on a liveaboard you will only find mosquitoes while in the port on the day of arrival and departure and then only in the evenings.
The people are generally very friendly and helpful and do not hassle foreigners. Other countries in the area are renowned for people touting for business, begging or generally hassling visitors but the Sudanese people are polite and reserved. Sudan has many ancient temples and monuments as well as pyramids. If you are interested in visiting these sights you should organize an excursion from Khartoum.
more info about Sudanese reefs including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Sudan Red SeaSudan has the only decent diving left in the Northern Red Sea. The Egyptian Red Sea has been dived out a long time ago. Most of the liveaboards operating out of Port Sudan are Italian, so it may take some searching to book one!
Sudan has some great reefs and wrecks.
WINGATE REEF Sailing from Port Sudan, most dive boats conduct their first dives on the wreck of the Umbria, an Italian freighter sunk on June 9, 1940, the day before Italy went to war. She was headed to East Africa carrying over 300,000 bombs and other war supplies for Italian troops. The reason for her unfortunate fate is a mystery, but some believe she was scuttled by her captain for fear that she would fall into the hands of the British. Others maintain that she was under threat from a German submarine. Today she lies on her port side in 35m to 40m of water.
SHA'AB RUMI In 1963, Jacques Cousteau mounted an expedition to Sha'ab Rumi to study Red Sea coral life. Guest are allowed to dive the remains of the team's underwater base, the Precontinent II shelf. Marine life is scarce, but the metal remains of the equipment shed and flying saucer-like structure, which are now delicately encrusted, are well worth a visit.
SHA'AD SU'ADI The wreck of the modern cargo vessel Blue Bell lies keel-side up with the prow at 15m dropping down to 70m. Diving below 35m is not recommended, and divers are advised to keep an eye out for Tiger sharks. Diving is subject to weather conditions. Ma Sharif and Angarosh are famous for their majestic Manta rays.
more info about Sudanese Wrecks including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Egypt Red SeaAt the tip of the Sinai Peninsular is Sharm El Sheik, a town surrounded by only one natural resource - its reefs. These were some of the most beautiful reefs on the planet.
Nowadays, the shore and dayboat diving is not what it used to be! If you haven’t been there in a few years you will be disappointed.
Ras Muhamed was ruined in the early 1990’s when rapid growth in diver numbers (fuelled by the then new airport) resulted in an uncontrolled explosion of building.
Sharm is now a strip mall of hotels. Every day, twice a day, dive boats moor every 100 yards along the coastline. Consequently the reef is now kicked to bits.
Erosion has caused sand to end up strangling the reefs - along with every bit of rubbish that blows around Sharm (which eventually ends up on the reef too).
Conventional wisdom is go liveaboard but standards are patchy as no foreign crewed boats are allowed. There’s still some decent offshore dives but also, if you’re sneaky and know where to go you can still find unspoiled reef.
You’ll find pristine stretches of wall where dive boats are not allowed. There’s nothing stopping you from entering from the shore.
It takes a bit of effort to wade over the fore reef but then you drop into a sheer wall with spectacular coral, Wow! That’s how we used to do it before the place was ruined. We slept under Landrovers on Safari from Eilat (Israel) cooked on the beach and dived from the shore. Truth is, you don’t need a boat.
more info about Sinai Peninsula including maps, reviews, and ratings...
BahamasThis site is a 40 mins. fast boat ride from New Providence Island.
You go in to find the start of the reef wall at 10 metres. There is a large population of female caribean reef sharks that are very big. They used to feed them here (not so much now) and this has made them very used to divers (you can see the hair up their nostrils - if they had any!!) so allowing for easy photographing.
more info about Sharp Wall - Tongue of the Ocean - New Providence Island including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Papua New Guinea PacificNot a lot of divers go to this site as it is very hard for boats to anchor. This makes the coral virtually untouched.
There are a lot of oriental species of fish including the Lacy scorpion fish. The water is quite cold but a lot of things to photograph. I had used up all my film in 20 minutes.
more info about Susies Bommy - Loloata including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Indonesia Banda SeaThis is the number one macro dive.
You swim down to what looks like the contents of a full ashtray, grey crap. All the rubbish that people have thrown into the Strait over the last hundred years. Or is it?
When you really start to look you find what looks like a piece of rubbish, but is actually a fish in disguise.
Sea Urchins as large as footballs seem to gang up and flash their neon lights at each other in a magnificent display.
Our guide told us that if we did not see a seahorse that he would refund the cost of our holiday! There were so many that we began to be blase about them.
There are thousands of nudibranch. I, of course, had gone in with wide angle - but still managed to come back with some fantastic shots.
more info about Somebody's Hairball (Lembeh Strait) including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United Kingdom AtlanticSt Kilda is widely regarded as the best diving in the UK, and rightly so. It has the wildest, woolliest marine life and, being mid ocean, the sea is blue not the usual UK murky gray!
Kilda is a small group of largely uninhabited islands 150 miles off the West coast of Scotland. There’s a small Military presence in Nissan huts, a couple of million Puffins, and little else.
Kilda is not for most recreational divers. You need an expedition mentality and a good liveaboard to get there. We were on the Jean De La Lune and can highly recommend it. It’s a three masted 100 foot schooner that is ocean worthy. You can dive straight off it most of the time as the walls are sheer the skipper can get in close. You must time your entry with the swell so that the gunwhales are at their lowest. There’s no handing cameras down. Just jump in holding them over your head and hope for the best.
A typical Kilda dive is rugged scenery with boulders the size of houses. There are canyons and caves, the walls of which are covered in jewel anemones (so take a torch). There are sea-mounts and drop-offs. You do a lot of deco diving and hanging on to kelp at 5 metres in swell can be a bit hairy! Delayed SMB’s are the order of the day. Don’t get lost or next stop is Rockall (isolated sea-mount) then Canada!
I remember hearing distant Killer Whales on dives, and once being surrounded by a massive shoal of Mackerel. It was the weirdest low viz situation I’ve had. Usually the viz is 10-20M, as evidenced by the kelp growing down to 30M+.
Fishing here means dangling a line in the water and reeling it in. You get a dozen fish out every cast, even without bait! That’s how profuse the life is. It gets big too. Lobsters too large for your goody bag (too large to wrestle even).
Seals that like to nibble your fins often buzz you. They don’t see many divers. If you’re looking for Best Of British – this is it!
more info about St Kilda including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Thailand Andaman SeaShark Point is part of a Marine Sanctuary that was created in 1992, where there is no commercial fishing, and collecting marine life is forbidden. You will find a reef teaming with life, and a sandy bottom where leopard sharks often rest. It is very colourful, with schools of tropical fish, sea fans and soft corals covering the rock. It can be hard work finning with a quite brisk current, but they do tend to run parallel to the reef. A good photograhic dive.
more info about Shark Point , Phuket including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Solomon islands PacificThere is diving for every level here, with reef and wall diving along with numerous wrecks. There is endless opportunities for the underwater photographer. Brilliant soft corals, huge sea fans and hard corals, along with turtles, shoals, manta rays and the occassional hammerhead.
Wrecks are most prolific on the seabed in Guadalcanal, and Gizo also has many wrecks. The wet season here is November to April when severe storms can arrive, but diving is available all year round although the best time is from April - October.
For protection against sharp coral etc. a lightweight wetsuit or lycra suit is advised.
more info about Solomon Islands including maps, reviews, and ratings...
