Dahab - 1999

We enjoyed Dahab so much that we returned in 1999. We weren't disappointed. The diving was as good as we had experienced the previous year - if anything rather better, probably because we had got to know the dive sites. However, Februrary is still the winter season for Dahab. Although the temperature is rather like a May day for us, there was quite a lot of wind which meant that some of the dive sites were blown out on a couple of days.

Dahab has changed a little. There is some serious building development going on - largely new hotels, but also what appeared to be "suburb expansion". Whether this is for locals or for the tourist trade we didn't establish. The restaurants and shops in Dahab were unchanged. We ate well, and although many restaurants serve similar food it wasn't difficult to find real Egyptian food. Prices ranged from 10 - 30 Egyptian pounds for a good meal, with 10 pounds for a beer.

We stayed at the Nesima Hotel again. Little had changed and we were delighted with the facilities. The breakfast was particularly pleasant.

Diving

The diving was excellent. The water was clear and warm (22 Centigrade). It was nice to dive without gloves and a hood. It was strange how instantly familiar it all was.

We were reminded how important it is to get our weights right. The Gulf of Aqaba is more saline than British waters, and some of us tended to underestimate our weight at first, especially since we were diving with aluminium cylinders. A useful ploy was to wrap a little weight around the tank.

Our first dive was at the Lighthouse Reef. Apart from being an easy shore entry this gave ample opportunity to adjust to the Red Sea. This site is quite deceptive. It is easy to dismiss it as a beginner's site, but it holds many possibilities. If you stick to the reef wall it seems a little "blown out", but if you head off towards the headland and fin around it then it is very pretty. Alternatively, you could head off down to the boulders and quite quickly you'll be in 30+ limpid water.

During the next 6 days we visited most of the Dahab sites. Most of us did 2 dives a day, with an optional night dive either at Lighthouse or opposite the hotel.

One day, we witnessed a minor mishap with another dive party. At the Canyons, the wind was blowing quite hard. 2 divers were in distress some 50m offshore. On going out to them, we found a diver who had run out of air and the wind was driving him along the reef. The guy was exhausted, had no snorkel and despite the shallow depth he was in a quite a state. He was easily brought back to shore. Apparently, on reentering the exit lagoon he had finned hard against the current to little avail apart from using up his air. It impressed on us the need for proper dive planning. The diver had only ever done 4 sea dives.

This brought up the question of accidents. Apart from the Blue Hole which still sees a number of macho induced fatalities, most of the dive sites are relatively shallow and 'safe'. But if an accident happens, then it is a long way from the chamber at Sharm. We were told that it could take quite a long time to arrange for helicopter transport. It just depends. Conveying a casualty by road would take a little time and would involve some altitude penalties.

Apart from the regular diving we made two extra trips.

St Katherine's Monastery

Some of us wanted to see the monastery of St Katherine. This is the oldest Christian monastery in continuous existence. It lies beneath Mount Sinai. It was built over 1400 years ago by the Roman emperor Justinian to protect the monks and hermits that resided in the area. From Dahab, it takes about 1.5 hours to get there by taxi. Having becomed accustomed to the Red Sea, the journey was a contrast. The Sinai is an austere wilderness of granite and colourful limestone mountains. Very beautiful, with good vistas. More rocky than sandy. There were occasional Bedouin encampments, and just a few roadblocks manned by Egyptian soldiers. The monastery was interesting, but unfortunately it will only handle a limited number of visitors per day to view its considerable treasures. You need to confirm in advance (which we didn't). But it was still worth seeing.

Dolphins at Nuweiba

The second trip was to dive with the dolphins at Nuweiba. We took a short taxi journey up the Gulf of Aqaba. A few years ago a local fisherman befriended a dolphin and established a special relationship. The dolphin has stayed in the Nuweiba area and the fisherman allows people to swim with her. However, this is not a free for all. He charges a modest fee for the privilege and insists on some reasonable conditions - no touching, and no more than 10 people in the water at once. Any problems and he whistles the dolphin away. What makes this really impressive is that the fisherman is a deaf mute.

The unexpected surprise was that the dolphin had recently given birth. We were able to swim with a hyperactive and curious baby dolphin. Seconds after snorkelling in the shallow water we were confronted with a friendly baby that just wanted to play. It zoomed about, making itself known to all of us in a most appealing way, while the mother just slowly circled around. When we dived down junior would quickly appear, circle us and come right up to tap on somebody's mask asking to play. Then it would zoom off, spiral around its mother for a while and return to us.

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