We dived Thomas Reef and thanks to the lack of breeze, could just keep going around the back of the reef, and likewise we did the same on Jackson Reef, drifting from garden to garden and on around the back. The currents were really running too, so we could just hitch a ride and fly. I sooo thought we would see a shark at some point, but sadly no we were not graced with this bonus. We finished the day with a very gentle drift along Ras Ghamilla.

The next two days were spent diving in Ras Mohammed. The first day we dived, Jack fish Alley… several barracuda and a couple of turtles, The Alternatives.. lots of blue spotted rays and a pyjama slug and Ras Za’atar… some biiig giant trevallies out in the blue, and Shark and Yolande in the afternoon.

The second day was not so friendly. So… we did Jack Fish Alley again first, which again produced a lively reverse current and barracuda.

The plan was to do Shark and Yolande second, however there was a nasty South Easterly breeze which is the only direction that offers zero protection to most of Sharm. We opted to go for Ras Za’atar instead, as it was a little sheltered at the end of the dive. For lunch we stayed in the Marsa Bareika bay hiding from the winds.

In the afternoon we headed for Ras Ghozlani, however the swell had risen to a good couple of metres (OK nothing special for the UK but with our big, wooden boats, it is a nightmare for getting back on board). Regardless, I jumped in for the current check and saw… green!!! Nothing but green!!! I swam and swam looking for a bit of reef where I could get a visual reference, however it took ages until finally I could see dark, murky, sandy reef about 2m in front of me! Hmmm not so nice. Anyway, I dropped down looking for some clarity off the drop off maybe, swam out to one of the big pinnacles on the drop off and encountered a real dusk effect! In fact, there were no fish to see either… they probably thought night was about to fall so had all settled in for the night! Everything was green n murky (wow! quite a novelty but not fun for a group of 8 divers with only me as a guide)… still no clarity over the drop off, so I went back and up and ditched the dive. We tried a little further along, this time George jumped in to take a look, but.. no joy So, plan C try Ras Katy just to get the dive in maybe.

Well… as we headed back, we could see crashing waves up against the cliffs where we live, and it was at that moment that we got the call to bring the boat back in. No dive this afternoon. The swell was really picking up and the police wanted all the boats sheltered in Sharm el Maya by nightfall. We had an interesting half hour organising all our kit boxes to be transferred off the boat in a windy swell that seemed to throw the boat in all directions. Getting off the boat was another interesting moment too!

So were we due another downpour? No… thankfully we only got a few droplets.

The next day we were due to go to Dahab, which is notoriously windy. However while Sharm got battered a bit, we were blessed with flat seas. Note to self… if there is a SE wind and swell in Sharm… head to Dahab!

And now I have a day off.. ahhh relaaax. I am sure it will all kick off again tomorrow… well the wind is due to, even if I don’t hehe.

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