Return to the Camel Club!
Guest blogger Jon Lyall!
After what had felt like an eternity, it was finally time for some of the Scubanuts to return to one of the best locations, and hotels to stay at in Egypt, the Camel Dive Club & Hotel, Sharm el Sheikh. This had been a Scubanuts regular trip up until 2015 when Sharm airport closed, so it felt really great to be on our way back!
A small party of 8 intrepid divers met early at Gatwick airport for our five hour flight down to Sharm - with it being a midday flight and a 2 hour time difference, we arrived late in the evening on Saturday. .We had just enough time for check in, a quick unpack and then a bite to eat and cheeky beer in the roof-top bar, before we headed to bed and an early start for diving in the morning. 8am Sunday was our meet time at the dive centre to prepare our kit, fill out paperwork and wait for the remainder of the guests to assemble, before our short walk down to the jetty and aboard our boat for the day.
After a short boat ride to the local dive sites, we had a nice easy couple of dives at Ras Bob & Ras Nasrani to settle in, making sure all of our kit was set up correctly and everyone had the correct weights for the week. Although nothing spectacular caught our eye today, we all enjoyed the lovely warm water and reef fish that commonly to adorn the reef systems here in Egypt. As the sun began to dip behind the Sinai mountains, it was time to head back to the jetty and conclude our first days diving with a drink, ice cream and chat about our dives. With World Cup action on the TV, we all decided we’d show our support for the England team and watch the game in the sports bar. So after a bite to eat we settled in to see what the game had to offer. For one of us it all got a little too much and they promptly fell asleep - the day’s activities had worn them out! The outcome of the game was in a convincing win for the England team which was celebrated all round!
Day two soon dawned and our standard 8am meet time soon came around. Today we had to wait a few minutes for permission from the authorities to be issued, before a quick security check, then boarding the boat. We were to head south into Ras Mohammed National Park, and being a marine park we are not allowed to moor up to drop off or pick up. Drift diving became the order of the day!
The first site of the day was Ras Ghazlani (Head of the Ghazel) which is a nice wall dive with a sandy ledge at about 25 meters. After a nice 50 minutes dive we were back on the boat and heading to the southernmost part of the national park and one of the most talked about reefs in the area, Shark & Yolanda.
Shark and Yolanda reef is an stunning pair of coral pinnacles that rise from the depths all the way to the surface and never fails to be a spectacular dive whichever way round its dived due to the current. Today was no exception, and with the current running from right to left across the reef it meant jumping in on Shark with the drift taking us to Yolanda. The wreck site of the Yolanda has over time has slid off the reef and now lies at technical diving depths but its cargo of toilets and sinks still on the reef makes a great place to end the dive hunting for critters in the wreckage. There were the usual giant morays lurking in the depths of the wreckage and a few scorpion fish dotted around, although you do need a good eye to spot them amongst the coral due to their camouflage.
Day three dawned, and once on the boat heading for the Straits of Tiran, it was noticeably choppier compared to the previous couple of days. As a result we were advised to make sure our kit was together before we left the shelter of the Naama Bay jetty. Due to the conditions it took us a little longer than normal to reach the Straits but once in the shelter of the reefs the conditions improved and we were all ready to jump in for our first dive of the day. This was to be on the southern most of the four reefs, Gordon, and is a nice circular shaped reef with a gentle sandy slope before dropping off to the depths below. Due to the conditions we were limited to the south side of the reef, though the nice coral garden on the south slope didn’t disappoint. Dive two was on probably the best of the four reefs in the system, on its northern tip, Jackson, is a slightly more teardrop shaped reef and is a pinnacle rising from the depths below, It has a nice wall to dive with a ledge at approx. 40 metres before finally dropping down to the depths below. Due to the currents it meant a zigzag dive pattern once again starting off at our deepest point and shallowing up throughout the dive. As always we were treated to an abundance of fish life including the purple and gold anthias fish, many varieties of banner and angel fish along with the occasional school of trigger fish. On our return to Sharm we decided to be adventurous and ventured out into the streets around the hotel in search of diner and ended up on the cliff side in a restaurant called New Panorama Sharm, where we had a delightful meal overlooking Naama Bay.
Day four saw a return to Ras Mohammad National Park with a visit to Jackfish Alley. With a small current running on the site from south to north we started at the plateau first and were greeted to a lovely turtle having an early morning snack of soft coral on the reef. Dive two was once again back to Shark and Yolanda, however we got to do it in reverse as the current was taking us from Yolanda with a gentle drift down along to Shark. Starting on Yolanda once again gave us a chance to have a scan over the wreck site for critters on the bottom and today didn’t disappoint with a couple of the blue spotted rays and a nice sized crocodile fish. After leaving the wreck site we drifted along to the outside of shark reef fairly quickly and with most of the group having plenty of air we shallowed our dive and made with the current for the dive site affectionately known as Anemone City. There were masses of anemones in various colours and clown fish to match, some as small as a pin head right up to the larger more commonly seen, in a variety colours. We ended our fourth diving day on a real high with the rumour of there being a whale shark in the area as we slowly began our return to the jetty. However despite having our eyes peeled along the way the whale shark proved elusive and nothing was spotted.
Our fifth and final day saw a small break in the team, where one of our group ventured off on one of the shore based dives from Dahab, diving the blue hole and canyon dive sites. The rest of us headed back up north to the Straits of Tiran in much calmer conditions than a few days before and we opted for everyone’s favourite site, Jackson, again. The coral garden was picturesque as usual and we had a great dive. The second dive was on the neighbouring reef, Woodhouse. This is the longest of the four reefs at around 800 metres in length and is pretty much a sheer wall all the way along its length making a very spectacular drift dive. At the end of the day we met up back at the dive centre and talked about our days dives and what we would be doing tomorrow. Three of our intrepid team had made the decision that they would be starting the days diving adventures before the sun had even risen by heading to what can only be described as one of the best wreck dives in the Red Sea, the Thistlegorm. The remainder opted for a more leisurely start!
Day six dawned, and those of us that remained assembled in the dive centre, to head out in a southerly direction to Ras Mohammed for one final time. Ras Za’atar was to be our first dive of the day and is nicely positioned at the opposite side of the bay to Ras Ghazlani ,which we had dived earlier in the week. Again this was to be a drift dive along the wall and around the corner into the calmer waters of the bay for a nice easy pick up. The last dive of the trip was a slightly shallower site called The Lighthouse, a drift dive back in the direction of Yolanda reef. With a nice gentle current moving us along the reef we were able to spot all manner of marine life from blue spotted rays, puffer fish, moray eels, giant napoleon wrasse and the occasional jackfish and grouper out in the deeper waters. The dive site concluded with the open skeletal structure of a shipping container, which over the years has been claimed by the coral and once again proves that everything will eventually be claimed by the sea and form an artificial reef.
Saturday soon dawned and it was time to pack and make ready for our late evening flight back to Gatwick airport. Also there was that small aspect of a world cup quarter final for England against France, though now because of time differences it meant that we would be missing all the action by being on our flight. As we took off into a warm 28 degrees night from Sharm the crew gave us the news that we were winning and everything was looking good. This was not to last though and a short while later we were told that we had now lost 2-1 to the French and to top that we had a weather forecast for our arrival into Gatwick of -7 degrees with freezing fog patches! After landing and saying our goodbyes we all made our way to our cars so as not to remain outside for too long and began the final leg of our journey home.
Scubanuts will be planning a return to the Camel Club in Sharm during November 2023, so keep an eye out on our Facebook page and website for more details soon! This is a highly recommended trip!
After what had felt like an eternity, it was finally time for some of the Scubanuts to return to one of the best locations, and hotels to stay at in Egypt, the Camel Dive Club & Hotel, Sharm el Sheikh. This had been a Scubanuts regular trip up until 2015 when Sharm airport closed, so it felt really great to be on our way back!
A small party of 8 intrepid divers met early at Gatwick airport for our five hour flight down to Sharm - with it being a midday flight and a 2 hour time difference, we arrived late in the evening on Saturday. .We had just enough time for check in, a quick unpack and then a bite to eat and cheeky beer in the roof-top bar, before we headed to bed and an early start for diving in the morning. 8am Sunday was our meet time at the dive centre to prepare our kit, fill out paperwork and wait for the remainder of the guests to assemble, before our short walk down to the jetty and aboard our boat for the day.
After a short boat ride to the local dive sites, we had a nice easy couple of dives at Ras Bob & Ras Nasrani to settle in, making sure all of our kit was set up correctly and everyone had the correct weights for the week. Although nothing spectacular caught our eye today, we all enjoyed the lovely warm water and reef fish that commonly to adorn the reef systems here in Egypt. As the sun began to dip behind the Sinai mountains, it was time to head back to the jetty and conclude our first days diving with a drink, ice cream and chat about our dives. With World Cup action on the TV, we all decided we’d show our support for the England team and watch the game in the sports bar. So after a bite to eat we settled in to see what the game had to offer. For one of us it all got a little too much and they promptly fell asleep - the day’s activities had worn them out! The outcome of the game was in a convincing win for the England team which was celebrated all round!
Day two soon dawned and our standard 8am meet time soon came around. Today we had to wait a few minutes for permission from the authorities to be issued, before a quick security check, then boarding the boat. We were to head south into Ras Mohammed National Park, and being a marine park we are not allowed to moor up to drop off or pick up. Drift diving became the order of the day!
The first site of the day was Ras Ghazlani (Head of the Ghazel) which is a nice wall dive with a sandy ledge at about 25 meters. After a nice 50 minutes dive we were back on the boat and heading to the southernmost part of the national park and one of the most talked about reefs in the area, Shark & Yolanda.
Shark and Yolanda reef is an stunning pair of coral pinnacles that rise from the depths all the way to the surface and never fails to be a spectacular dive whichever way round its dived due to the current. Today was no exception, and with the current running from right to left across the reef it meant jumping in on Shark with the drift taking us to Yolanda. The wreck site of the Yolanda has over time has slid off the reef and now lies at technical diving depths but its cargo of toilets and sinks still on the reef makes a great place to end the dive hunting for critters in the wreckage. There were the usual giant morays lurking in the depths of the wreckage and a few scorpion fish dotted around, although you do need a good eye to spot them amongst the coral due to their camouflage.
Day three dawned, and once on the boat heading for the Straits of Tiran, it was noticeably choppier compared to the previous couple of days. As a result we were advised to make sure our kit was together before we left the shelter of the Naama Bay jetty. Due to the conditions it took us a little longer than normal to reach the Straits but once in the shelter of the reefs the conditions improved and we were all ready to jump in for our first dive of the day. This was to be on the southern most of the four reefs, Gordon, and is a nice circular shaped reef with a gentle sandy slope before dropping off to the depths below. Due to the conditions we were limited to the south side of the reef, though the nice coral garden on the south slope didn’t disappoint. Dive two was on probably the best of the four reefs in the system, on its northern tip, Jackson, is a slightly more teardrop shaped reef and is a pinnacle rising from the depths below, It has a nice wall to dive with a ledge at approx. 40 metres before finally dropping down to the depths below. Due to the currents it meant a zigzag dive pattern once again starting off at our deepest point and shallowing up throughout the dive. As always we were treated to an abundance of fish life including the purple and gold anthias fish, many varieties of banner and angel fish along with the occasional school of trigger fish. On our return to Sharm we decided to be adventurous and ventured out into the streets around the hotel in search of diner and ended up on the cliff side in a restaurant called New Panorama Sharm, where we had a delightful meal overlooking Naama Bay.
Day four saw a return to Ras Mohammad National Park with a visit to Jackfish Alley. With a small current running on the site from south to north we started at the plateau first and were greeted to a lovely turtle having an early morning snack of soft coral on the reef. Dive two was once again back to Shark and Yolanda, however we got to do it in reverse as the current was taking us from Yolanda with a gentle drift down along to Shark. Starting on Yolanda once again gave us a chance to have a scan over the wreck site for critters on the bottom and today didn’t disappoint with a couple of the blue spotted rays and a nice sized crocodile fish. After leaving the wreck site we drifted along to the outside of shark reef fairly quickly and with most of the group having plenty of air we shallowed our dive and made with the current for the dive site affectionately known as Anemone City. There were masses of anemones in various colours and clown fish to match, some as small as a pin head right up to the larger more commonly seen, in a variety colours. We ended our fourth diving day on a real high with the rumour of there being a whale shark in the area as we slowly began our return to the jetty. However despite having our eyes peeled along the way the whale shark proved elusive and nothing was spotted.
Our fifth and final day saw a small break in the team, where one of our group ventured off on one of the shore based dives from Dahab, diving the blue hole and canyon dive sites. The rest of us headed back up north to the Straits of Tiran in much calmer conditions than a few days before and we opted for everyone’s favourite site, Jackson, again. The coral garden was picturesque as usual and we had a great dive. The second dive was on the neighbouring reef, Woodhouse. This is the longest of the four reefs at around 800 metres in length and is pretty much a sheer wall all the way along its length making a very spectacular drift dive. At the end of the day we met up back at the dive centre and talked about our days dives and what we would be doing tomorrow. Three of our intrepid team had made the decision that they would be starting the days diving adventures before the sun had even risen by heading to what can only be described as one of the best wreck dives in the Red Sea, the Thistlegorm. The remainder opted for a more leisurely start!
Day six dawned, and those of us that remained assembled in the dive centre, to head out in a southerly direction to Ras Mohammed for one final time. Ras Za’atar was to be our first dive of the day and is nicely positioned at the opposite side of the bay to Ras Ghazlani ,which we had dived earlier in the week. Again this was to be a drift dive along the wall and around the corner into the calmer waters of the bay for a nice easy pick up. The last dive of the trip was a slightly shallower site called The Lighthouse, a drift dive back in the direction of Yolanda reef. With a nice gentle current moving us along the reef we were able to spot all manner of marine life from blue spotted rays, puffer fish, moray eels, giant napoleon wrasse and the occasional jackfish and grouper out in the deeper waters. The dive site concluded with the open skeletal structure of a shipping container, which over the years has been claimed by the coral and once again proves that everything will eventually be claimed by the sea and form an artificial reef.
Saturday soon dawned and it was time to pack and make ready for our late evening flight back to Gatwick airport. Also there was that small aspect of a world cup quarter final for England against France, though now because of time differences it meant that we would be missing all the action by being on our flight. As we took off into a warm 28 degrees night from Sharm the crew gave us the news that we were winning and everything was looking good. This was not to last though and a short while later we were told that we had now lost 2-1 to the French and to top that we had a weather forecast for our arrival into Gatwick of -7 degrees with freezing fog patches! After landing and saying our goodbyes we all made our way to our cars so as not to remain outside for too long and began the final leg of our journey home.
Scubanuts will be planning a return to the Camel Club in Sharm during November 2023, so keep an eye out on our Facebook page and website for more details soon! This is a highly recommended trip!
