As always.......
Stunning diving,
Stunning weather
and excellent company
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The last trip of the year and as you would expect the diving was outstanding !!!
Due to the new regulations regarding baggage allowances etc. we were all a little concerned as to whether we would get through without having to pay large excess. As it turned out there was only one problem.... Denise and me !!! we were overweight and the "jobsworth" told us to pay £60 or else. garry spoke to the tour operator and all charges were waived Yipppeee. next stop breakfast and in some cases a few beers. I should add at this point it was 6.00am. I did not fancy a pint of Guinness and a whisky chaser, though some did.
Collecting the baggage and clearing customs was the usual mess, then onto the duty free to get supplies of beer and wine for the boat.
The boat was of the usual high standard and after unpacking we spent the night in the dock before sailing early the next morning.
I don't intend going through every dive we did. Suffice it to say all the dives were excellent we had a good mix of wrecks and reefs. We dived all the usual Northern sites including:
- Ras Mohammed
- Shark Reef
- SS Thistlegorm
- Ghiannis D
- Shag Rock/Kingston
- Bluff Point & the Ulysses
- Rosalee Muller
- Carnatic
The highlight of the trip (apart from the mysterious air thief) was the dive on Shag Rock and the wreck of the Ulysses. This was avery relaxing, colourful reef dive, but towards the end we started to hear the unmistakable squeaking of Dolphins. Coming towards was a pod of dolphins containing about 30+. What a sight !! They really are elegant and curious. After passing us by at very close range, one or two stayed for a while to check us out they were within a metre of us and circling around people to have a good look - A very humbling experience!!
Anyway - on with the show! I have tried to break the photos down into some sort of order to make it more interesting. Some of you may be aware that I get regular abuse for showing pictures of people who are not at their best but I never include any bad ones of me.... Well (Ray) that is because I take the pictures and can't do two things at once. Anyway just to keep people happy I have got a few ropey pictures of me (most of which I took myself) If anyone has any pictures of me (or anything else) they would like to share please send them in |
| The Team |
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Some of the group at breakfast in the airport |
The first stupid one of me ! Are you happy Ray? |
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In order to be politically correct we decided that we must take a minority. Say hello to our Native American, Verity |
Jason with excellent hovering skills (he was actually stood on the bottom) |
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Look at the rolls of fat on his head. I have never seen that before. How many foreheads does he have?? |
Supreme hovering from Simon (See I can be nice about him!!) |
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Mark trying to look relaxed and cool. Rule one - Never hold your breath. What is Verity doing in front of him ?? |
Denise always manages to find a toilet. This was particularly fascinating for her..... It was a wreck who's cargo was toilets and hand basins |
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The team getting ready to dive |
A RIB dive at Bluff Point |
| The following is very tragic and I really do not want to make fun of Jason. I am only posting this as a warning to anyone else who may consider going to the dentist while in Egypt. Yes i know it is a good price but the results leave a little to be desired. I understand that Jason has now had more painful and expensive work done in the UK to correct the problems. If you are squeamish please skip the next two photos |
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Before |
After |
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Inside the boat |
Garry and Dominic threatening a few rogue towels !! |
| Let's have a look at a few fish and stuff... |
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A fish sitting on a rock !! |
Coral crunching Parrot Fish |
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Blue Spotted Ray |
A Medallioned Dogfish
(Medallionisimus Canis Dogis) |
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A Squirrel fish |
Beautiful Angel Fish |
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A Shy Puffer Fish |
No album would be complete without one or two of these |
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Clown Fish. aaaahhh !! |
More Clown Fish |
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Sweetlips..... That is the name of the fish. I wasn't being nice to people again |
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A huge Batfish. These are about 1.5metres in length. |
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The above were voted as the best photographs of the holiday. They were taken by me and I organised the vote..... |
| Lets have a few arty ones next.... |
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Star Trek Deep Space 9 |
Some kind of shell !!! |
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Fantastic colours. And no it hasn't been enhanced. Non of the above have been |
Moody fan Coral |
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Some kind of trumpet coral |
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Lion Fish |
Shoals of something |
| A few scary ones and other bits and pieces |
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A Crocodile fish |
ooopps !! How did that get in ?? |
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A very large Moray |
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A well camouflaged stonefish |
| Just a few more of the team and the boat to round it all off |
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Some of the dolphins |
Sunset in the Red Sea |
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Another crap one of me to keep Ray and Simon happy |
Our Boat |
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Enjoying several beers on the last day |
The Docks |
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Relaxing in the evening |
Simon talking us through his dive...... |
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Mark after suffering, enduring, enjoying Simon's chat |
Rich, after trying to listen for Simon for more than 10 seconds |
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One more of me. Not so silly this time |
The very artistic dive briefings |
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The Final team photo. |
See you all again next year....... |
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