St John’s – Day 3

Whenever you get to a reef, the boat ties up to some predetermined anchor points in order to minimise damage – all reefs seem to have them. A zodiac goes out with a diver who then attaches a rope from the boat to the reef anchor point, usually we anchor down wind so the wind or tide keep the ropes tight. Rarely is an anchor dropped to the sea bed.

Dives 3 and 4 - Habila Ali

We arrived at around 4 am local time and moored about 17kms north of Sudan. There is one other boat at the reef but it is moored at the other end of the reef and they are not in the water yet. This means that they will not have frighten away the fish since this is a prime site for Sharks and Rays.

During Dive 3 we saw a White Tip shark cruising beneath us which made the dive worthwhile. Coming back was difficult because another boat had arrived whilst we were down and moored in between us and the other boat which was there when we went down. Consequently we surfaced at the wrong boat and had to go down again and fin further.

White Tip Shark swimming below us

For Dive 4 we went with Will as the Dive Guide. RIb drop off at the end of the reef and a very easy fin back to the boat – numerous Tuna, two white tips and lots of other fish,or particular interest being a Pipe Fish which seemed to want to play with us and swum right in front of my mask. We did our safety stop in an overhang which enabled us to look out into the blue and watch for large fish. A very good dive with an excellent dive profile.

Broccoli Coral

 

Coral Grouper

Dangerous Reef – Dives 5 and 6

Before lunch we sailed north to Dangerous Reef – no one really knows why it is called this. Dive 5 in the afternoon was our best ever (and our longest). During the briefing, a number of complicated dive throughs were described so we decided to go with a dive guide (Kati) in order to ensure that we got the most out of the dive and also the dive throughs.

The visibility was superb, sunlight everywhere, great fish and anemones as well as the most amazing dive throughs – they seemed complex and twisty but easy enough because we were right behind the guide.

The sun sets over the mountains of Sudan and it is time for another dive. For the night dive, we decided to hang around the boat and see the immediate area again. So we descended to the sea bed at 21 metres and sat there for half an hour just looking at the fish which came by us including a Moray Eel which swam by twice, a Blue Spotted Ray, Banner Fish, Parrot Fish and numerous others.

Dinner, Beer and Bed