13 - 20 June Red Sea - Brothers and Safaga

1- 8 October Red Sea - Fury Shoal, Sataya and Ras Banas

For 2008 Red Sea Workshops Contact Oonasdivers

E-Mail: info@oonasdivers.com   Website: www.oonasdivers.com

The Red Sea has long been one of the favoured dive locations for underwater photographers and with good reason. The variety of corals, fish, spectacular colour and water clarity are hard to beat. A lot has changed since my first visit in 1976 when there was no infrastructure and certainly no hotel beds or live aboards although the privation was forgotten as soon as you left the surface. Today diving is well established with numerous hotels to cater to all tastes and a fleet of live aboards to take you to the offshore and remote sites.

The northern Red Sea sites in the Gulf of Aquaba and Suez are perhaps the most popular and best known, but going a little further south also offers a tremendous variety of diving and perhaps fewer boats dependant on your location.

For 2008 we have two live aboard tours on offer. The first in June will depart from Hurghada and move south initially towards Safaga and then make the crossing to the spectacular Brothers islands when the weather is right.

On Big Brother and Little Brother island are magnificent drop offs, dazzling colours in the hard and soft corals, the chance to see big fish and shark action and even a couple of wrecks thrown in for good measure. On our trip here in 2007 we saw schools of grey reefs, hammerheads and even a thresher shark amongst the other pelagics and reef fish.

If you need to stretch your legs you can go ashore and visit the light house which has kept the reef safe for shipping for over 100 years – the  light however did not help the Numidia which was wrecked on the north side of Big Brother in 1901 and is now a fantastic wreck dive starting in 10m or less totally engulfed by coral growth. The wreck and remains of the cargo are now almost part of the reef - up in the shallows you can still find wheels from the rolling stock which was part of cargo now covered in soft corals and surrounded by schooling anthias. Not far from this wreck is the second of the Aida wrecked in 1957 on the west face of the island whilst bringing a change of personnel. This wreck is somewhat deeper, starting in a depth of 30m, but is equally adorned with colourful soft corals and home to numerous fish species.

Our route will then take us back towards Safaga where we will make our way back towards Hurghada exploring the inshore and offshore reefs on the way.

The second workshop in October will depart from Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam to dive the reefs of Fury Shoal, Sataya and Ras Banas.

This region is now renowned for its amazing hard coral formations, particularly around the Fury Shoal area. Further offshore and to the south in Sataya the reef structures begin to change to a more familiar northern pattern of massive buttresses rising from deep water, some reaching to the surface (ergs) and some just 3-6m below (habillis). These reefs are more exposed to the stronger currents which support the colonies of colourful soft corals and sea fans which are so much the trade mark of the Red Sea. The reefs also have a stunning selection of hard corals and the familiar image of swathes of anthias crowding the reef edge. The deeper water also attracts the the pelagics from the open sea and it is common to see large schools of barracuda, jacks, red snapper and several species of shark.

There are also a number of wrecks in the area, some discovered and some still yet to be found. The majority of these are in the Fury Shoal area and one of the most popular of these with photographers are the tug boat ‘Tien Sien’ and the wreck of a small unnamed yacht. The tug has been on the reef since the early 1940’s and has a remarkable covering of hard corals whilst the yacht is more recent but is already being engulfed by the reef. There is also the mostly intact remains of the ‘SS Turbo half wreck' on the north side of Ras Banas (only the stern of the ship is here) which makes a marvellous dive but weather conditions need to be good to reach this exposed site. Nevertheless, this wreck has a wide range of marine life on it much of which will suit the macro photographer, including the largest population of pixie hawk fish I have come across.

As with previous workshops the emphasis will be on informality and everyone is free to ask questions throughout the day. During the workshop there will be daily themed presentations and Mark will be on hand to help and advise on the best techniques and solutions whatever equipment you choose to use.

Please contact Oonasdivers for booking and full details of the Red Sea Workshops:
Tel. +44 (0)1323 648924 Fax. +44 (0)1323 738356
E-Mail: info@oonasdivers.com

Visit the Oonasdivers Website:  www.oonasdivers.com   

E-mail Mark: markwebster@photec.co.uk