In encircling

We are again going for a two-day diving safari from Sharm el Sheik. Most I’m looking forward to diving in the national park Ras Mohammed, to the napoleon fish, turtles, barracudas and mainly to the big shoals of snappers and trevally.

The National park Ras Mohammed is on the southernmost tip of Sinai Peninsula. It was proclaimed a protected area with a primary size 97 km2 in 1983. The development started in 1988, when the Egyptian government required the EU to establish the first sea protected area. Since 1989 with the help of Egyptian agency for life environment (EEAA) a net of protected areas, which include about 52% of Egyptian coast of the Aqaba gulf and 11 500 km2 of other areas has been formed. The National park has some rules: Nothing to bring or to take, not to feed the fish and mainly not to destroy anything. Every diver must pay the tax 5 USD. There are some diving sites. Diving site Shark reef & Yolanda reef rank to the most visited places. Its two towers rise from East African rift (break) deep 2000 m. Around there are strong currents which attract many fish: snappers, jacks, surgeonfish, batfish and in summer months there are in thousands shoals of barracudas. Often there are Silky sharks, Grey reef sharks, occasionally White-tip reef sharks and even hammerheads.

Today it is a nice sunny day, we went early morning so there aren’t many boats. We are preparing equipment and plan our dive with regard to possible currents. My friend is preparing his video camera, he is going to make a film about an Oceanic white-tip shark which is now there. Maybe he will be lucky. Our group has smaller targets, we only want to enjoy the dive and maybe we meet some turtles or napoleon fish. It’s the time, we dress and jump to the water. We jumped a little far from the reef, under us there is a bottomless depth. We slowly fall down to 20m and swim to Shark reef. Around us there are beautiful corals fed by local currents. Everything around is unreally magnificent, next to the reef rises from two thousandth deep bottom I feel like a particle of plankton. Under an overhang I find a big murena, hanging so unnoticed, that we almost hit to her. Next to the reef ,,stand” two meters height old man- Brown-marbled grouper, hi is not enthusiastic from our presence, willingly he disappear from way. We go up to lower depth, we swim along the reef, it started small current. I look to open sea and I see first small shoals of surgeonfish and batfish. Some meters behind us swim my friend with video camera and his buddy. Sometime I maybe also will go to make a film about shark. Round us swam shoal about one meter height barracudas. After few minutes we turn along reef and in front of us turn up impossible big shoal, snappers with trevally. Stand in current and only a little moving. I give signal that I want to swim to the shoal and take some photo. I slowly swim from reef to open sea. Fortunately isn’t strong current, so far from reef I’ve never been. I am afraid to get frightened the shoal, but unnecessary. There are so many, that they don’t know about my presence. I am trying to go the nearest, I swim to the shoal. They make way and let me to be among them. I am encircled, everywhere I look is impermeable wall from fish bodies. I could to touch them and they will not know it, how there are so near. Some centimetres from me are their toothed jaws. Some are hurts, some have fishing hook in jaws. They ignore me, they take me as part of shoal. I don’t know how long I was there but it was like vecnost. Just a few photographs and I say good bye to ,,my” shoal. I go back to my group, I shine because of that chance, I can’t recover from that experience. How we swim far I’m turning back to the amazing mass of fish. We sail in laguna between reefs, it’s a little muddy because of strong current. Now we swim inside Yolanda reef. The name Yolanda is from boat wreck, which sank there after storm in 1981. The boat lies 200m under reef. You see only the cargo- baths and toilets. Nevertheless it look in all sort of ways, is this place full of life. Among parts of wreck are bluespotted stingrays, everything is cover by beautiful corals, there are Masked butterflyfish, to us swim group of groupers. We remove from wreck and We went across with some tuna. On this side are many soft corals and places for murenas. The current take us so we observe some air. I turn back and see two napoleon fish, one very big and the second is just juvenile. Immediately I show them to my group, they elegant swim around and disappear in blue. We are again between reefs, to laguna we swim simple. Again we swim inside Yolanda reef, pass the wreck and prepare for surfacing. We go to Satelite reef, a little reef next to Yolanda, it ´s one of safe place to surface. Between Satelite reef and coast we meet majestic turtle. She looks to us a little and she is produce. Then she leaves us. It’s a perfect end.

After three minutes save stop we surface next to reef, we give the signal to our boat, to bring us from water. We must swim far from reef, because the boat can’t be so near the reef. It go already, they throw us the rope…. This part I hate. I hold the rope and swim to the boat, after this hard work I am ultimately on deck. My friend is here with winning smile. I take down the equipment and immediately I ask how he acquires. Off course he has a video with the shark. It was really big, swims around barracuda shoal and was there about ten minutes. But we also have a nice dive…