EGYPT TRIP REPORT GOLDEN DOLPHIN III
TRIP REVIEW Golden Dolphin III
Daedalus, Rocky, Zabargad – Egypt
22nd – 29th of November 2018
Thursday 22nd of November 2018
Breda, alarm sounds 4.00 a.m. but it’s 5.30 before we finally leave (somebody has to quickly run inside to get the tickets and vouchers from the table. Oops). It’s already busy on the highway but no traffic jams yet. Thanks to Bas we’re on time at Schiphol Airport. We have to check in the bags ourselves; 20 and 25kg. I have 5kg unused left. Bought 2x5kg at the very last moment for only 20 euros. Dive gear is heavy. Scan goes smoothly and nothing needs to be taken out. A vanilla latte at Starbucks. Fill water bottles for free just like all other Dutch people do and walk until we can board. We leave on time with a fully loaded plane. Watch a comedy show on our tab and touch down already. We receive 2 visa stamps from the Golden Dolphin agent and we pass through customs, retrieve luggage and now this is scanned before we can enter the country. We didn’t bring the drone because it’s not allowed in Egypt. Someone is already waiting for us and in a private VIP taxi (with curtains) we go to the harbour. Landed at 16.30 and 17.06 we leave Marsa Alam Airport.
The Golden Dolphin III is part of Golden Dolphin Safari World (www.golden-dolphin.net). They cater mostly to German speaking guests and it was Austrian Peter who recommended them during our Maldives trip. The 40m vessel was built in 2008 and has 10 double cabins with AC and private bathroom.
We’re the 1st to arrive and get room 1 on the main deck, put all the stuff in and put our dive equipment at spots 1 and 2 because they look the most spacious and sheltered from the wind. When everything is ready, we go for a walk until 7.30 p.m. which would be dinner time. When we return 2 Austrians, regulars, have arrived and a little later a group of 13 Germans steps on board. At midnight 2 more Austrians will arrive. 1 person cancelled. The outside temperature is pleasant. Shorts and t-shirt. Buffet style dinner is ok. We sleep with an open window, because the room is very hot and we don’t like AC.
Friday 23rd of November 2018
Abu Dabbab Reef, 3 dives
Highlights:
Landscape
Small eagle ray
School sardines and hunting fusilier fish at night dive
Full moon
We did not go sailing last night. Slept reasonably well. I used a towel as pillow (the pillow is too hard for me) and slept under a huge bath towel (the duvet is too thick). The open window made a world of difference. We are upstairs on the top deck before the sun rises. 1 other guest is awake too. The top deck is fantastic. A huge cloud of small sardines swims next to the boat. We see Port Ghalib slowly awakening. We are the first boat to leave the harbour. We sail along the coast, past Elphinstone where it is busy on both the north and the south corner. We park a little further at a small reef. Abu Dabbab consists of 6 reefs. Here we have breakfast. Fruit salad (2 types). Yogurt. Pancakes. Falafel. Eggs to order. Raw vegetables and fetta. Top. Next paperwork. Everyone is diving nitrox. The Amelia Discovery parks behind us and ‘Aiaiai’ aka Gerard is quickly recognized. They all come to wave (see Trip Report Amelia 5-12 May 2018 Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone).
Dive 1: Check dive on air at Abu Dabbab 
Time: 10.08
Viz: 15m
Water temp: 26C
Depth: 16 meters
Dive time: 65 minutes
We get the dive briefing and jump as 2nd group from the big boat. The dive is ok. The whole bottom is speckled with small pieces of coral. Here and there some couples butterfly and banner fish. We see 4 blackfin dart fish. In the hard corals lots of little puller and damselfish. Few big fish. We see 2 large and 1 small anemone with Nemo’s. When we turn around we see a female Humphead wrasse and an nice emperor angelfish. The wall of the reef is a huge hard coral formation. Gerard finds a giant moray eel in a hole. At the end of the dive we test the SMBs.
Time for lunch. Lots of raw vegetables, baked apples. Log dive in the warm sun on the top deck. There is a little duck swimming behind the boat, yes really. 
Time: 14.27
Viz: 10-12m
Depth: 16,2 meters
Dive time: 88 minutes
The 2nd dive is with zodiac to practice the negative entry. The light is very dim, like during the 1st dive. We swim around a gigantic pillar because the wreck is occupied. Even when the other dive group moved on we don’t pay much attention to the wreck and the big crocodile fish underneath it because the baby eagle ray comes swimming by and keeps making laps. The guide finds a beautiful nudibranch. We swim along and over huge bumps of hard coral. Sometimes pipe coral too. It looks like the Chinese forest. After an hour the guide asks if we want to continue swimming or return by zodiac. We opt swimming and enter a tunnel system. It is beautiful and very similar to Cenote Dos Ojos in Mexico. Now we also see some more fish. With 88 minutes and 50 bar we are back at the boat. A glass of juice is waiting.
Only a few will do the night dive. The rest is more excited about beer and wine.
Dive 3: Night Dive at Abu Dabbab
Time: 17.47
Depth: 14,3 meters
Dive time: 52 minutes
Dive guide Bassem is my buddy. We jump in the middle of a school of little fish. Fusilier fish are hunting them. Later I heard one of the small fishes escaped into a dive booty and another looked for refuge in a wetsuit. We watch the spectacle for a while. The moon is full. We see a large batfish, a scorpionfish, some lionfish, four sea stars and then finally some shrimps on the way back. Nothing spectacular. Night dive, did it, done it, check.
Saturday 24th of November 2018 
Daedalus Reef, 3 dives
Highlights:
Whale shark
Manta
3x Longimanus aka Oceanic Whitetip Shark
Napoleons aka Humphead wrasses
Barracudas
Last night we sailed to Daedalus reef. Our alarm clock rings at 4.50. We are the 1st. The rest get their wake up knock at 5.30 and most are ready before the 6 a.m. briefing, with or without cigarette. The sun rises at 6.05.
Dive 4. Daedalus 
Time: 6.52
Viz: 12-15m
Water temp: 23/24C
Depth: 35,1 meters
Dive time: 60 minutes
We are the 2nd group. It takes a long time. The other zodiacs are also bringing the divers to the northern point. We are only 4 in the zodiac. Waves are big. Gerard is coming up with a cold and has some trouble descending. We descend very slowly but in no time the computers start to scream because we’re at 35m. The dive guide is much further down. Later we hear some ladies didn’t check their depth in time. It’s busy with divers and tank banging all around. No shark in sight. Some barracudas. A Humphead wrasse/Napoleon. The guide swims far behind us but the current is strong and we don’t want to swim back and fight it. After 20 minutes the guide makes a flying gesture. Right, I’m really not going to chase a stingray. But slowly a shape emerges and I decide to take a chance. Wow, a manta. Our 1st in Egypt! Back to the wall. This is a challenging dive. Visibility is moderate. Plankton. Another Napoleon swims below us, above us another group of divers. We swim all the way back to the boat. I’m exhausted. Longimanus swims by under the boat. For a change we’re out of the water first.
Breakfast is the same and delicious. After breakfast I go to the top deck to log the dive. Lovely spacious boat. There are many seating areas. I hear from dive guide Bassem that no one has seen hammers. They weren’t around last week either. An acquaintance of ours was lucky at the beginning of October when he found himself in the middle of a school of hammerheads. We’ve seen a few in May (see Trip Report Amelia 5-12 May 2018 Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone). But a manta isn’t bad either.
Dive 5: Daedalus 
Time: 10.30
Depth: 34,5 meters
Dive time: 63 minutes
On the 2nd dive we’re in the first zodiac. There are already dropouts. We’re only 7 and dive half way en route to the north point. Nothing, njente nada. Some barracudas. Then nothing for a long time. Longimanus comes to check out 2 of our divers. Since the recent shark attack at the Brothers, everyone has been a lot more careful. But the shark is already swimming away. We follow the wall but constantly look in the blue. A school of fusilier fishes, some more barracudas and some jacks. That’s it. After 45 minutes we are at the boat and Longimanus appears again. He swims right past me and I already have my pin in hand. We wait a while and get out of the water, shower and then the bell rings yet again for lunch.
After lunch we make ourselves comfortable on the sun deck. Some guests go visit the lighthouse. I’ve recently seen it in May 2018 (see Trip Report Amelia 5-12 May 2018 Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone). We’re going to back up the movie of Longimanus and the manta.
Dive 6: Daedalus Reef 
Time: 14.52
Depth: 24,7 meters
Dive time: 63 minutes 
Dive briefing at 2.30 p.m. Gerard has already decided not to go. Still having a cold. We have 2 options: 1) Explore the plateau from the boat or 2) take the zodiac to Nemo City and swim back to the plateau. I choose 2. Now we suddenly go first so I have to get ready quickly. 2 zodiacs with a total of 7 divers. I’m with the team of 4. Gerard is there to see me of and to make recordings. Suddenly he shouts “WHALE SHARK”. Sure, like I’d believe that! But in no time everybody is shouting whale shark. Gerard says, “yah really”. I put on my mask and roll. Yes, there is a whale shark!!!!. Now all the other divers also jump into the water. It is getting busier but every time the whale shark comes back. Meanwhile, 3 Longimani also appear on the scene. The whale shark swims between 2 liveaboards. After 20 minutes the whale shark swims away towards the pier. The Oceanic Whitetips have also disappeared. 1 swam close to me and turned next to me because he was scared by the wall of bubbles. Nice recordings again, but I’m not as fearless as I used to be (before the stories of the attacks at Brothers). We re-group. There are only 4 and a guide. We are going diving but my head is already hurting because of the nice workout following the whale shark from left to right, top to bottom. We go to the wall and 2 Napoleon couples swim here. The same big guys as in May. We swim towards the pier and in the distance we see the silhouette of the whale shark. But it is far and there is current. We turn, swim against the current again. I’m pretty exhausted as is. The beautiful wall does not appeal to me very much. I only look in blue. Suddenly our dive guide starts to point. Here we go again, it’s a manta with a row of jacks on its wing and it’s swimming my way. So I start kicking again like crazy from 10 to 17m. The manta is swimming right in front of me and the footage is amazing. What a fantastic dive this is!!! Time to go back to Gerard.
At the request of one of the regulars, there is milk rice waiting for us, a bowl of fruits with delicious mango and fresh cake. Everyone is happy.
On average 2 whale sharks are seen per year by the guides. The regulars, Martin and Uwe, saw one 1,5 years ago at Rocky Island. By the way, special thanks to Martin who let me use some of his pictures for this review.
We dove Brothers and Elphinstone in May 2003 on board the Excellence. We were 4 (2 couples) in the zodiac on our way to the Aida, Big Brother. But even back then, wrecks did not really excite us. Gerard rather make his 100th dive on the corner near the Numidia because the dive before we saw hammerheads there. And on his 100th dive we did see 2 hammers. But the other couple dove the Aida and they saw a huge whale shark. Fortunately they were the ones with the professional (video)camera. Their footage was amazing. I don’t even think we knew what a whale shark was back then. But this missed opportunity made us travel all the way round the world attempting to dive with whale sharks. Our first successful attempt was in 2012 at Ahé Island, Cenderawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia. After that we got lucky quite a few times.
Dinner is ready at 6 pm. 18 different dishes. Far too much, even if you take just a little bit of everything. Ragout, mashed potatoes with cheese, beef, chicken, minced meat, a raw vegetables dish, spinach, fried cauliflower and much more. Creme brûlée for dessert. Keeping a modest diet here is difficult.
Everyone is very calm. The Germans are all sitting together. The 4 Austrians group up too. Team Holland claims the top deck. For the next trip I will not only bring a pillow but also socks. We didn’t bring any because shoes were never allowed on liveaboards we’ve been on.
After lunch we were asked what we wanted. Another day Daedalus or move on. Since no hammerhead sharks have been seen, everyone wants to continue. So after the 3rd dive we immediately started sailing towards Rocky Island. We should arrive around midnight.
Had we just been presented an abundant meal, they put a big bowl of fresh popcorn in front of you. It is 7 pm.
Sunday 25th of November 2018
Rocky, Zabargad, St. John’s Paradise night dive
2 Longimani
1 small grey reef shark
We get up early again. We are parked next to Rocky Island (see picture). A very appropriate name. It is not more than a boulder. In front of us are the Sea Wolf Dominator and the 7 Seas. The island is illuminated by the moon. Slowly it gets lighter.
Dive 7: Rocky Island 
Time: 6.53
Viz: 20m
Depth: 36,1 meters
Dive time: 59 minutes
We dive as 2nd group. The plan is to go to the cleaning station on the corner, but 2 zodiacs are already rolling in seconds before us. Our guide climbs back into the boat and we take off the dive masks. With 2 zodiacs we sail back to the lee site of the 3 boats and roll. We swim along the wall and look into the blue. There is nothing to see. On the wall we suddenly see a lot of rubbish. New. Below is the Planet 2, which sank in a storm night only a month ago. Pillows, toilet, pans, bins, a paper manual, everything is there. I peer down and when I look ahead again, there is a large Napoleon right in my face. I’m shocked. The guide shows a moray eel sticking its head out of a hole and a wart slug, the highlights of the dive. Some fusilier fishes swim in the blue. We spend time floating along the wall and then swim into the blue to be picked up by the zodiac. We are only 4 plus guide. Very relaxed dive. Breakfast. There are clouds and when the sun is gone it is chilly. There is a lot of wind. Certainly 5, foamy heads. We stay down on the upper deck.
Dive 8: Rocky Island
Time: 10.25
Depth: 34,7 meters
Dive time: 60 minutes
For the 2nd dive we get 2 choices. From the big boat to the wall or with the zodiac to the place where we were this morning. Gerard wants to jump off the big boat and we’re ready but now we have 2 oceanic whitetip sharks behind the boat and we are not allowed to jump. One of the sharks bits a fender on the stern! So now we have to use the zodiac and do the same routine as this morning. Only a small grey reef shark is swimming on the bottom. We see 2 blue spotted stingray next to each other in the deep and a Nemo. Nothing special during the entire dive. Sometimes the light is ‘on’ sometimes ‘off’. We are picked up by the zodiac again.
Lunch. Various pizzas and fries. Now we are going to sail to Zabargad. Big swells. We moor behind a huge reef. Longimanus is patrolling again.
Dive 9: Zabargad
Time: 14.30
Depth: 17,4 meters
Dive time: 66 minutes 
We make the 3rd dive from the boat and swim straight to the wall. Here are some niches and tunnels that we swim through. I’m right behind the guide. A blue spotted stingray swims ahead of us. 2 lionfish. A beautiful angelfish. Nice coral blocks with little fishes. Colourful when the sun is out. We take a ‘stroll’. A large Napoleon comes along with a jack. After an hour we go back to the boat. Before we get to the ladder, 2 oceanic whitetips shows up so everyone freezes. Thus there we are, waiting until the 2 Longimani disappear. When both sharks are gone, everyone quickly gets out of the water. There is fresh bread, fruit and cake. We go sailing immediately, big rollers from the side. Making a night dive here with the Longimani is not an option. We’re going to St. John’s. The sun is setting.
Dive 10: Night Dive at Paradise, St. John’s 
Time: 18.25
Depth: 16,6 meters
Dive time: 47 minutes
We arrive at 6 p.m. The number of candidates for the night dive is small. In the end we are 4 and a guide. We are about to jump in when Longimanus appears here too. Now we have to stay together and swim quickly to the reef. We swim over a sleeping puff fish. Bassem indicates 3 starfish. The highlight and only nice thing about this dive are the big curly sea stars. 1 rock is completely full of them. They are 75cm in diameter each. I’m surprised there is so little to see on the night dive.
Dinner at 7.30 p.m. No cake or nothing for Gerard’s birthday. I think that’s weird. He thinks that’s fine. Nobody knows it’s his birthday. We go to sleep early. I have problems with my ears and Gerard is still snivelling.
Monday 26th of November 2018
Highlights: 
Humphead Wrasses/Napoleons
2 morays eels
2 batfish
Nemo’s
Pipefish
Dolphins
Feeding frenzy
Schooling bannerfish
Dive 11: Paradise, 
St. John’s
Time: 6.31
Depth: 25,1 meters
Dive time: 67 minutes
6 o’clock briefing. The 1st dive we jump from the boat. The landscape is very special, but the sun is not strong enough and everything is very pale. There are huge pillars at Paradise. Some rise almost to the surface of the water and are as high as 20m. We swim around. A few rays, a juvenile white spotted box fish that shoots away first but later allows to be filmed. A nudibranch. 2x Nemo’s on a block. Female Napoleon. No current. After an hour the sun gets stronger and everything gets more beautiful especially at 5m. We end at a rock with a whole colony of Nemo’s.
Breakfast followed by a 10 minutes ride to the next dive site called caves.
Dive 12: Caves, St. John’s 
Time: 9.47
Viz: 12m
Depth: 17.6 meters
Dive time: 80 minutes
We jump off the boat. A great Napoleon comes to check. His pals and girlfriends swim around a large block below the bow of the boat. It is very busy. There are also 2 moray eels and 1 is looking for a nice spot to hide in but 1 of the Napoleons does not agree. It keeps pushing the moray eel. After 20 minutes of first class entertainment we continue swimming. First we pass both a large Nemo with shrimp and a very small anemone with ini-mini Nemo. We enter the corridors and on a stone I see a small pipefish. We go through several corridors. At first they are wide but they get more narrow. I swim behind the guide. At a certain point I start to feel short of breath (did I ever mention I’m a bit claustrophobic?). Another corridor, it fits 1 by 1 but there is not much more space. And above also is less and less space. The rosette of the Spanish dancer no longer fascinates me. I still like the 2 big batfish, but now I want to go to the exit. First a fake exit that is very beautiful with mountains, sandy bottom and a school of fish and finally we are out. Pfff. But it turns out we still have to go back through another tunnel and then we see the ropes of the boat. Visibility is not that good and my mask keeps fogging up probably due to over excitement. The guide makes his way to the ladder, but we make a quick detour to the rock. All players are still there. The moray eel is at the top, in its hole. I don’t see the other one. The males and females Napoleons still swim around just like the jacks. The 2 batfish from the cave have also joined. At the bottom of the rock swims a nice big dotted Red Sea coral grouper and a smaller moon grouper with much nicer yellow-edged veil fins. Time to end the dive.
We instantly start sailing again. After half an hour the bell rings for dinner. The dinner area is downstairs at the lower deck. It is big enough but there are no windows. Eating while rocking and rolling in an enclosed space is not my cup of tea. I get upstairs as soon as possible. Come to think of it, I never linger in the dining area or the salon next to it.
The captain blows the horn, dolphins. I see them next to and behind the boat. They are jumping through the waves. The captain tells me to go lie down on the bow. So I speed over there. In front of the bow 3 dolphins are swimming and jumping. So fast. They always change places and the big and the small jump exactly the same. They stay for a long time but then they turn and vanish. A little later we sail parallel to the coast. There is a lot of wind but the sun is pleasant. It should be 4 hours to the next dive site, Shaab Claudio.
Chance of plans. Shaab Claudio is full of safari boats. The drawing that Bassem worked on for an hour is wiped away and in 2 minutes Talaat makes a new one of el Malahy. About 150m from the boat a feeding frenzy in 2 places. Birds dive into the water.
Dive 13: el Malahy 
Time: 15.15
Viz: -/10m
Depth: 22,8 meters
Dive time: 59 minutes
We jump 2nd from the big boat. The sun is behind a veil of clouds. Very unfortunate because now everything is very grey and colourless. We swim around the coral garden which is really amazing. Clouds of fusilier fishes, cloud of small fishes. Not much fish otherwise. Yes a school of 24 bannerfish, but they lie quietly on the sand. We are going to swim through the corridors. Luckily, much is open, but sometimes we go through a tunnel. In the tunnel 1 and 2 wart slugs, schools of dusky sweepers. The coral formations are enormous. Many different types. Very beautiful surroundings. We should do this again when the sun is shining. 
Because I was already cold during the last dive, I kindly decline the night dive. There are only 2 left. A German buddy team. The guides don’t go either. The sunset is fantastic and the sky with veiled clouds turns bright red. We are on the coast with the mountains in the background. Safari boats are everywhere.
Tuesday 27th of November 2018
Shaab Maksur, Shaab Claudia, Dolphin Reef, Abu Gawala Small
Highlights: 
Dolphins
Whitetip
2 juvenile rockmover wrasses
Nemo’s with glass shrimp
Flatworm
At 5.30 am we sail to Shaab Maksur. Briefing at 6 am. Heavy veil clouds.
Dive 14: Shaab Maksur
Time: 6.32
Depth: 33,2 meters
Dive time: 59 minutes
We are the 1st with the zodiac to the point. 400m in full dive gear against the waves is still quite tough. Just before we roll in, the German shouts that her bottle is loose. It must first be fixed. We are in the water before all other boats. We swim to the plateau at 25m and here is a school of 7 large barracudas. Nothing else at all. We swim into the blue but nothing, njente nada. In the absence of current we swim around the split and then continue reef on the right hand side. The wall is beautiful, but there is too little light. Small fishes, 2 nudibranchs, 1 female Napoleon, an anemone without Nemo, 2 unicorn fish and some fusilier fishes. It never ceases to amaze me that there are so few fish. We swim along the wall all the time. The coral is very beautiful at 5 m. The zodiac picks us up for the return trip. The second group appears to have seen a great grey shark and also a Longimanus. So being 1st or 2nd, it doesn’t matter.
We have to quickly down our breakfast because we are going to Shaab Claudia. It is not busy yet, but the guides want to be in the water before others arrive. That means another briefing at 9.30.
Dive 15: Shaab Claudia
Time: 9.50
Depth: 24.7 meters
Dive time: 69 minutes
2 options: 1) back and forth through the corridors. 2) around the reef through the coral garden and back through the corridor system. We opt for 2 and go with Bassem. When we jump in we see a school of yellow snappers under the boat. A little further a ray, a scorpionfish, another ray that is digging a hole toward China, a moray eel, a shrimp and a shrimp goby guarding the place. The coral garden is very beautiful but again little colour. However, a school of mackerels, fusiliers and small fishes. At the corner where the huge coral formations are, it is busy with fish but mainly small. The formations that are again at least 20m are full of orange fairy basslets, bicolor and bluegreen pullers. Again, schools of yellow snappers. We swim between huge coral formations. The landscape is once again very beautiful. We enter the tunnels. All in a row. Fortunately they are quite spacious and a lamp also helps. There are many bigeye fish in the corridors, a single dusky sweeper and a small ray. Also a white wrasse with black dots and 2 orange spots, the clown Coris. We come out of the tunnel next to the boat with 60 minutes and 50 bar. Very nice dive.
Swim/Snorkel with dolphins at Dolphin Reef 
At 11.30 am the bell rings again for lunch. The pace is good. We sail to Dolphin Reef. We were allowed to vote for this visit. It costs 5 euros extra p.p. for a chance to swim/snorkel with dolphins. Well that 5 euros turns out to be worth it. There are many boats but no one in the water. I guess they all take turns and have things regulated. It’s an open reef so the dolphins can come and go as they please. I’m very against enclosed dolphin habitats. We go with the zodiacs and are dropped next to the dolphins. There are as many as 60 and they seem to like the attention. They swim right past and come back. Do all kinds of tricks right in front of us. We are dropped 3 times. Then we go back to the boat. They do that properly. So they are cautious with their dolphins. We sail on to Abu Gawala Small. The wind is strong, 4 to 5 and there is considerable wave action. Tempo is still good. There is a small fishing boat at Abu Gawala.
Dive 16: Abu Gawala Small 
Time: 14.46
Viz: +/- 10-12m (lots of sediment and little light)
Depth: 22,6 meters
Dive time: 72 minutes
Briefing and we jump first from the big boat. 4 batfish. Visibility is worse. Little light due to veil clouds and a lot of sediment. We first look at a small wreck of a sailing boat. It is already nicely overgrown. Then we swim through the coral garden. We find a Nemo with 8 glass shrimp. But they are transparent so there could easily be more. A beautiful flatworm. The guide finds another juvenile rockmover wrasse. Some masked puffer fish and Picasso triggers. The other group hangs around a pink trigger fish. We enter a gorge through an entrance at 5 meters. We have to cross huge rock formations and then descend to10m again. Again 2 anemones with Nemo’s and glass shrimp. We take a picture of the smallest. Nemo is only 1cm. The shrimps are bigger. The exit of the gorge is again at 5m. Here too, huge coral mushrooms with a bunch of giant clams. Also many table corals at 5 meters. Again box fish, 2 unicorn fish and then we see 2 huge columns of 20m and 6m in diameter. We’re about to make our safety stop on top when we see a whitetip on the left. It comes through the coral garden and makes it way to the wall. Gosh, not a shark-free day! We swim back to the boat. Now you really see that visibility is bad. Lots of sediment and little light.
Happy that I’m not cold, I immediately hang my mask on my tank for the night dive. The guides are not glad as it turns out I’m the only volunteer for a night dive. Both Bassem and Talaat approach me separately to gently talk me out of it. Ok, I totally understand and I’m fine with it. They promise a hard core dive tomorrow morning.
We’re going to Elphinstone. We’re taken aside and asked if we too want to go to the arch. The 4 Austrians go, on air of course. 54m or something. Our tanks are filled with compressed air, no nitrox. I’ve always heard that the arch is for tech divers and totally irresponsible. But we have been down to 54m before on several occations. Gerard wanted to go to 51m for his birthday anyway. But we decide not to take the Nikon Coolpix W300 camera. It never completely recovered from our dive in to the Blue Hole, Belize at 54m.
Wednesday 28th of November 2018
Elphinstone the Arch
Dolphins
Longimanus
Turtle
Napoleon
Overnight we sailed to Elphinstone in 6-8 hours. Gerard got ill last night. He’ll skip the dive. So I’ll join the 4 Austrians and Talaat will be my dive buddy.
At Elphinstone 7 large boats are moored. The Emperor Elite launches the zodiacs at 5.45 am and they are the first. Sun is rising, there are no clouds. Dolphins swim between the boats.
Dive 17: Elphinstone ‘the Arch’
Time: 6.27
Depth: 56,7 meters
Dive time: 48 minutes
Briefing at 6 am. There are many dropouts. The Germans go with the zodiac. When their briefing is ready, they’re sent on their way. Talaat gives the briefing for the 4 Austrians. We jump from the boat and swim at 3 meters depth to the reef and start descending. In no time we are at 40m and everything is fine. There is a little current. I already turn on the lamp. We’re on the shady side. Then we see the arch and it is big. Nice spacious passage. Talaat asks ‘everything ok?’. We are already at 47m. We go through and swim towards the light. With my light I shine on the walls that are overgrown with gorgonians. Lots of single sea whips on the bottom. I take a picture and a video. After all, my new SeaLife Micro DC2000 camera can handle up to 60m. We rise and swim to the plateau. There the turtle is eating deliciously. Probably the same as in May (see Trip Report Amelia 5-12 May 2018 Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone).
Napoleon comes to have a look. We gaze into the blue but nothing. No (hammerhead) sharks. No other divers either and that is very special. Some big fish are being cleaned. We pass the sign and swim along the wall, reef left shoulder. We make our way to the surface really slow. Finally sun. I calmly float between clouds of orange fairy basslets and because I barely move they swim all around me. Finally plenty of colour. When we swim back to the boat at 5m, underneath the other boats, Longimanus suddenly appears and we drop down to 7m. The shark has a large jack accompanying him and they hang around for a while. Austrian Martin told several stories yesterday. To cut these short: Don’t fuck with an Oceanic Whitetip Shark aka Longimanus. When the shark is out of the picture we continue to the boat. Did I mention we have 2 different ladders? 1 for fins ‘on’ and 1 for fins ‘off’.
I rinse and put on Mom’s dress. Today was her birthday.
Gerard comes along for breakfast. After breakfast we go up to the sun deck. A beautiful day, the sun is shining and there is not a cloud in the sky. We enjoy the sun and the view. Overlooking all the boats and the action until we start sailing again. Next stop Shaab Shuna for the last dive.
Gosh, this bay looks familiar. Here we anchored during heavy wind in May 2018 (see Trip Report Amelia 5-12 May 2018 Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone). The captain cut an anchor line with the boats prop and we ended almost crashing into the neighbours. When we arrived by plane we also flew over this bay. Right this moment planes pass overhead.
Dive 18: Shaab Shuna 
Viz: +/-
Time: 10.18
Depth: 22,7 meters
Dive time: 61 minutes
We have 2 choices again: 1) with zodiac, but nobody is interested 2) from the big boat swim across the field of sea grass and then back along the reef. So, option 2 it is, but not many join. My group is only 4. Over the sand to the grass. No fish to be seen above the grass except for a few large gobies at their holes. Then on the left a pink trigger and on the right a mega turtle with 2 suck fish on its back. I lie down next to it to film how it eats. It don’t care. We swim to the reef. See a very small lionfish and 3 rays. 1 wants to hide under a ledge, but that doesn’t work. There appears to be a much larger specimen already. Visibility is not good. A huge difference in water temperature. Cold and warm are mixed and you see the vibrating water. Water enters the bay through the lagoon and carries a lot of yellow sediment. Whole clouds. But there is more colour because of the bright sun.
Our 2 dive groups come together and we examine the reef closely. Above us are snorkelers from a day boat. We see a large yellow boxfish with blue dots. Talaat finds another anemone with 2 very large Nemo’s and 2 very small ones measuring less than 1 cm. I film them but there is an awful lot of sediment in the water. Then he finds another pipefish. We return to the boat after 60 minutes. Everyone on the boat rinses their belongings. Lucky me, Gerard takes care of mine so I can hit the shower.
Lunch. Time to pay the bills; reef tax, visa, beer and Dolphin Reef entry fee. Tip (50 euro p.p. for crew and 50 euro p.p. for guides).
Dive gear is drying everywhere. We stay at the reef. Group photo. Thanks. Handing over tip envelopes. We stay moored for a long time but ultimately sail to Port Ghalib. At the port entrance we have to wait for the leaving Golden Dolphin 1. The entrance is so narrow 2 boats don’t fit. We go for a walk in the harbour. 7 pm food and there is a lot less. Chicken is gone in no time and fries come in only one serving. As we Dutch say ‘op=op’. No dessert either. I find myself some cookies.
Words out that we’ll be back in 3 weeks and suddenly we’re treated as regulars. Internet works again so people are happy. We couldn’t care less and are in bed by 9 pm.
Thursday 29th of November 2018.
Up early. Sunrise on the top deck. The school of fish is back. A heron is watching. The boat next to us is also full of herons and a kingfisher. We walk around in Port Ghalib. Have breakfast on the boat. Pack everything and empty the cabin. Wait upstairs in the sun. Live could be worse. View of the harbour is nice. Lunch. Very sparse. Tip must have been disappointing. We are the second couple to go to the airport with a private taxi and are well on time. To early actually, we’re not allowed inside. When we are, we have to wait an hour before our turn at the security check. Water is still allowed at the 1st check. Then you check in at the counter, hand over the suitcases and go through customs and a (this time) very strict security check. We eat a pizza because I read my notes from the last trip (see Trip Report Amelia 5-12 May 2018 Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone). I get 2 bottles of water, 1 euro each for on the plane. Return flight is fine and Bas picks us up at Schiphol with Starbucks coffee.