 Amphoras
Red Sea Waterworld at The Ritz-Carlton is very lucky to have an exciting house reef full of marine life.
As the name suggests the site has a few large broken amphoras half-buried at 28m in amongst the coral outcrops. Many years ago they used to contain mercury. Recent divers on the house reef report that small amounts remain.
The reef itself is composed of a wall to 10-12m below which is gently sloping reef covered in corals. The deeper reef running parallel with the shore then slopes off from 12m down to the max depth of 40m. It is dotted with coral pinnacles which are resident to swarming glass fish, sleeping blue spotted rays, the occasional brown marbled grouper, giant moray eels and turtles. From March to April you can often spot manta rays, giant trevally, barracuda and dogtooth tuna.
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Middle
Garden
Middle Garden is a large bay protected from both north and south winds, with
an interesting array of soft and hard corals. The fringing
reef where shore divers embark on their dive is a web of coral
formations with hidden lagoons, swim throughs, and overhanging
reefs all at 3-5 meters. After the fringing reef there is
a large sandy plateau where sting-rays and hawkfish can be
observed.
The
deeper reef running parallel with the shore gently slopes
off from 8m down to the max depth of 30m. It is dotted with
coral pinnacles which are resident to communes of swarming
glass fish, yellow goatfish, and a resident hump head wrasse.
The main reef gives a great viewing spot with minimal current
to watch and wait for passing manta-rays, pelagic fish and
the occasional seasonal whale shark.
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Lagoona
This is the reef just offshore of the Island of Tiran.
This site has more anemones and clown fish than any other
area. This site is also famous for being the location where
the Cunard liner went aground resulting in a fine by the
Egyptian government of about US$ 20 Million. The area that
it hit has no coral remaining though the reef is slowly
recovering. The dive is now usually conducted south of the
impact area.
The dive is done from the southern point of the reef,
where often sharks sleep on the plateau, and then drift
gently along heading North. There are large table corals
and patches of anemones all along the slope.
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White
Knight
One
of the main features of this dive site is the canyon which
starts in an inlet in the shore reef at a depth of around
8m. There is either the main entrance or a little swim through
to the canyon. For those that are qualified there is a cave
on the right hand side at 18m but lights and line are required
as the bottom can get stirred up.
Coming out of the canyon and heading North is a eel garden,
which is nice to watch for a while, as long as nobody
has gone before and scared them into their holes because
then you are just looking at a sand patch.
Coming out of the canyon and heading South is a gentle
slope of reef with a upturned hull wreck of one of the
dive boats that sank in 1994.
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Sharks
Bay
Is
one of the few sites that is open for shore diving.
As this is one of the few natural beaches in the area
the sand follows into the water giving a gradual slope
to descend down.
For those planning a Deep Dive Specialty Course there
is a canyon starting at 18m which continues down to the
depths.
For those planning a course dive or a nice gentle dive
this is a good site as to the South there is a sandy road
with coral on each side at a depth of 14m. To the North
there is sand gullies in between solid reef slope. In
both directions there is a lot of life in the shallows
and being in a bay there is not usually any current.
One draw back with the site is, being in a valley the
wind can blow down to the beach, bringing with it plastic
bags and rubbish which at times collects in the water
by the entrance.
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Far
Garden
Far
Garden, as the name suggests, is the northerly end of the
Gardens Bay. It can be dived as a mooring or a drift dive.
There is not usually much current at the mooring, but on
approaching the end of the bay it is possible to hover there
and watch the reef go by.
The mooring is on the slope of the reef in about 18m,
which is close to the shore, as the reef drops away quickly.
The slope goes down a long way so the first part of the
dive is conducted on the slope. It is not until you turn
around to return towards the boat when you come up to
about 10m does the reef level out.
This site has got to be the most popular site in the
area for spotting Manta Rays. For some reason they like
the area from Far Gardens to Ras Nasrani. (The most I
have counted at once is 9!!)
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Ras
Nasrani
Is
the most northerly dive site on the mainland that is dived
regularly. There is another site North of this, Ras Gamila,
but this can only be dived in very calm conditions.
This
site can be done as a drift or a mooring dive, depending
on the currents. The location of the mooring is in the
area of transition of the topography. To the South of
the mooring the site is a wall dive and to the North it
flattens out on to a plateau as the site heads around
the corner.
This is where the current can get very strong.
If
done as a mooring dive it is worth having a look on the
plateau either at the start or the end of the dive as
there are some large gorgonia fan corals there, but watch
the current as you will have to fight it to get back to
the boat. So don't go too far.
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Near
Garden
Is
the dive site nearest to Naama Bay, being about 10 minutes
by boat and on the point between Naama Bay and Gardens Bay.
Being a headland it probably has an Arabic name of 'Ras'
something or other, but being a headland it is prone to
have some current and deep water. The current is usually
not strong and the dive is normally done as a mooring dive
or can be combined as a drift from Middle Garden.
Note: This site is very popular with snorkeling and glass
bottom boats. So care is required when diving shallow
as the boat skippers do not pay much attention to divers.
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Naama
Bay
This
is the area directly in front of the College. We are right
on the beach front with our own private beach and access
to the reefs. The bay is a gradual sandy slope, making it
ideal for training dives as there is plenty of room in the
shallows to conduct exercises in standing depth water and
the reefs start in about 3m of water and go to about 7m.
The area is roped off with marker buoys to keep the boat
traffic out of the area for your safety. This area is
used exclusively for training dives:- the first 5 of the
Open Water Course; the night and navigation dives of the
Advanced Course; the first training sessions of the Rescue
Course and the Instructor Course.
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The
Tower
This
dive site is one of the few sites that can be reached from
the shore as well as from the boat. Entry from the shore
is in a big U shaped gap in the reef which gives you the
opportunity to do a giant stride from the shore reef into
over 100m of water ! and then descending in the U shape
down to the planned depth before coming out onto the slope
of the reef.
From the boat the dive starts from the outside of the
U and follows the reef along as a drift dive, not because
of any current, just that it is impossible for the boat
to moor up on a wall.
Once
on the dive it follows a typical topography of the area
with a 10m wall leading into a 45º slope with coral
heads. From the boat it is possible to reach the dive
site of Sodfa with its fan corals and coral garden before
finishing the dive.
If dived from shore the U shape makes for easy navigation
as it is difficult to miss a vertical wall 15m across.
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Amphora
As
the name suggests has a few large broken amphora's half
buried at 28m in amongst the coral heads.
These used to contain mercury many years ago and reports
have been made of sightings of small amounts left.
This site is not dived very often recently as most dive
guides don't know the site and the amphora's are hard
to find. Apart from the amphora the reef is a wall to
10m followed by a gentle slope covered in corals.
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Turtle
Bay
This
site tends to blend in with the dive site named Paradise
as both are done as drift dives in the same area.
The current in the area is not usually very strong making
these sites a pleasant gentle drift along the reef. The
reef is a 10m wall leading to a slope of about 45º
with coral heads covered in delicate soft fan corals
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Ras
Um Sid
This
is a main headland of the area, having the lighthouse situated
on top of the cliff. The headland in conjunction with the
deep water found on the corner means currents are regular
here.
This dive is usually done as a mooring dive, so returning
to the boat and not getting caught up in the current is
important. The boat moors in around 20m of water which
is close to the shore reef. The shore reef drops down
from the surface around 20m and towards the corner, the
bottom of the wall gets deeper, so don't follow the bottom!
On the corner, there is wall of Gorgonia fan corals covering
a large area and are the main feature of the site but
with the deep water there is also a chance to see pelagic
fish life hanging around in the current.
There is also a swim through cavern starting at 6m which
comes out on the shore reef at 1m, but I will let you
find that for yourself!
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The
Temple
This
is a group of coral heads in a row coming up from a depth
of 12 to 20m if viewed in the right position and using your
imagination they look like columns of a temple. On the in
shore side there are sandy patches at about 8m with loads
of inlets into the shore reefs. The coral heads themselves
are about 2m apart allowing you to swim between them and
one of them has swim through routes.
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Ras
Katy
Is
a good combination dive. There is a shallow area which is
ideal for sorting out any buoyancy practice and getting
the weights right, also useful for doing safety stops. In
the shallows there are coral heads coming to within a couple
of the surface which are full of life as well as sandy patches
with eel grass.
A little bit further out the reef drops down on a 45º
slope to the depths allowing the divers to follow the
reef towards the plateau on the corner. The currents on
the corner are not usually strong but any diver going
to the corner needs to watch the air supply as it can
be quite a swim back at 18m before the reef starts to
shallow out.
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