Before breakfast Johanna went for a jog
and after that we all enjoyed a quick swim in the pool in front of
our window.
First dive after breakfast we went to
the Jackson Reef with Ali, Armin and Brigitte. The dive site was
surrounded by safari boats on a day trip, but we managed to get in
without problems. All the 15 litre bottles of the dive base are
currently being used by a large group that has gone to Dahab to dive,
so I had to make do with a 12 litre bottle. We dived down to a sandy
bank at about 5 metres depth and Johanna pursued a trumpet fish into
our general direction, so we had a close up view of the “stick
fish”. Later I saw a whole swarm of them. A few minutes later Ali
(our dive guide) coaxed a stone fish out of its hiding place and we
had a close up view of a huge, violet living stone (which by chance
happens to also be one of the most poisonous fish in the ocean). Saw
a family of clown fish, where there is one there tends to be more.
Also a giant puffer fish and a few blue spotted stingrays. I found
out today in a book that they are actually sting rays, so they do
have a barb at the end with which they can defend themselves. Ali
pointed out a few pyjama snail and we saw two fire fish, one
feathered and one pointy one, before we resurfaced and got on to the
Zodiac. On our way back we saw to dive signal with no boat in the
area, so we turned round and asked if everything was okay. The said
they are waiting for their boat, so everything was fine.
After getting back we enjoyed lunch
with a flock of sparrows waiting for food hungrily. One woman filled
up her table and left to get some more and whilst she was gone a
whole band of them started to take her food away. They are probably
the ones that fly south from the European countries.
After lunch it was of to the Gordon
Reef, this time again with a 15 litre bottle and a not so choppy sea.
More people this time so the Zodiac was rather full. We dived with
Ali again and the German couple had their camera with them, so we
where well prepared. Went down a to another sand bank and then dived
through coral spires along the way. I have got better control offer
the boujonce now so it was fun to dive through the spires. Saw lots
of blue spotted sting rays and different colour trigger fishes. More
trumpet fish and a few lion fish which where a lot more active now.
Also something that looked like a stone fish, but it didn't look that
round. When we dived along a cliff side a swarm of bat fish raced
past us, normally they don't often come near to the coral gardens.
They are rather large fish and shined in an interesting colour. A few
moments later Ali spotted a Spanish Dancer which is normally a
nocturnal sea creature. Wont say that it is a fish as it looks more
like a magic carpet. After a photo session we continued on and Jon
and me had to fight against a strong current near the end, so we
weren't taken out into the blue. Before resurfacing we saw a few more
fish and then swam out in to the open ocean to get away from the
corals, so we could be picked up from our boat. Drove back to the
base and had some coffee whilst writing the log book before going
back to our accommodation to write this blog (our wet patch in the
toilet still has not been fixed).
Diving time: 124 min.
Diving depth: 22.7 meters
Speciality: Stone fish, Spanish Dancer
and a swim in the blue
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