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Ha ha..funny post Crowley ! :
As for the sighted Sharks. If they saw 2-3 in one place then there are MANY more around. I said it earlier that I doubted the "one crazy shark" theory. And earlier evidence shows that they started arriving a while ago. And will surely stay a bit longer.
Thanks guys - glad you enjoyed my day as much as I did!
Today I did Shark and Yolanda as my first dive and yes, had a momentary bout of nerves because I was doing the current check, but didn't see a thing. Actually it was beautiful - nice current, great vis, and very tranquil, because nobody else was there - it was stunning. Didn't see the sharks, but I did have a momentary tightening of the buttocks when I saw a heuuuuuge trevally drift in from the distance
All quiet on the shark front and you know what? The diving in the last few days has been like it was 20 years ago; I saw ten boats in total in Ras Mohamed today - almost unheard of!
This might be partly due to fear, but actually I think it's mostly to do with the rule that you need 50-plus dives to get into the water at the moment (see press releases in other posts); and our customer base at this time of year is mostly experienced repeat guests. It is off-season at the moment and trends vary at different dive centres due to variations in the nationalites of the customer base and when their respective holidays occur. A lot of centres clearly don't have the experienced divers visiting at the moment. Just the way it works here.
We are putting out 4 boats tomorrow and a large trip to Dahab. Centres who have the resources are offering a replacement deal with Dahab trips for those who are unable to dive locally. There are extra charges involved because of the distance and logistics and number of staff that have to get involved in moving 60 people and their tanks and equipment 80kms to the north, but for us at least we are charging at 50% of the usual Dahab extras which softens the blow somewhat to the guests.
The Oceanics are here year-round, you see them less in the cold months, but the red sea has warm deep water currents so they can continue to exist here, and when the water is warm, they seem to come closer to the reefs. we had a 1.5 metre longimanus hang around the gardens last year for a week up to christmas. Sightings were almost guaranteed.
So it's weird times for sure but the last few days that we've been allowed into the water have been great. It's eerily quiet without the snorkellers and the speedboats and the glass bottomed boats and the evil yellow submarine at Ras Katy but getting to dive Shark and Yolanda - probably one of the busiest reefs on the planet - in fact it must surely be number 1 - all to yourself? Just me, some good experienced divers and no boats? That's magic,
Folks I do this for a living but like many of my friends and colleagues, I do it because I'm a diver first. Days like this are rare and when I suggested to the guests that we should do the second dive here as well while we had the chance and one of them said "no, somewhere else, that was boring"... well... since we didn't see any sharks on the first dive, I wondered if he might like to have a go at "feeding the fish"!
I'm sorry - the world's number one (or close to) dive site in terms of volume of diver traffic per year, all to yourself, and it was "boring"...? Sheesh - why do you even bother getting in the water?
With the initial hysteria sort of sinking in - you know what, I think some of us are secretly enjoying this.
Off to Thistlegorm tomorrow - I will let you know how many limbs I have remaining upon my probable but - due to crazy sharks - not promise-able return.
Cheers
C.
