Aqaba trip report

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Jai Bar

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
639
Reaction score
135
Location
Under Water
# of dives
None - Not Certified
We (My buddy and I) spent an extended weekend in Aqaba.

It was our first time in this side of the gulf, so we did not know what to expect.

We talked by phone and emails with Diveaqaba and Royal Dive Club. Both were really nice and friendly. The first is located in town, and offers only boat diving. The latter is close to the Saudian border, in the "Coral bay" hotel resort and offers shore dives. We chose RDC, merely for convenience reasons. The club is highly recommended- they did everything to make us a pleasant stay, let us dive in our own pace (with lots of patience- we take bottom time to the limits :D ) and had a fast and adequate solution for every logistical problem that could have risen. They have a nice area for organizing the gear, rinsing pool with lots of drying space, deep pool (4m) for training, showers, lockers etc.
In the evening we paid a visit to DiveAqaba club and they are a very nice place and staff too! I think it is hard to chose which is better. DA have Nitrox compressor, RDC have the compressor installed- but it is not operational yet...

We had less than three days, so we had only a brief "tasting" on what Aqaba can offer. First day we arrived quite late, so we dove the house reef- "Coral bay" and "Aquarium". The first consists of several coral slopes in between of sandy/grassed patches. Similar to Taba's "Black Coral". Nice, but not mind-boggler :wink: Lots schooling angelfish.
The second was much more interesting in terms of coral abundance, colors, amonut of fish etc. Met a cute turtle too.

Next day we went to the Saudi border- a very nice wall, with huge amounts of Elephant's ear corals, excellent visibility (several dozens of meters!). Thousands of types damsels and other reef fishes. Second dive to the "New Canyon" and AA Tank. Nice reef topography with lots of pinnacles creating a real maze. Nice night dive at the "Aquarium"- scores of Loligo Squid, Octopi, an Electric Ray etc etc.

Last day- the "Cedar pride" wreck. Quite nice, with lots of corals on masts, cranes etc. Easy penetration to the bridge and cargo compartments, clean. One can also dive through a small valley underneath the hull. There is a small ferry sunken deeper near the stern, and the reef nearby is quite rich- saw several filefish and two humpehead wrasses ("Napoleon") one quite big and the second smaller. They circled one the other and the bigger fish opened is full gaping mouth- don't know if it was territorial fight or male/female courting.
Second dive to "Gorgonia I" site. I love Gorgonias, so I am prejudiced :wink: but the site has a really nice entry thorugh a maze starting in a shallow lagune, and one of the nicest/weird topography I have ever seen- craters, hills, valleys, pinnacles, and hoardes of soft coral, cabbage corals, elephant ears and lots of reef fish- all in a relatively shallow area make it an excellent dive.

Crossing the border from Israel took less than 30 minutes in each direction- fast and easy. People in Jordan are very nice, food was excellent, the town is big but relaxed and over all it was a very pleasent weekend. Definitely going to pay a visit more often :14:

We spontaneously decided to do the next planned trip in a couple of weeks- to Dahab :10:
 
SeaHorseWoman:
Very nice report. I've been thinking about making this trip. Do you think I could do it in one day and sleep in Eilat? If so, what do you recommend for a 2 or 3 dive day?

It is possible to do single day divings- Border crossing is easy. If you want to do several days I think it is easier and better to stay in Aqaba.

You better contact the dive club beforehand so you know exactly at what times they arrange transportation/take out boat etc. etc. Having a pre-arranged schedule will help you organize your time, especially if you want to do more than 2 dives/day.
I don't know if you'll be requested to do a check dive- most clubs may demand something like that.

Recommended sites? Tough decission.. I think Saudi Boarder, Cedar Pride, Gorgonia I. Again, it depends on the depths/duration of your dives, surface intervals etc. Better use Nitrox if you can.
 
Nice & interesting report - thanks.
look forward to make a similar one... in the near future...I hope....
 
interesting to read about aqaba, i've thought i'd like to dive on that side, i've read that they have 1 to every 50 divers that dive in eilat, and that the coral is much more intact as a result, i found it a hassle going through the border crossing in sinai and were kind of put off trying to get into aqaba incase it was the same there

were there many other divers out there when you were there, i'm just wondering how easy it would be to find a buddy there
 
rubbachicken:
were there many other divers out there when you were there, i'm just wondering how easy it would be to find a buddy there

I don't know how it is around the year. Nowadays it is winter, so also in Eilat (50 to 1, yeah? :wink: ) it won't be easy to find a buddy at least during the week- in weekends you'll have fair chances in Eilat.

In the dive club we've been (Royal Dive Club), we met every day about 2-4 other divers. I don't know how is the situation in other clubs, but we never met other groups of divers in any divesite that we visited, so I am assuming there aren't many divers around- and it was *weekend*...

We are going there again next week for 4-5 days (We were planning a trip to Dahab but decided on Aqaba instead- but that's another sad story :( ). I'll be able to provide more statistics about the number of divers over there :eyebrow: , but I am quite sure it will be difficult to find a buddy there.
The good news for a buddyless diver is that according to local regulations (at least it is what they claim), only guided dives are allowed in Aqaba. So you only have to check if any of the few clubs over there will agree to take a single diver. My guess is that you won't be turned down, and you'll dive with a local DM most of the time anyway.
 
Nice report...Thanks you for your sharing
 

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