Snorkelling in the Red Sea at Sharm El-Sheikh

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27th August 2018

Our last port in Egypt is Sharm El-Sheikh, a resort town in South Sinai. Tourism is the main industry here as it boasts some of the best tropical waters in the World with clear water, colourful coral and lots of fish. Instead of doing another long road trip we have opted to spend the morning in the water.

The bus left the dock at 8.15 am to take us to the other side of town where our boats were waiting to take us out to the reefs where we would be snorkelling. The town is relatively quiet as we drive through, but no one starts early in this part of the World.



Restaurant area in the town



There are boats everywhere packing people on board to head out (some for snorkelling, others glass bottomed)

It took a while to load our boat and sort our fins and googles for everyone, before a flotilla took off for the snorkelling areas. We are going to 2 separate reef areas and look like we will have plenty of time at each.


On our way

It is a 30 minute boat ride to our first location and we pass some nice looking resorts along the coast, many with fringing coral reefs right in front of them.


Arriving at our first reef, it is clear we are not alone with dive boats rafted up in about 3 different spots to moorings anchored to the sea floor.


The coral and fish certainly live up to expectations, this is a wonderful place to go snorkelling. Lots of colourful coral, clams everywhere and a wide variety of fish.

Here are a few photos.


The mooring anchor point is secured to the reef !























Our second dive site was also very good, and we were allowed about 40 mins in the water at both sites. The water temperature was just right and unlike the Great Barrier Reef, the water here is crystal clear even when a strong wind is blowing as it is today.

On our way back to the dock, the crew provided a light lunch, as all of the boats start heading home



Relaxing on the upper deck

We were the first boat back and the wind is blowing quite strong. The skipper had quite a struggle to get us secured stern in, as is the custom here as he could hold the bow steady.

After a bit of an effort we were secure, back on our bus and onboard Viking Orion at just after 1 pm. We had a relaxing afternoon as the crew prepared for us to leave at around 6pm for Jordan.

Egypt has been a very interesting place to visit, at no stage did we feel unsafe, the people were very friendly and it was a lot cleaner than we expected. Sharm El-Sheikh was the icing on the cake. It was a great way to finish off our visit here.


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