The conditions were a bit rough this morning. Strong wind, serious waves. As a result of the high tide of last night, there was a lot of sediment in the shallow, so visibility was poor at the beginning and end of the dive. In between visibility was good, with the morning sun shining on the corals diagonally. No other divers, just Sherif and me. No real current until swimming over the saddle at the end, so easy swimming and very low tempo.

Creatures I spotted: two lion fish, one of them chasing off other fish, its mouth open and its feathers all spread out. Trigger fish, 2 puffers, porcupine fish, starfish. Again many pairs of bannerfish. Cleaner wrasse, offering to brush my teeth.

Best dive of this holiday!

Another dive I did before in 2004. I didn’t remember anything really. This dive I enjoyed the gorgeous corals. Massive formations, which give this site its name.

Creatures I spotted: starfish, 2 lion fish, tiny lion fish, trigger fish, 2 porcupine fish.

In 2004 I did this dive as part of my PADI Advanced certification. It has been one of my favourite dives ever since. At El Bells you enter the water in a sort of a natural pool between the rocks. Once you start descending, you’re in a vertical crack in the rock wall, which ends at about 15 metres. A bit lower, there is a sort of a vertical tunnel, which ends at approximately 25 metres. Once you get out of that one, you’re in front of the wall, with the blue under you and in front of you. It is a very good idea to check your depth regularly.

Creatures I spotted: hawksbill turtle, bluespotted stingray, porcupine fish, sleeping lion fish.

I have done this dive in 2004 a part of my PADI Advanced certification. It’s one of the famous dives that can be done in Dahab, the other one being the El Bells to Blue Hole drift dive.

The canyon is a large crack in the rocks, with a sandy bottom at 25 to 35 metres. When you approach the Canyon and there are other divers in there already (which usually is the case), it’s quite surreal to see their bubbles appearing from the rocky bottom of the sea. Search for “Canyon Dahab” on Youtube to see what it’s like.

Creatures I spotted: Napoleon fish, young lion fish, baby lion fish, garden eels, puffer fish and a flounder right at the saddle near the entrance.