Diving in Dahab

Drying
Originally uploaded by adraskoy

The restaurants here all provide space for divers to lay out their gear to dry or prepare for a dive. This one has hangers in the shade for drysuits so they can dry while you eat lunch and rest between dives.

So, I ran screaming to Dahab to escape the craziness of travel along the Nile. This is the normal reaction, I hear, though usually the destination is out of Egypt. Actually, I flew to Sharm al Sheik which is even worse and then took a bus. Dahab, by contrast to most everywhere else I've been in Egypt, is a wonderful place. Very laid back, fair prices, not much hucksterism, no crowds of people chasing after you 24 hours a day trying to extract all your money, no air pollution. Having found a haven, I didn't want to leave until I had to, which is today. That left me with nearly six days, however. Six days by a beach is way too much relaxing for me, even after The Nile Experience.

I had planned to do some snorkelling, but hit upon a better idea: actual diving, as facilitated by doing a proper internationally certified PADI Open Water Scuba Diver course. That's the third level after a trial dive and basic scuba diving. It's very intense, and there's a lot of studying to do, but after five days I am certified (no jokes, you!) and have done five open water dives down to 18 metres max. The neat thing about learning in this environment is that you do the confined shallow water dives off the beach instead of in a pool. So, the whole time I was in warm water surrounded by fish and coral.

I've seen some amazing things, diving-- all kinds of sea life. The Red Sea is simply amazing. I have no idea what kinds of fish I was looking at, but they were all beautiful. As were the non-fish animals and all the plants. If only I had an underwater housing for my camera. Next camera I will get one for sure.

Heading back to Cairo with tonight's security convoy. (Most long distance bus travel is done this way in Egypt). I'll arrive tomorrow, hopefully locate the music store I want to find, and then head to the airport and Rome.