Waking at 6.50AM, whilst you are on holiday may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I had, had an brilliant nights sleep and I was ready for a cup of tea before a “late” breakfast (8.00 AM), its will soon be time to sail.
Three cups of tea along with poached eggs on toast (with the obligatory chili sauce and black pepper), I am excited to be on my way to our check dive!
A check dive is a great opportunity for divers of all levels to get in the water, shake off the cobwebs, make sure all your kit is working properly and get yourself properly weighted………before the real funs follows for the rest of the week.
A 60 minute “bimble” with my buddies around the dive site of Ras Disha, a practice deployment of my SMB (You may like to take our SMB Deployment Specialty if you have never done this), and I was ready for more tea, and a quick look at the test photo’s I had taken.
My hair was still wet…….The bell rings; this means only two things on a live-a-board – Its time to eat or its time to dive!
In this case, wet hair means food, so lunch, whilst sailing to Tobia Arbaa for an afternoon and night dive.
Tobia Arbaa, is a group of pinnacles, teaming with life, a slow tour round will give you multitudes of reef life including Lion Fish, Scorpio fish, Butterfly Fish, Red Sea Banner fish etc. etc……. This type of reef diving demands that you proceed at a gentle pace, and look for everything big and small. It is usual and best practices to do an afternoon and a night dive in the same location, so you will be orientated with the site before you get in, in the dark.
60 minutes later – hair wet – back on the boat - It therefore must be time to eat AGAIN – afternoon snacks!
I am sure you must have the picture now, copious quantities of tea continue as well!
The first day is going quickly, and we sit on deck watching the sun descend into the Red Sea.
Time to dive again, a 40 minute dive in the dark, watching a complete different variety of marine creatures come to feed, and those that you just don’t see in the daytime.
I know some people find the idea of diving in the dark scary or challenging, let us teach you how to do this in a safe and fun way with the PADI night diving specialty. On this particular evening, we were greeted with a prolific marine environment. Lion fish hunting, crabs, shrimps, garden eels, morays, Octopus, and a stunning Spanish Dancer.
Dive over – Shower – Dinner – The excited talk around the table reviews the day that has passed, and those that are to come. On this particular trip, Brother Islands are up next – It will soon be time for sharks.
