In
June 2003 a group of fifteen divers from the club travelled
to Egypt for a diving trip to the far south of the Egyptian
Red Sea.
We flew from Gatwick to Marsa Alam, a region and a town on
the east coast of mainland Egypt then undertook a two hour
journey by bus down the east coast road to a place called
Hamata about seven kilometers north of the dive camp at Wadi
Lahami which is located just north of the Ras Banas penninsular.
From here we boarded MV Coral Princess and headed off for
the far South to a region known as St. John's Reef.
The
pictures below were taken during that trip.
The chart on the right shows South Eastern Egypt and the
location of Wadi Lahami, Fury Shoal and St. Johns Reef.
We
headed south towards the Sudanese border for the first half
of the trip to dive the various reefs that make up St. Johns
Reef then we headed north to dive the reefs of Fury Shoal.
The maps below show the areas we visited and some of the sites
we dived during our trip.
Coral Princess
M.Y.
Coral Princess is a steel hulled, twin screw motor yacht.
She is 30 metres long and has berths for fifteen passengers.
She has ideal specifications for long-range dive cruises,
with water desalination and comprehensive navigation &
safety equipment.
The ample aft deck is thoughtfully laid out for ease of kitting-up
and the spacious transom is ideal for water entry when not
using the zodiac tender. The salon is air-conditioned, as
is the comfortable twin berth cabins, all of which have en-suite
facilities.
Coral
Princess Sinks!
Coral
Princess, capsized and sank in open water near Jackson Reef
in late November 2009, with the loss of two diving guests
from Spain.
The two Spanish tourists are still missing in the Red Sea
after their dive boat sank off Egypt's Sinai coast.
The married couple were the only two not to make it off the
boat when it sank. It is believed that their bodies are still
in the boat, which now lies hundreds of metres below the surface.
The fourteen other Spanish tourists and seven Egyptian crew
were all rescued.
According to survivor reports, the sad reality for Coral Princess
was that the Egyptian captain was the first to abandon ship.
This incident was followed in mid-December with the loss of
Emperor Fraser, one of the Emperor Divers fleet, on Dunraven
Reef, near Sharm El Sheikh.
Coral Princess
The
Team Lyn Eade, John Moroney, Peter Swarfield, Ceri Jones,
Billy Whizz, Huw Jones, Peter Rees, John Greig.
Colin Smith, Jeff Canning, Mac Webber,
Viv Griffiths, Phil Dewhurst, John Upright,
Dicky Taylor.
The quayside at Hamata where we boarded Coral Princess at
the start of our charter. Coral Princess is the boat on the
right.
Looking back
at the jetty from on board Coral Princess. The town of Hamata
with its mosque can be seen in the background.
The
fore deck of Coral Princess
Tying
on to the reef
Chart
showing the dive sites
Life on board
in between dives
A hard day's
relaxation in the sun!
.Hattam
- Our dive guide for the trip.
The
DO on tour.
Bliggy
The
President resting his eyes
A rare
smile from Shoni
Dicky
Taylor
The crew
preparing to tie on to a reef.
This particular reef has a shallow lagoon in the centre.
A crew member
in the water tying up to a mooring on a reef.
One of the
many superb reefs we dived during this charter.
Many of the reefs in this southern section of the
Egyptian Red Sea are in superb condition.
Another superb
example of a coral reef in the far south.
The
fore deck of Coral Princess
