Simply the best

Describing anything as ‘simply the best’ raises a high bar for a diving trip as well as an eyebrow for a seasoned underwater traveller. Nonetheless, it is hard to put together an argument for why you should use any other term for a week of diving along the reefs of the Brother Islands, Daedalus and Elphinstone in the deep south of the Egyptian Red Sea. Our home for the week, Emperor Fraser, is one of many liveaboards within Egypt to have recently completed the CDWS audit for safety and high standards. Our trip begins at Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam, the southern most port in the Egyptian Red Sea.

Big Brother

We begin on a high note. The first dive on Big Brother brings us two whale sharks. Not the really big ones, but 3m to 4m is more than a promising start. Our guides, who have been working in the Red Sea for the last two years, say this is the first time they have seen a whale shark around the Brother Islands. 

For our first pre-dive breakfast everyone is in a very cheerful mood, waiting in anticipation for what else Big Brother has in store. Next dive and a 1.5m-long Napoleon wrasse is in an affectionate mood, trying to kiss all in our group. Napoleon wrasse are a common sight around here and appear very curious, particularly this attention seeker. A diver trying to shoot footage of the vibrant reef wall with his camera is gently touched on the back by the wrasse who is stopping short of saying the words ‘Hey! Shoot some video of me instead of that clownfish.’ He certainly doesn’t like to be ignored.

A dive that should not-be-missed is the wreck of the Numidia. This English-owned vessel struck the reef on its maiden voyage in 1901, broke into two parts and sank. The largest section of the wreck clings vertically to the reef wall, from depths starting from 14m to 80m. Looking at the position of the wreck, you feel that this large vessel could at any moment fall to deeper water on one last journey. Luckily, for our dive it holds position and we enjoy the incredible soft coral cover which has taken over the wreck, as well as the vast number of glassfish. Just as our thoughts turn to venturing inside the wreck, an oceanic whitetip shark appears. There is no contest – I much prefer a shark to a wreck. Like the Napoleon, our oceanic friend is very curious. Making some very close moves, he follows my exhaled bubbles to the surface and then comes back for more. 

Small Brother

We have barely finished dinner before we hear the crew shouting ‘Shark, shark!’ I wonder how they manage to see a shark in the dark, but then I see they have turned on some big spotlights on the deck. In this light we can easily see the unmistakable white dorsal fin of an oceanic whitetip shark. Close to the reef is a bait ball of snappers, which reflects the boat’s light.  The shape of the bait ball changes from a circle to an oval shape, then back again.
The movement of the snappers tells us when our shark is getting close. But at that moment, they seem to lose their nerve and suddenly the bait ball falls apart. Now it is just the individual snappers swimming. When the danger heads off, they gather together once again. Watching parts of the snapper bait ball drifting in the water, it seems this may not be the best survival strategy. The fact that night diving is forbidden within marine parks, we have to stay on the deck watching this feeding frenzy. Although, being in the water at night with a shark having dinner would never be a sensible plan.

The plateau on the north side of Small Brother offers the best opportunities for seeing sharks. At the moment we arrive at 30m, we see two scalloped hammerheads cruising past. They seem to be just as surprised as we are, and promptly swim away from us into the blue. In the summer months, the current here is often more gentle than the other seasons, so we are lucky to be able to stay in the same place without too much effort. Another hammerhead shows up, then a couple of grey reef sharks swim underneath us. 

Two zodiacs are employed to take us to the dive sites. However, they can’t carry all divers at once so the different groups of divers are in the water seeing different things at different times. One group spots a tiger shark on their dive, the other a thresher shark. While I unfortunately miss both of these spots, I am more than delighted at  seeing the incredible soft coral cover over the west wall, the barracuda being cleaned, the jacks, tuna and the Napoleons. Underneath the boat I even discover two oceanic triggerfish – a species rarely seen this far north in the Red Sea.

Daedulus

After two days on the Brothers Islands, the Emperor Fraser sails south to Daedalus. The top of this reef can only be seen at low tide. From a distance, the only evidence of Daedalus is a 33m-high black and white lighthouse. With high expectations of a site I had heard so much about, we roll off the zodiac and begin our descent. On first impressions, Daedalus seems a bit boring when compared to the Brothers. The thermocline at 55m, compared to the Brothers’ 30m, making it more difficult to see hammerheads. Also, there are no signs of the oceanic white tips we had become so accustomed to seeing.

Two full days diving later, however, Daedulus shows us its true beauty. Not just hammerhead sharks, but grey reef sharks, tuna measuring up to 1.5m in length and many large jacks of a comparable size. Even three sailfish rush by us. And the treats are not just found in its blue water. The reef is completely covered with anemones which house an amazing amount of clownfish. 

Elphinstone

The week is drawing to a close and we only have one opportunity in which to dive the famous Elphinstone Reef. Although known for its strong currents, we want to dive above the south plateau to try to see oceanic whitetips. Our luck is in – there is hardly any current and we get the go ahead to dive. The rest of the divers decide to stick to the original plan of diving the north plateau. They enjoy a good dive complete with an encounter with a large tiger shark. While we miss that one, we still get to see three different oceanic white tips.
One shark is accompanied by a pilotfish which looks as if it is glued to his nose. 

We remain calm as the sharks move in closer. Then, just when I think our encounter is close enough, one of the oceanic white tips looks deep into my eyes and swims off to the left of me. Waiting for the shark to turn back to us, I see a school of large jacks approaching. In the centre of the school is yet another oceanic whitetip. He doesn’t seem to like being chased by fish half the size of him, but it is as if he is too afraid to swim out of the school. 

Ras Shona

The week ends in the bay of Ras Shona. On both sides of the bay are beautiful coral gardens, but we stay on the sea grass covering the sandy bottom below. Sea grass is the preferred diet for turtles and dugongs. The most famous bay for seeing a dugong in this part of Egypt is Abu Dabab. Unfortunately fame comes at a price. The dugongs were badly injured recently by boat propellers and the site was subsequently closed to protect them. In Ras Shona there are no resident dugongs, so boats are permitted to venture outside of the bay. 

As soon as we descend to the sea grass, we spot a giant turtle. Although they can reach lengths of up to 1.5m, spotting them in this sand scattered visibility is not easy. The turtle doesn’t seem to be bothered by my buddy getting close to take pictures. He’s eating and is concentrating on grabbing as much sea grass as possible. After a short while he swims away from us towards the surface for air. We continue our sea grass search and soon spot two turtles enjoying lunch together. There is not much else to see here. But it was the turtles we came to see and we return to the boat satisfied from our quest at the end of our weeklong trip. But as the kit is packed away, we still have one more surprise in store. In the bay a dugong appears at the surface to breathe for a short while before diving under the surface.

by Karin Brussaard
Originally published in BLUE magazine, October 2009