Join Me in the Club - 03/01/2019

Day two of my midwinter dive adventure saw Dive Aqaba take me to a beach club near the Saudi border for a couple of dives.

The first and by far the most impressive was The Bowl. The second, and the one I was meant to get excited about was The Cathedral. The Cathedral turned out to be a man made structure that housed a small lighthouse on the surface. The Bowl was where the action actually happened.

We had been swimming for some time when I first saw something in the gloom. The dive guide saw it too. It could of been a shark, a tuna, a turtle,or a dolphin. We'll never know as it only ever remained a shadow in the distance. However, once we gave up on seeing it came round a small rock formation only to see a remora.

I 'd never seen one before, but when I saw its suckers and its interest in me I knew instantly that I didn't want it to attach to me. I sensible kept my distance and performed manoeuvres that would keep it away. It was nice to see and gave credence to the larger creature in the darkness theory.

Dive two never saw anything that would compare, but we did see some nudis.

Nudi!

Shadow of the Cathedral

Hunting

Puffer

Remora

Cable Canyon - 02/01/2019

The diving gods were kind to me in 2018, and set a trend that seems to be continuing into 2019, as myself and Gill.I.Am took advantage of some cheap flights and a love affair with Jordan to allow me to dive again at one of my favourite parts of the world. 

Long term readers will know, I've visited and dived in this area before. However, I genuinely love this site. A wee bimble down a coral canyon to 43m then a turn and ascending under the man made cables connecting Jordan and Egypt, passing bright red anemones and delicate corals. Most importantly, considering all the people that dive from South Beach you won't see a soul until the shallows. That's because, they all want to dive the Cedar Pride. I did too, back then. But now it's so passe.

This time I was diving with Dive Aqaba, the company I'd used in the past was now kaput. I chatted Abdallah, tolf him of my experiences and how I wanted to see some old friends down deep on the reef I went, and there they were. I was, as the youngsters say, "totes emosh". 

We followed that up with a wee dive around the Cedar Pride, but I knew my wee anemone was still safe 4 years on. I was happy.

Then - December 2014

Now - January 2019

Snakelocks

Buddy for the day

Cedar Pride

Cedar Pride