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

Fame! I'm Gonna Live Forever... - 02/03/2015

Front Cover

"..I'm going to learn how to dive!"

Now that I've dropped that cheeky little earworm into your head I'll get down to business. Scottish Diver, the official ScotSAC magazine have published an amalgam summary of Posidon's Parlour's Jordanian adventures with Aqaba's Anchor. I've known it was going to be in for a wee while, but quite unlike me I kept it quiet.

So it was with baited breath that I waited for the latest March/April edition to fall through my letterbox. Thus far, it has not arrived, but I knew it was out there as blog readership briefly spiked on its release and TDFKAMF sent me a blurry photograph of it taken on his mobile phone. However, yesterday, the kind chaps at Aquatron gave me a pre-thumbed edition while I was in getting fills (Thanks Mark & Chris). I didn't expect to be quite as tickled as I was to see it in the flesh. 

I eagerly thumbed through it and there it was. The red anemone glowing out from the page. I never wrote the headline, had I done so it would have been far more narcissistic. :) 

I've included a fairly low res version of the article below, but I'd encourage you if you aren't a member of ScotSAC to invest a few quid in either a subscription to the magazine or join the organisation for a free copy. Seriously, it's like £12.50 for 6 issues a year and this month the article "Dougie's Picture Perfect" is accompanied by some amazing photographs.

Remember, you can like Poseidon's Parlour on Facebook too!

The article

Review of the Year 2014 - 06/01/2014

When I began writing the blog I had, in my head, targeted around 60 dives. However, the call of the sea was strong and I ended up doing around 130 dives. It was great.

The highlights were many and the lows few.

I saw some great life both here in Scotland and overseas. Including:

• Male cuckoo wrasse
• Cuckoo ray
• Devonshire cup coral
• White tip reef shark
• Spanish dancers

I decided to pull together my favourite 5 dives of the year. It was hard, but here they are.....

1. Fast Ed's first Beryl encounter (January)
2. Spanish dancers in Jordan (July)
3. The Zookeeper and I on Dive number 2 at the Farnes (September)
4. Encountering my first male cuckoo wrasse with the Announcer (September)
5. Sharks with the Zookeeper in Egypt (November) 

Have fun in 2015 and remember to dive like your making love : Keep it safe, sane and consensual.

It'll Be Just Like Beggar's Canyon Back Home! - 01/01/2015

Today was the day when Gill.I.am was finally doing the deep dives of her PADI Deep Speciality with Aqaba's Anchor in Jordan. We were going to be doing two dives to 40m today. The first at the Power Station and the second down a deep canyon near the wreck of the Cedar Pride. 

As the Power Station was to be Gill's first dive down to 40m I never took the camera even though this would be our best chance of seeing a shark. The site reminded me a lot of Dogfish Reef / Furnace Quarry back home for a number of reasons including:

• Steep slope straight down
• Popular with fishermen
• Lots of discarded fishing line and litter on the reef

It was comforting to know that we all face the same problems.

The dive went well without being too eventful. We saw stonefish, mantis shrimp and morays but no sharks or turtles.

We went to the second site where they were also running a rescue course. I got to be the panicked diver and got to shout for help theatrically in both English & Arabic. I was told my performance was excellent. The guy passed.

Our second dive took us down a deep canyon and as we hit 40m we finally struck gold for the day. A whopping 1.4m green turtle. I got excited, started taking pictures and gunned through my air at depth.  Fortunately, Abood the DM was carrying a spare cylinder so I borrowed that for 50 bar and a few minutes of deco. :)

Abood enjoys a fresh beverage

Turtle

Turtle

Cedar Pride

Starry Puffer

Gill and Diver

That's My Little Octopussy - 31/12/2014

In 1983 Roger Moore made one of the worst Bond movies ever. However, it did spawn one of the most memorable lines ever. A line that runs through my mind sometimes when I dive.

James Bond: [looking at the tattoo on Magda's back] What is that?

Magda: That's my little octopussy.

Indeed, "that's my little octopussy". I've seen octopus' on four occasions. Twice in Scotland and once in Egypt and once the other day at Black Rock in Aqaba. On each occasion I have spectacularly failed to photograph them. Either because I've been too slow to realise what I'm looking at or too incompetent with a camera. 

Today Gill.I.Am was beginning a PADI Deep Speciality with one of the owners Isaac of Aqaba's Anchor. I was diving initially with one of the DMTs nicknamed Woody. We had a nice dive zooming around Rainbow Reef and the Cedar Pride. However, I'd be lying if I said that my heart was ever racing. You know the way it does when you see something really neat underwater. Don't get me wrong I still had fun, but it wasn't that exciting.

When I came back to the shore and Gill mentioned that she'd had a nice encounter with a Giant Moray I was a somewhat jealous, although I like to think I never let it show. I mean doesn't everyone punch their dive pals in the face after a dive? *joke*

So when we went in for the second dive I was now diving as part of a three with Gill and Isaac. They were doing skills while I was pottering about looking for anything. Then at 30m I saw a rock move. "Nope, that's not a rock it's a stonefish. No! That's not a stonefish it's an octopus!" I thought,  In one motion I swept up my camera with my right hand, rattled my shaker with my left and drew Isaac and Gill over. 

It was a whopper! Changing colour, receding into it's hole, I thought it was going to disappear from view, but then it paused to look at me, it took pity and let me take a picture. "My little octopussy" I thought.

It's New Years Eve (or Hogmanay as we call it Scotland), if diving in 2015 starts as well as it ended I'll be happy. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

My little octopussy

Wacko-paco

Woody

Anemone fish

Bicolour Parrotfish

Swimming through

Air in the hold

Starry puffer

Glassfish (or Red Sea dwarf sweeper)

Gill.I.Am and the wreck

Return to Cable Reef and Cedar Pride - 30/12/2014

I've dived both Cable Reef and the Cedar Pride before. However, I've only dived Cable Reef at night and the Cedar Pride is big enough to have a lot more to explore than I saw the first time.

Cable Reef was up first and it delivered some nice nudibranch's, a red bubble anemone, a grey moray and a few different types of pufferfish. It was cool to see a reef I'd only dived at night during the day. Especially, the cable section (an area where large electrical cables run from Jordan across to Taba in Egypt. This is also a coral nusery where environmentalists are regrowing different types of Red Sea coral.

The return to Cedar Pride was even better, with a Panther Torpedo Ray, a huge Napoleonfish, a wee visit inside the bridge of the wreck and a swim under of the wreck.

Grey Moray

Four Colour Chromodoris

Masked Puffer behind Grape Coral

Diadem Sea Urchin, Red Anemone and Red Sea Anemone fish

Panther Torpedo Ray

Big Napoleonfish

Big Napoleonfish (2)

All's Quiet on the Western Front - 29/12/2014

I must confess, I fled the UK on Boxing Day for sunnier climes. I flew first to Istanbul, Turkey before skipping over to Aqaba, Jordon. Regular readers will know I had a few dives here earlier in the year, but I felt I had some unfinished business with the area in terms of diving. And, let's be honest who wouldn't swap Scottish winter for the mild weather of the Middle East? So, here I am.

Today we dived two new sites (to us) in the area:

• First Bay (including the Eel Garden)
• Black Rock

North Bay 1&2 was, for us, a drift dive that took us through a site called the Eel Garden. It was nice and comprised Gill.I.Am's deepest ever dive (30m) and her first proper drift dive. I think she enjoyed both aspects.

For me the highlights were the corals. In Scotland, Hugh MacDiarmid once penned the following verse in regard to the white rose commonly found in the country. *clears throat*

The rose of all the world is not for me.

I want for my part

Only the little white rose of Scotland

That smells sharp and sweet—and breaks the heart.

How true! However, the corals of Aqaba must run it pretty close. I'll let the few decent pictures I took do most of the talking, but the second dive at Black Rock (recently featured in Diver magazine) it was just myself and Abood the DM who went in. We went to 40m, but a quarter twist and a drop of the wrist saw me clock 40.4m my deepest ever dive. :)

Lettuce Coral

Starry Puffer

Cornetfish

Worm

Coral

Coral

Coral