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ISSUE 19 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2009

T R A V E L — S P O R T — P E O P L E — F O O D — D R I N K — P R O P E R T Y

Great expectationsHoliday like you’re in a classic novel

Underwater loveFrom desert to deep in Egypt

Poker faceGambling tips for rookies

MISCHA FRAMEDHOW A NORTHERN SNAPPER EXPOSED THE STARS

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FROM THE DESERT TO THE DEEP

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IF YOU CAN’T DECIDE WHETHER YOU WANT SAND UNDERFOOT IN THE DESERT OR UNDER FLIPPER IN THE RED SEA, WHY NOT BE GREEDY AND HAVE BOTH IN SHARM EL SHEIKH? T E X T H E I D I F U L L E R - L O V E

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Mention Sharm el Sheikh in a crowded bar and the conversation inevitably turns to great–if-you-haggle shopping. But this buzzing resort on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula has much more to offer. Sharm the Egyptian charmer also boasts some of the best diving in the world.

The Red Sea is the closest tropical sea to Europe, and famous bods that have been spotted diving here include Paris Hilton, Tony Blair, Torchwood star John Barrowman and Coronation Street’s Samia Smith. “Sharm is a diver’s paradise – you’ve got hard and soft coral, manta rays, turtles, moray eels, dolphins, reef and pelag ic sharks, and the SS Thistlegorm, a world-famous wreck packed with the rolling stock it was carrying when it was sunk in 1941,” says Ian, one of the Camel Dive Club’s instructors. Ian has

the unenviable task of coaching me through the Padi Open Water Diver course that will transform me from a moron in pink

fl ippers to a competent scuba diver in just four days. I’m such a sprat that I thought we’d strap on

fl ippers and a bottle then dive straight in. Instead we sit in a cool classroom and soak up some vital theory before heading out to fl ip about in the Camel Dive Club’s sparkling pool.

The lean-limbed beauties pouting their way through the Bond fl icks might have made wetsuits seem glam, but it’s tough to feel sexy in skin-tight rubber when you’ve got a hangover from your night out at Na’ama Bay. Battling with a migraine wrought by Sharm’s equivalent of Sunset Strip, I struggle into my marine-themed bondage gear and get to know my fellow

divers. Firm friends by the time we hit the deep end, we f lounder together all morning, learning to clear masks, retr ieve regulators and make ourselves neutrally buoyant.

Scrambling out of my wetsuit later that day, I join Boston journa l i st Mar tha, Jim the Brummie accountant and Matt, the muscled gym teacher from Southsea, pile into a jeep and set off for a two-hour trip into the desert. After a thril l ing ride through lunar landscapes dotted with Bedouin encampments, we reach St Catherine’s, the stunning 6th-century monastery where God fi rst spoke to Moses. Parched after our tour of this hallowed Ñ

TOP TIPS• Take a medical

exam before diving

You don’t need to be the

Muscles From Brussels,

but you will need to be

reasonably fi t.

• Don’t mess around

Diving is perfectly safe

if you dive responsibly,

but there’s a real risk

of serious injury if you

play games.

• Use the regulator

to breathe

By holding your breath

as you ascend/descend

you can seriously

damage your lungs.

• Always stay calm

Whether it’s moray eels

or sharks, there’s plenty

of fauna in the Red Sea

to spook a novice, so

come prepared.

ABOVE : GOD F IRST SPOKE TO MOSES

AT ST C ATHER INE’S MON ASTERY

B E LOW : THE DA Z ZL ING C OR A L REEFS OFTHE RED SE A M A KE A M A ZING D IVE S I TES

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RED SEA READSPacked with colourful

pictures, Rik Vercoe’s

Sharm el Sheikh Diving

Guide (www.travelling

diver.com) gives detailed

info about the top sites.

HOT WINTER DIVE SITES

• Larnaca

Fine diving off the east

coast of Cyprus. The

Zenobia is one of

the biggest wrecks

in the Mediterranean.

• Almería

The natural marine

park of Cabo de Gata is

a divers’ paradise where

winter temperatures

rarely fall below 20˚C.

You’ve got hard and soft coral,

manta rays, turtles and moray eels

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site, we head for the fi shing village of Dahab and sip Sakara beers as the sun sets on a gaggle of Bedouins plodding into town on spitting camels.

Occupying an area of granite mountains and sand dunes on a slender peninsula at the southernmost tip of the Sinai, Ras Mohammed National Park was designated a conservation area in 1983. Accessible both by land and sea, this vast nature reserve has dozens of fab diving sites – most of them within easy reach of Sharm el Sheikh. For us novices, however, the spectacular coral wall at Shark Reef, the glassfi sh-f il led Jackf ish Alley, and the grey reef sharks, hammerheads and huge Napoleon wrasse of Ras Za’atar will have to wait. Instead, the next afternoon is spent puttering around Na’ama Bay practising all the skills we’ve mastered in confi ned water.

Plunging into the eerie depths, we practise making controlled emergency ascents without an air supply, retrieving and refastening our weight belts, and get used to the weird feeling of frollocking about on the sea bed.

In Na’ama that night, the two long promenades packed with restaurants tempt us with everything from Thai to Russian food, but Martha wants to “go local”. On the panoramic terrace of Abou El Sid,

GO STAYBudg-it: at the

comfortable Falcon Hills

hotel, which has its own

onsite diving school

and is fi ve minutes

(free) shuttle bus from

Na’ama Bay (www.

falcon-hotels.com).

Blow it: at the Grand

Rotana Resort & Spa,

a state-of-the art

sleepery set in some

tropical gardens

overlooking Shark’s Bay

(www.rotana.com).

a local favourite hidden away above the Hard Rock Café, we sup on molokheya soup, a local speciality. “It tastes like creamy spinach mixed with the tiniest, tenderest chunks of chicken,” Martha says.

A light and spicy koshari, made with lentils, rice and chickpeas, comes next, followed by om ali, a sinfully creamy pudding laced with toasted nuts and spices. Puffi ng on shisha pipes, we sit back like funnel-fed pachas to digest our dinner and admire the views over the Red Sea, which stretches out to the horizon like a magic carpet.

On our last day we head out into the bay for the big one, our fi rst real dive. My heart beats faster as our boat putters us out to Near Garden, a coral-dotted reef scattered across a sandy plateau where thousands of fi sh come to feed. As we dive deeper and deeper it’s like entering a marine-themed screensaver. The contrast between the arid landcape above the water and the spectacular explosion of life beneath the waves is dazzling, and shoals of striped anemonefi sh fl itter past. There’s so much to look at I’m gawping through my mask like a blowfi sh – lucky Bond can’t see me now!

When I pop up out of the water at the end, Ian tells me that I’ve earned a licence to dive anywhere I like to a depth of 18 metres. The world is my oyster.

As we dive deeper and deeper it’s like

entering a marine-themed screensaver

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S H A R M E L S H E I K H F R O M E A S T M I D L A N D S , L E E D S , M A N C H E S T E R & N E W C A S T L E F R O M £ 7 9 . 9 9 P L U S 7 N I G H T P A C K A G E H O L I D A Y S A V A I L A B L E W I T H J E T 2 H O L I D A Y S . C O M

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GO DIVENovice divers will

receive plenty of TLC

at the Camel Dive Club

(www.cameldive.com).

In business since 1986,

it’s one of the Red Sea

Riviera’s best.

GO PLAYNeed a place to chill out?

Head to the -5°C Ice Bar

in the Soho Square

entertainment centre

(www.soho-sharm.com),

or skate a few laps

around the kiddie-

friendly ice rink. Those

looking for less literal

leisure pursuits can

enjoy the centre’s full

spectrum of shops,

attractions and

restaurants, from

sushi to steak.

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