Fish-eye views
With just a mask, fins and snorkels you can share Rasha Sadek 's underwater experience and explore the best snorkelling spots in Sharm El-Sheikh
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Snorkelers' silent underwater world: (above) a unique Giant Gorgonian at Thomas Reef in Tiran; a colourful variety of fish species can be seen in the Red Sea (below)
photos: Khaled El-Fiqi, Ayman Ibrahim, Farid Atiya
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It was the end of a snorkelling excursion in Sharm El- Sheikh. The visitors came out of the water smiling with disbelief and a WOW came out from between their quick breaths as they stepped onto the boat with their fins still on as their bodies dripped water and their hands held their masks and snorkels. "It was unbelievable! Did you see that fish which... and the huge coral mountain that..." they gasped as they tried in vain to seek the right words to describe what they had just seen beneath the water.
Even for regular snorkelers, this is a recurring feeling. For 11 years I've been snorkelling in Sharm El-Sheikh and although I've snorkelled hundreds of times, I'm still startled by the fascinating beauty of the seascape which stretches below me. The magic about snorkelling is that it is a tuition-free activity. Put on your mask, snorkel and, if you want to be able to move faster, include fins in your equipment and just swim to the nearest coral reef. Move your head left and right following the fish you like or point out a beautiful sight to a friend snorkelling with you. Leave it to the sea to marvel you with all what it's got. Simply put, that is what snorkelling is all about. Unlike scuba diving, snorkelling is easy, yet it grants multiple levels of charm and adventure. You can simply snorkel near the shore or, if you're adventurous -- and you expect more out of the Red Sea -- you'll definitely find what you want.
Ne'ma Bay in Sharm El-Sheikh in south Sinai is where most of the action takes place. The best snorkelling spots in the bay lie near both ends, that is, between the Lido Iberotel Hotel and the Sofitel Hotel. You do not have to take lessons or gain any certificates to snorkel. Also, you do not have to commit yourself to any boat excursions or to specific times. Whenever you feel like it, just jump into the water and about 50 metres away, you'll find a pile of coral reefs with hundreds of fish around. If you have a sharp memory and you're keen to learn about aquatic wildlife, a little practice will allow you to know the types of fish that swim individually, in couples or in schools.
My personal favourites are the threadfin butterfly fish that are relatively small (about 20cm long) with yellow fins, short antenna, black and white stripes and -- call me crazy -- a childish look. They swim in couples. Their small mouth is located at the end of a long snout. Butterfly fish get their name from their active, flitting movements and also from their bright colours. Interestingly, butterfly fish are endowed with excellent camouflage: their colourful pattern hides their eyes in a black stripe and, at night, they develop a black spot on their backs. A predator ready to attack is therefore deceived when it mistakes the tail for the eye and is amazed when the fish swims off at great speed, seemingly in reverse.
As for the blue triggerfish Pseudobalistes fuscus, it holds a painful memory for me. It's a fat fish, more than half a metre long, with a constantly open big purple mouth and sharp teeth. Some of its species are over a metre and a half long, and you'd be lucky if you found one in Ne'ma Bay or Ras Mohamed. I'm lucky to have seen it so many times, but not so lucky to have experienced the bite of the law when, during one of my first snorkelling adventures, I foolishly (and illegally) tried to feed it, it bit my thumb when it was trying to eat the whole piece of bread! No harm was done, but my scream did startle the people on the nearby shore.
There is no doubt about the extraordinary beauty of the colours of the parrot fish Scarus. This fish is a herbivore that feeds on the algae covering the dead coral with its parrot-like beak. Its mouth has always reminded me of an elegant woman wearing carefully contoured lipstick. If there is food on the water's surface the parrot fish will jump half way out of the water and grab it.
However, when it comes to fame, it is the Napoleon fish that are Sharm El-Sheikh's most renowned. There are only two in Ne'ma: you can find them when you go on a trip in a glass boat, or in Ras Mohamed. But even then there's no guarantee that you'll find them. Napoleons are black with gray spots and a huge mouth. One of them is as tall as a medium-sized man and the other is slightly smaller. If you are on a glass boat and you hear the driver yelling, be sure you are just about to see a Napoleon.
My own encounters with Napoleons have been rare but certainly memorable. My closest encounter was when I was the only snorkeler courageous enough to jump out of the glass boat into an area of fiery coral reefs. Close as it was, I didn't get a chance to see the fish: while I concentrated on the diversity of colours and my mind and body were mesmerised at the sight of that sunken treasure of reefs, I didn't realise that a Napoleon was following me. When I swam back up to the boat, I found all the other visitors staring at me. "What's wrong?" I asked. "A Napoleon was right behind you for quite a while. Didn't you see it?!"
The cutest fish are the "boxes". This surprising, yet quite literal name stems from the fact that their heads and bodies are totally encased in a box-like bony shell. Their young are sweet and provoke a smile in all those who see them. Despite being poor swimmers, they manoeuvre extremely well among coral reefs and can turn without moving, just like a helicopter. They are either black or a combination of more than two vibrant colours.
The wooden marina of the Lido Iberotel Hotel hides underneath it a treasure of fish in a setting reminiscent of that of the sunken Titanic. The pillars of the marina are covered with corals and the water -- colder and deeper than in other areas -- is dark, as it is shadowed by the marina. Huge schools of different species of fish swim in this area through an open rusty iron-barred cage.
The coral reefs are another story. The most famous in Ne'ma Bay is the Brain Favia -- a yellow huge rock-like reef that looks exactly like the human brain. Brain corals are nocturnal, their polyps extend only at night. If you go snorkelling near the area of the Sofitel, you'll catch sight of the biggest example. You can also see it when you go on a glass boat trip. Unfortunately parts of the coral Brain have died due to excessive exposure to boat oil, ship anchors and human assault.
You can always ask the driver to stop for 10 minutes so that you can snorkel around the area. He can also drop you off where you could catch the next boat an hour later. This is risky however, for you may get tired and may not find help. If you're willing to take the risk, make sure to arrange with the next boat.
Although Ne'ma is my favourite, I wanted to explore more sites in Sharm El-Sheikh. Ras Mohamed just gave me what I expected. As I enjoyed my first visit so much, I went back a second time. The boat excursion always starts out from either Ne'ma Bay port or Travco port, a few kilometres from the entrance to Sharm El-Sheikh, and goes on from 9am to 5pm. I tried out both trips, and enjoyed a 90- minute sail in the crystal waters of the Red Sea on the sun deck. The view was calm and soulful.
As a matter of fact, Ras Mohamed National Park was declared a protected area in 1983. Lying only 12 kilometres from Sharm El-Sheikh and 40 kilometres from Al-Tor over
an area of 480 square kilometres, the park falls where the Gulf of Suez meets the Gulf of Aqaba. Ras Mohamed is renowned as the world's richest snorkelling and diving spot for its wealth of marine life. The first thing you come across in an excursion to Ras Mohamed is the amazing formation of the Mangrove forest -- in fact a small oasis on the beach.
This area is just a small part of the forest located in the Nabq protected area that stretches across four kilometres of the coastline. The sealife here is equally astounding. In amongst the reefs at Ras Mohamed live thousands of colourful fish and other marine creatures, which together with the reef form a complete and self-sufficient ecosystem.
My group's guide gave us an enjoyable talk on the species we were about to encounter, while seriously warning us against the fire lion fish Pterois radiata. His advice and warnings were accompanied by an illustration of the fish. On seeing the illustration I recalled seeing the same white and yellow-striped lion fish just a day before when I was snorkelling in Ne'ma Bay. The most surprising part of it all was that during my first encounter, I had wanted to get closer to touch it, without knowing that the fish kept poison in its pockets. The lion fish is a slow, majestic swimmer. It is, however, unable to rush rapidly forwards -- only for a small distance up to one metre.
The guides to the snorkelling excursions have an excellent ability, gained through years of practice, to dive very deep under water without diving gear. "My group, follow me" is a sentence I heard over a hundred times in a Nubian accent. As one of the group, I followed the guide through Katy's Head, the Key and Marsa Ghozlani, the three excellent snorkelling locations at Ras Mohamed. Unfortunately, on my second excursion, the guide swam as fast as a world champion -- doubling his speed with his long fins -- making it almost impossible for the rest of us to follow!
