Ras Mohamed

     After leaving Dahab, Steve and I returned to Sharm to spend a few more days with Debbie at Blue Eye.  With the help of Debbie and some of her employees (Paul, Rachel and Sam) we spent our last few days in Egypt cramming as much underwater video knowledge into our little heads as we possibly could.  Not only did we work on our filming, but we did it at some of the best dive sites on the planet.  We had been diving from the Straights of Tiran to Sharm and up to Dahab, but we still hadn't made it to Ras Mohamed.

     Ras Mohamed is one of Egypt's first national parks.  About 20 minutes south of Sharm El Sheikh, its sits on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.  To the west lies the Gulf of Suez; to the east, the Gulf of Aqaba.  The junction of these two portions of the Red Sea and the extreme depth of the water immediately off of the shore means that the life, especially the amount of large, pelagic fish is extraordinary.  Most people board large day boats in Sharm and get to do two or three dives.  In my opinion, that's one of the worst ways to dive Ras Mohamed.  Rent a jeep, throw some tanks in the back and if you can avoid the land-mines left in the park from the Six-Day War with Israel (stick to the roads), you'll have the best spots all to yourself, for a quarter of the price.

     Everyday Steve, Debbie, Sam and myself sat down, scripted out what we wanted to shoot that day, drove out to Ras Mohamed, picked a spot, dove, shot, came home, edited our short films, reviewed them, and got ready to do it all over again the next day.  The improvement in our underwater video skills was incredible, and the diving was fantastic.  Shark Reef was holding steady as my favourite dive site in the park until our last day of diving.  Sam and his friend Mark Doherty surprised us by taking us to a spot that no dive boat leaving from Sharm will ever take you to.  It was a little deeper and further from shore than most divers go, but it was absolutely worth it.  Mark took some excellent pictures for Steve and I that I've included here as a slideshow (please respect his ownership of the images).

     I think it's always best to end on a high note, and the dive was a great way to wind up our time in Egypt.  I have to thank Debbie for being such an awesome host.  Besides putting a roof over our head and food in our mouths she always made sure that Steve and I were having a great time and learning as much as we could about video.  I also want to thank Paul, Rachel, Sam and everyone else at Blue Eye for taking us under their wing and letting us tag along.  Everyone was super friendly and so eager to share all their best tips and tricks.  Thanks Guys!