SomaText and photos by Lawson Wood Bay Diving the Egyptian Red Sea 35 X-RAY MAG : 96 : 2020 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Soma Bay Kite surfers in Soma Bay, with sandy beaches and panaramic views of desert mountains (above); Dusky sweepers or hatchetfish with sea fans (right) I first visited the Red Sea as beckoning. The route of the Thomas part of a marine biological Cook Airbus to Hurghada took us directly over Ras Abu Soma, the des- expedition with Dr Paul Cragg tination of our dive resort. Hurghada back in 1973. After having Airport is big and efficient, and well run safaris out of Israel and used to large numbers of tourists. ending up living there for Visa payment, customs and luggage collection is straightforward, and the several years working on the various resorts, travel companies and legendary liveaboard dive dive businesses all have representa- boats Lady Jenny III and Lady tives waiting at the gate to collect Jenny V, my love for the Red you. Do not be put off by their rather aggressive stances in trying to nab Sea has never diminished. your custom; just make sure that your Now, some 45 years later, a transport is ready and waiting for you return trip to the Red Sea was in advance. increasing my heartbeat in Dive resort and operator anticipation. Our hotel for the week was The Break- dishes too, including Asian cuisine, ers Diving & Surfing Lodge at Soma fried fish and burgers. There were also That first frisson of excitement came Bay, the only dedicated diving and a couple of bars and roof-top areas at 20,000ft when the plane taking my kite surfing resort in the Middle East. for chilling and après dive chatter. wife and me to the region started The Breakers has over 170 staff (mainly The Breakers’ two large dive boats to descend, flying over the Red Sea Egyptian), and food served here in- were used for half and full days of div- Mountains of Upper Egypt, and I evitably has the Egyptian slant of fla- ing. The dive boats each had a large Diver with anthias and soft corals on reef in Soma Bay. PREVIOUS PAGE: Giant could see the shores of the Red Sea vours, but there were plenty of other saloon, in which divers could hang clam and hard corals on the wreck of the MV Salem Express in the Red Sea 36 X-RAY MAG : 96 : 2020 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Soma Bay Reef diving at Safaga (above); The dive centre has diving and underwater camera equipment stations right on the beach (right). out, check cameras and enjoy yes, they have those too. were the focus for our trip. a buffet lunch when on a full All levels of divers are catered Once the dive shop paper- LODGING day out. Dive sites were around for, from beginner snorkellers and work was completed, there Located about 45 minutes’ drive a 30- to 90-minute ride from the try-divers all the way to mixed- was a week’s chart on the wall south of Hurghada Airport, Soma marina, and a full dive briefing gas and rebreather divers. Many for us to consider, listing full- or Bay is the name of the entire was always provided whether come to increase their diving or half-day dive boats, RIB dives headland resort area. There are one was diving independently training skills, and for underwater and space to plan our shore currently five major hotels here, or with a guide. For those who photographers like myself, it is the diving off the house reef. We just with plans for more. These include have done some of these dives perfect base for exploring the had to put our names down for The Breakers Dive & Surf Lodge, before, it is always a good idea northern Red Sea reefs off the whatever boat trip we wanted, Robinson Club (which is German to listen in, as there are always African mainland. and always made sure to re- owned and operated, and a seasonal vagaries of the critters move our names if we changed bit like a family “Club Med”), one can find here. Diving our minds. Sheraton, Westin, and Kempinski. The diving part of the resort is Over 100km north of Marsa The house reef was reached Each resort has an entirely differ- owned and operated by Orca Alam, a number of the dive sites along a 420m pier with two ent look, layout and feel, but our Dive Clubs, which has several between Sharm el-Sheikh and platforms and plenty of ladders host for the week was the superb resorts in Egypt as well as in Mau- Marsa Alam were really only to aid entry and exit. Transport Breakers, the dedicated diving ritius, Flores, Bali and Sardinia. accessible by liveaboard dive was provided by converted and kite surfing resort. You should With the latest equipment, mul- boats. Nowadays, Panorama electric golf carts, which could in the water. note, however, that the Westin tilingual staff and a great house Reef, the wreck of the Salem transport you, your buddy and The following is just a small in Soma Bay has one of the larg- reef opposite the dive centre, Express, and a number of other all your dive gear and camera example of the superb diving est spas in the world, with an what more could one ask for? dive sites around Safaga and equipment. This style of diving, to be found along this stretch of amazing saltwater hydrotherapy Large dive boats to explore the the Soma Bay headland, are of course, allows you and your coastline, far from the madden- pool—it’s like something out of an The author off to plumb the Red Sea depths offshore reefs and wrecks? Oh, easily reached. These dive sites buddy to spend extended time ing crowd. ancient Byzantine palace. (above); Windsurfing in Soma Bay (right) 37 X-RAY MAG : 96 : 2020 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Soma Bay Endemic Red Sea or twoband anemonefish (left); Arabian Picasso triggerfish with bluestreak cleaner wrasse (right) The House Reef. By far, this was many places. The more vertical of anemone, which fluoresces probably the most-dived site, sections had large black coral red underwater, yet only shows and there were countless “ferry” trees, which hid small schools of green with normal white light trips up and down the pier every glassfish and hatchetfish. Curi- flash. Once you get to the 30m day, transporting divers and ously, there were many large (100ft) range, you will find the their gear. Most notable at this bigeye snapper out in the open, lyretail angelfish (Genicanthus site were those early-morning when they are usually well se- caudovittatus). With the male dives and early-evening dives creted away under overhangs. and female sporting completely when the juxtaposition of day- There were a few huge stonefish different colours, the lyretail an- time critters and nighttime on this reef, one hiding under gelfish feed on planktonic crit- denizens shared the reef. Clean- the sand, but the other was so ters in open water near the reef. ing stations were doing a roaring well overgrown with algae that Dolphins are seen very regularly trade, and both predators and it was virtually “invisible” amidst here as well as large barracuda prey lined up to be cleaned the corals and algae beds. and schools of trevally and other of parasites with no thought of Small mushroom corals littered large open-water fish, so always “breaking the rules.” Dolphins the reef and there were some keep casting your eye out into came into the pier area too and huge sections of lettuce coral. the blue. were seen regularly. The ubiquitous anemonefish, Predominated by small hard or clownfish, dotted around Panorama Reef. I first dived corals, this was a steeply sloping large anemones. As we moved Panorama Reef back in 1985 reef that descended to around to the north, towards the head- while working on the Lady Jenny 18m (60ft) before dropping land and opposite the light- V. Principally here to seek shelter steeply and even vertically in house, we found the same type for the boat one night, we found Jewel fairy basslet or sea goldie Large sea fan 38 X-RAY MAG : 96 : 2020 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Soma Bay Endemic Fridman’s dottyback, Pseudochromis fridmani (above); Endemic Abudjubbe’s wrasse, Cheilinus abudjubbe (left) that this large circular reef, with its fans here than we found later on Gabir Soraya. Only 30 minutes from two shallow platforms, was so good our second dive in the afternoon, the marina, this shallow reef com- that we stayed the next day too which was a drift dive on the west- prised a large elongated reef with and explored all around the reef as ern plateau. I forgot how strong the several small satellite coral ergs, or the sun moved around and illumi- current was. Skimming over and coral heads, to the south. At only nated the soft coral gardens and around the huge stands of gorgon- 15m (50ft) maximum depth, the gorgonian forests. ian sea fans that stretched out into central sandy plain had a small Over 33 years later, I set off from the current was fun, but it was diffi- group of garden eels.