02nd May 2008
Ask any verteran Red Sea diver where you should be jetting in the immediate future and they will tell you the place to be is the Southern Red Sea. The water is starting to warm up for the summer, which brings with it a veritable explosion in the marine life. Jumping off the back dive deck of Grand Sea Serpent and Miss Nouran has been likened to diving into fish soup. And it’s not just small fish. The reefs of St Johns, Daedalus and the Brothers are simply teeming with pelagics.

St John’s is the perfect destination for those that want both walls and shallower reef dives. With water temperatures creeping up to 27 degrees, big fish sightings are coming in thick and fast. Habili Ali and Habilli Jaffa set the stage for some spectacular manta and shark sightings. A family of humphead parrot fish are a unique feature of the region. Weaving through the pinnacles, the guests on Grand Sea Serpent have potted some whitetips on the back of Um Aruk. Turtle lovers have also been treated to some close ups with the resident hawkbills and loggerheads at Zabagad.

Not to be outdone, the guests on Miss Nouran have enjoyed getting up close and personal with hammerheads. Typically hammerheads are shy beasts but the warm water brings out the best in them. Guests have seen hammers as shallow as 15m. Although the school in its entirety has yet to be seen, large individuals have been.

The Brothers rarely fail to satisfy even the most shark hungry diver, whatever time of year. Yet the sheer variety of pelagics found there from April to June is astounding. Grey reef sharks are common, especially on the North Plateau of Little Brother, but add to this the hammerhead and thresher shark sightings and you have some high adrenalin diving. To cap it all, Little Brother’s resident giant manta has also been spied, gently cruising and feeding in the spring waters. With flat waters and mild currents, what more could you ask for.