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Shark and Yolande


This site has to be one of my favourite dive sites of all time. I think partly because of the absolutely fabulous wealth of marine life that we get here, the fact that you get a bit of everything in one dive... wall, blue, wreck and gardens, and the fact that you can dive this one in so many different ways. As a guide it is quite challenging, as you have to make decisions on foot, judging by the currents, your divers, and the presence of any other divers in the water at the same time. Thus there is never a dull dive here.

Basically we have a sandy plateau that stretches out from the main reef from about eight metres, down to about twenty two metres, and on this plateau we have three smaller reefs jutting up into the currents, right up to the surface. Shark Reef comes first, followed by Yolande and finally the teeny tiny Turtle Rock. This site is also located right at the Southernmost tip of the Sinai Penninsula so we have three bodies of water all converging at this one spot. It is particularly prone to strong currents, which as we all know result in the riot of colours that occur here, however can result in a challenging dive. Of course sometimes there is no current at all, and we are able to simply bimble around the whole dive. Having said that, the currents usually encourage all the fish to come out to play, so if you can cope with it, that is the best time to see everything.

The currents do chop and change throughout this dive, and every so often turn completely reversed, however Shark Reef is not an ideal location in which to do a current check, so we sometimes have to just jump in and go with what gets thrown at us. Other times, if we suspect a reverse current, we will do a check, just like Jackfish alley, at the point where the dive would normally end, and then if our suspicions are right, do the whole thing back to front, which is always fun.

So, on a normal day, we would jump in on Shark Reef, or sometimes on Anenome City. Shark Reef is a famous wall of coral that plunges 800 metres into the inky blue below. In reality there is a small ledge at about 150 metres, although that is of no use to us recreational divers. It is prone to very strong currents at this point too, so not a dive where you would take novice divers, or anyone not really happy with their buoyancy. So this is not a dive to be messed with. After all that, it is completely fantastic, and if you work with the currents, and control your bouyancy, it is a glorious start to the dive.

We usually aim to drop in right on the "split" where the current hits the reef and splits into two directions. This way, we make the most of having the current with us, as well as having the chance to take in the massive shoals of fish that hang out in the split in summer. From May to September, we will often drop here, straight into a huge shoal of snappers all facing out into the blue. We descend into the oblivious fish, seeing circling jack fish below us, bat fish, sometimes barracuda and occasionally we are treated to the rare sighting of a big black tip shark or two! In mid-summer, we sometimes spend the bulk of the dive hanging out here in the blue, just riding the flow, taking in the huge gatherings of fish that occur here. The snapper wall can be particularly huge and spectacular on some days.

Between Shark and Yolande Reefs, there is a sandy saddle, and if there are no shoals in the blue, we head in here after flying past the wall on Shark Reef. Tuckin in close to the reef wall, and using the coral pinnacles as shelter, we gently inch our way up the saddle, working slowly against the current, aiming for the easiest route, until we can see the fish at the back of the reef. This will tell us what kind of current to expect on the rest of the dive... as a guide it helps us decide which way to turn next, either drift around the back of Yolande Reef, or head across the sandy saddle and meander around the gardens on the front of Yolande Reef. Either way is glorious, with huge giant trevallies and napoleon wrass often lurking at the back, and totally fantastic, colourful coral gardens on the front.

Either way, we ususally then reach the wreckage of the Yolande cargo ship. Occasionally, the current doesn't play ball, and we end our dive meandering back and forth around the Yoande Gardens... completely glorious. However usually we can work our way around one way or another to take in the remains of the cargo. The ship itself now sits at 205metres off the ledge, however it has left behind an array of bathroom fittings. This is often known as the toilet wreck for this very reason. The reef is dotted with toilet bowls, baths, wash basins, remains of a container (heaving with soft corals) even some delightful blue and white floral shower curtain material and the remains of a car (apparently a BMW). This all sounds pretty grim in a way, however due to the fast currents and nutrients flying around here, for a relatively recent wreck, everything is completely covered in soft and hard corals, and practically bursting with life. So if it is possible, it is great to just take our time and bimble around this area. Please don't be tempted to get a photo sitting on a toilet, yes I know it is a potentially very funny shot, however I have seen so much trashed coral as a result of this practice, and the toilets are quite fragile too, being completely waterlogged.

From there we again have a couple of choices, we can head on to Turtle Rock (often known as Baby Yolande or Satellite Reef) or we can head around the front of the Yolande garden where there is a very cool swim through that brings us out at exactly five metres, a handy place to end the dive.

Ras Mohammed

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