We arrived in Hurghady after night fall and after touring around town looking for what we thought was our hotel, our driver called back to the travel agent and determined where we were really staying. It was presented to us as an upgrade but...
The next morning we were off for our snorkeling trip. It was a reasonable deal, with gear rental and lunch included, and we enjoyed it. There were many entertaining aspects to it, and it was also a bit of an adventure. Before getting on the boat, we first were provided with our snorkeling gear.
We secured a good spot on the top deck of our boat. We were accompanied by mainly Polish tourists. Part of the seaside edge of Hurghada is visible in the background. Apparently this was a sleepy little fishing villiage until about 20 years ago when relative stability in the Middle East provided a booast to tourism in the area, and the Red Sea became a big sun and fun attraction for middle class Europeans (less expensive than more traditional European beach spots).
Craig checks out the very very blue water. The water was indeed beautiful. What wasn't beautiful was the trash floating in the water. Near the shore there were countless water bottles, plastic cups, styrofoam bits, etc. This fit with the overall appearance of the town, which was littered with trash and not in the best of repair.
When we reached a midway point to our first destination, a beach island, the boats began to circle up and the tourists gathered along the railings. What was going on?
Everyone on our boat became very excited and were practically pushing each other to see over the edge of the boat. Everyone from all the boats was whistling and shouting and banging on the boats.
What was the frenzy all about? A couple of dolphins. The boats zigged and zagged and tried to get the best view of the dolphins. This went on for about 20 minutes. We thought for sure that either the boats would run into each other, or run over the dolphins. We were relieved when the dolphins finally evacuated the scene and we continued on our way.
Though the boat operators made you sign a legal release that would have made any American lawyer green with envy, there was not a great emphasis on safety. If you wanted to, you were even allowed to sit on the back edge of the boat, while it was motoring along at top speed, and dangle your feet into the water. They did do a head count before we left each destination, so that was reassuring.
The next morning we were off for our snorkeling trip. It was a reasonable deal, with gear rental and lunch included, and we enjoyed it. There were many entertaining aspects to it, and it was also a bit of an adventure. Before getting on the boat, we first were provided with our snorkeling gear.
We secured a good spot on the top deck of our boat. We were accompanied by mainly Polish tourists. Part of the seaside edge of Hurghada is visible in the background. Apparently this was a sleepy little fishing villiage until about 20 years ago when relative stability in the Middle East provided a booast to tourism in the area, and the Red Sea became a big sun and fun attraction for middle class Europeans (less expensive than more traditional European beach spots).
Craig checks out the very very blue water. The water was indeed beautiful. What wasn't beautiful was the trash floating in the water. Near the shore there were countless water bottles, plastic cups, styrofoam bits, etc. This fit with the overall appearance of the town, which was littered with trash and not in the best of repair.
When we reached a midway point to our first destination, a beach island, the boats began to circle up and the tourists gathered along the railings. What was going on?
Everyone on our boat became very excited and were practically pushing each other to see over the edge of the boat. Everyone from all the boats was whistling and shouting and banging on the boats.
What was the frenzy all about? A couple of dolphins. The boats zigged and zagged and tried to get the best view of the dolphins. This went on for about 20 minutes. We thought for sure that either the boats would run into each other, or run over the dolphins. We were relieved when the dolphins finally evacuated the scene and we continued on our way.
Though the boat operators made you sign a legal release that would have made any American lawyer green with envy, there was not a great emphasis on safety. If you wanted to, you were even allowed to sit on the back edge of the boat, while it was motoring along at top speed, and dangle your feet into the water. They did do a head count before we left each destination, so that was reassuring.
This is the beach on the desert island. The sand was quite coarse, verging on uncomfortable to walk on.
In contrast to some of our other experiences on the trip, this was a big group scene. We were impressed that the boats worked well together and with the exception of a few shouted sharp words between boat captains, there were no real conflicts. Even though there were just a few shore boats to unload all the passengers from many vessels to the beach, everyone just waited their turn (or perhaps the off loading was prioritized by the amount of payments from each ship?) Whatever the case, there wasn't a great deal of campaigning to get us to shore more quickly than anyone else.
We first waded out into the water, then snorkeled a bit and swam around. Note how the water changes from a deep blue to a beautiful light blue as the depth lessens at the shore.
At our first snorkel spot, the water was calm and there was plenty to see underwater. There were a few reefs which extended 15 to 20 feet down with a nice variety of fish swimming around and hiding in the folds of the reefs. It was a bit of a mass event to have everyone in the water at the same time, but with the calm water it worked out OK. It was just a bit more like visiting a major tourist attraction vs. communing with nature.
Back on board, we enjoyed some lunch cooked on the boat. It consisted of grilled fish, potatoes, rice and veggies. The wind was blowing really hard so it was hard to eat without sending rice flying in all directions. Our flippers, stored on the floor, ended up covered with rice. We were provided with bottled water and also Pepsi (small glass bottles) but beer was available from the roving beer man. He carried the big bottles around in his plastic blue bucket.
At the first snorkel spot we enjoy calm seas and Jacob and Craig took advantage of this.
In contrast to some of our other experiences on the trip, this was a big group scene. We were impressed that the boats worked well together and with the exception of a few shouted sharp words between boat captains, there were no real conflicts. Even though there were just a few shore boats to unload all the passengers from many vessels to the beach, everyone just waited their turn (or perhaps the off loading was prioritized by the amount of payments from each ship?) Whatever the case, there wasn't a great deal of campaigning to get us to shore more quickly than anyone else.
We first waded out into the water, then snorkeled a bit and swam around. Note how the water changes from a deep blue to a beautiful light blue as the depth lessens at the shore.
At our first snorkel spot, the water was calm and there was plenty to see underwater. There were a few reefs which extended 15 to 20 feet down with a nice variety of fish swimming around and hiding in the folds of the reefs. It was a bit of a mass event to have everyone in the water at the same time, but with the calm water it worked out OK. It was just a bit more like visiting a major tourist attraction vs. communing with nature.
Back on board, we enjoyed some lunch cooked on the boat. It consisted of grilled fish, potatoes, rice and veggies. The wind was blowing really hard so it was hard to eat without sending rice flying in all directions. Our flippers, stored on the floor, ended up covered with rice. We were provided with bottled water and also Pepsi (small glass bottles) but beer was available from the roving beer man. He carried the big bottles around in his plastic blue bucket.
At the first snorkel spot we enjoy calm seas and Jacob and Craig took advantage of this.
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