In June 2004 Eve and I spent a week aboard a Red Sea liveaboard, MY Sea Serpent. This vessel had been built in 2001 and was the first of a generation of luxury dive vessels based on the award winning Benetti Classic 35 yachts’ design. Guests are accommodated in 8 twin and 2 ensuite double cabins. Eve and I flew to Marsa Glaleb Airport , north of Marsa Alam. MY Sea Serpent was moored nearby but our true destination was the many reefs in the St Johns area, just north of the Sudan border, Zabargad Island and Rocky Island . Our dive guides for the trip were Jean Paul Smeijers and Annette Gonzales Garcia. I would imagine being a diving guide is an extremely demanding job but JP and Annette made it seem effortless. Friendly and efficient, cheerful and charismatic, they are clearly exceptionally good guides.

After a night aboard MY Sea Serpent we set off the next morning on a southerly course to Abu Dabab for a checkout dive where Eve and I saw a small Whitetip Reef Shark. We continued south to Shaa’b Sharm for an evening and a night dive and then travelled overnight to Habili Kebir Ali, St Johns Reef. Just ten miles from the Sudanese border, the massive reef system of St Johns spans 13 miles across and is 8 miles in length.

The next morning Eve and I were on the first Zodiac from MY Sea Serpent and upon descending from the surface saw four Grey Reef Sharks.  We stayed with them for a short while before ascending and finning along the reef to the far side where we saw twelve juvenile Grey Reef Sharks cruising around. On our second dive at this site we saw a school of Hammerhead Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, large Yellowfin Tuna, Napoleon Wrasse, Titan Triggerfish and for me “a first”: Bumphead Parrotfish. Our last two dives of the day were at Dangerous Reef, still in the St. Johns area. Unfortunately the battery in my Olympus C5050 camera failed on the final dive just as I saw three large Bumphead Parrotfish.

The following morning we had our final dive in the St Johns area at Gotha Uassta Soraya before sailing to Rocky Island , one of four Marine Park Islands where we saw a small Reef Tip Shark and a Manta Ray.  During our second dive at Rocky Island , we saw Grey Reef Sharks, a school of huge Tuna and another Manta Ray. Afterwards we sailed to nearby Zabargad Island , also a Marine Park Island , for a night dive and overnight mooring.

The next day we returned to Rocky Island for two final dives and saw Grey Reef Sharks and a small Whitetip Reef Shark before setting sail in a heavy swell for a 5-hour journey northwards to Sataya Reef. This was an easy dive with plenty of colourful reef fish.

The next morning we dived Shaa’b Sharm before moving on north in rough sea conditions for two dives at Elphinstone Reef. Highlights of these dives were large Tuna, Napoleon Wrasse and Titan Triggerfish. The night dive was at Shoona, a bay on the coastline south of Marsa Glaleb. Eve opted out of the final two dives of the day and my buddy for these dives was Allan Burnes.

Our last morning aboard MY Sea Serpent began with a final leisurely dive at the same site. After this we enjoyed a snorkel in the shallow waters of the bay. A Dugong is sometimes seen there and one was briefly spotted by Jean Paul but neither Eve nor I saw it.