In September 2001 Eve and I stayed at the Kahramana Resort in Marsa Alam about 250 kilometres south of Hurghada. The Resort is built on the shore of the southern Red Sea and is perfectly located for diving the nearby reefs of Daedalus, Elphinstone and Abu Dabbab.

With shore diving and boat diving from MV Prince Ashraf and a RIB, Red Sea Diving Safari took us to the dive sites of Sharm Abu Dabbab, Sharm Abu Dabour, Shaa’b Samadi, Marsa Egla, Marsa Shuni, Elphinstone Reef and Marsa Samadi. The highlights of this week were undoubtedly snorkelling with a large pod of dolphins at Shaa’b Samadi and two dives at Elphinstone Reef. These two early morning dives necessitated exhilarating lengthy RIB rides out to the reef from the shore. On the first of these two dives I saw a group of hammerhead sharks at a depth of around 50 metres and on the second, not only did I again see hammerheads but also dolphins as well.