Jordan has a short coastline, running from the small port town of Aqaba, next to Eilat, Isreal, south to the Saudi border. In September 1998 Eve and I stayed at King Solomons Palace Hotel in Eilat. The Red Sea Sports Club of Eilat arranged for us to cross over the border for a days diving with the Aquamarina Diving Centre of Aqaba which, from its private jetty, offered the only boat diving in Aqaba.

The Jordanian coast has over 20 different dive sites, with drop offs and walls starting from just 10 metres and a shipwreck, Cedar Pride. This was to be our first dive of the day, my 88th dive. At 1,161 tonnes, the Cedar Pride was not a large ship. She was a general cargo boat, launched as the San Bruno in 1964 and renamed as Cedar Pride in early 1982. In August that year a fire broke out while the vessel was in Aqaba and she sustained extensive damage, two members of her crew were killed and the vessel was declared a constructive total loss. Three years later she was towed to a position just off Aqaba Beach and deliberately sunk as a diving attraction. She came to rest almost perfectly on her starboard side at a depth of 28 metres, 10 metres from the surface. Our second dive was at First Bay North Reef. This shallow fringing reef is situated next to the Marine Science Station and starts at 2 metres extending down to 30-40 metres and beyond.

Returning back to Eilat, I was delayed by Israeli Customs at the Aqaba-Eilat border crossing who were highly suspicious of my dive bag.