Marsa Alam, redux

I’m back from my very nice diving holiday down in Marsa Alam. The diving was good but not great, I’d say; I think it was still a little early in the season. The coral is exquisite in Marsa Alam, but I found my animal encounters to be less thrilling than the ones I had in Dahab in August.

Before I go any further, let me get this right out there:

I did not see the dugong.

Six dives total in Abu Dabbab, including two last June, have yielded no dugong sighting for me. [sigh] I’m starting to think that the damned thing doesn’t actually exist. At least this video assures me that if it had actually been there, there's no way I could've missed it.

I did, however, get to see dolphins! The encounters were good enough that they deserve their own post, so I’ll leave them for later.

We had a few days with the wind murking up the sea, and several days where the sea looked smooth enough to skate on. The water was cold but mostly bearable with a hood. I picked up the usual number of injuries, I’d say, and did the usual amount of damage to my hair and my pedicure.

Best of all, I finally broke 50 dives! The dive itself wasn’t that memorable – poor visibility at Marsa Samadai, down to 16 meters – but I did it! Finally! Current diving status: 52 non-training dives, 2 of those unguided (another first for me).

I also had quite a cultural experience, being the only American at a dive resort full of Europeans. I learned that nobody likes Italians and that Dutch people talk too loud. I acquired the words for “coconuts” and “dominatrix” in German (two separate conversations, I hasten to add). I also learned that all Americans carry guns, drink Starbucks, and voted for Bush. Intriguing.

Here are a few pictures from my trip that I especially like: