Sub diving cruise in Sudan

The Departure

We set off on Friday from Milan Malpensa on the 15:35 flight and, after 4 hours of flying plus an hour and a half delay, we arrive in Cairo (and here it's 22:00 – 1 hour ahead of Italy) where a correspondent is waiting for us to take care of all the visa procedures. Note: on every entry into Egypt you pay €12 for the visa and €18 to leave Egypt for Sudan. After collecting our luggage, we're taken to the nearby Novotel, where we arrange directly with the correspondent a trip for the following morning, since our flight to Sudan is on Saturday afternoon, and we take the opportunity to see a bit of Cairo: the Hanging Church, the pyramids, the Sphinx and lunch on the Nile (for a total of €55). On Saturday afternoon, here we are back at the airport, heading for Sudan! Hooray, at 19:00 we depart and after 1 hour and a quarter we've arrived..

and here it's 21:15 (in total two hours ahead of Italy). The security procedures, a bit long and tedious, require your bags to be opened and your passports kept for the whole duration of your stay, and remember that if, once you've arrived by boat, you still have your passport with you, it means something didn't go the right way and you'll see an irate Chico (a well-known local 'manager') coming at you, yelling every insult he knows in your language (this happened to one of us, even though he was a strict German tourist!). After a 20-minute shuttle ride, here we finally are at the boat.

The Daedalus, a yacht with 9 cabins with private facilities (very important!) and air conditioning. 32.5 metres long and 7 wide, with comfortable and functional spaces, especially for divers, for whom a spacious area is dedicated on the upper deck. But the spaces for relaxation and post-dive chats are also very comfortable: a large dining lounge, 2 upper decks with a sunbathing area. Note: once on board, you'll be asked to pay the Sudanese taxes again – €205 in total. Our tour operator had warned us about this and we had no surprises, unlike what happened to others! Here we finally are, all gathered together with the rest of the group (whom we didn't know before); in total we are: 6 Italians, 3 Germans and a Frenchwoman, 3 guides and the whole local crew! And so begins our wonderful and unforgettable adventure in Sudan!!!

--- Ma veniamo al sodo ... Le immersioni ---

The stretch of the Red Sea that the Sudanese coast overlooks deserves the definition of a sea with "the highest concentration of life existing in the world", given by the great French oceanographer J. Cousteau, who seized the opportunity here to carry on his experiments (see below). A pleasant scent of adventure is in the air almost everywhere and this, combined with the abundant marine life teeming among the colourful gardens of still-intact coral, the historic wrecks dating back to the Second World War and the constant presence of sharks, gives the dives a certain something wild. In general, the most beautiful dives were those in the mid-morning and not those at dawn (around 7 in the morning).. let's say the latter served to keep us in training and above all to burn off the enormous amount of food consumed on the boat...

the water temperature stayed between 24 and 26 degrees and a 5 mm wetsuit was more than enough. Remember that gloves are not appreciated – they invite the temptation to touch the corals, risking ruining what nature has created over so much time!!!... I would however recommend bringing them and keeping them in your BCD pocket, you never know, they could be useful in strong currents, during safety stops, and I wouldn't turn my nose up at a spare mask either, I lost mine to the current and luckily someone in the group had one!

THE UMBRIA WRECK

Once you've left the port, after only 20 minutes of sailing you reach Wingate Reef where the wreck of the Umbria lies, an Italian ship deliberately scuttled on 10 June 1940 by its captain to prevent its cargo of weapons and vehicles from falling into the hands of the British navy. The wreck, a full 150 metres long, lies at a maximum depth of 40 metres, resting on its left side. Once you reach the bow, turn around and look at it from the outside in all its majesty, it's truly worth it! Here we did no fewer than 4 dives, including a very evocative night dive, moving through corridors and holds, seeing the still-intact cargo of war material, bottles of wine, sinks, 2 large ovens and a dough mixer and even 3 Fiat 1100s... all accompanied by the numerous tropical species living among the metal plates, such as angelfish, glass fish, a solitary pufferfish and many others...

and, despite the 4 dives, we still didn't manage to visit the wreck in its entirety.

SANGANEB

On Monday morning we move to Sanganeb, where the position of the reef is recognisable thanks to a tall lighthouse standing on a coral tower. Diving at both the North and South tips of the reef, we encountered large resident schools of barracuda, jacks, parrotfish, groupers, tuna, grey sharks and a few whitetips; the colours are magnificent too: walls covered in soft corals, gorgonians and corals of every colour. What's special about these dives is that, after passing the first part of the shallow reef, the outer wall plunges into the depths and you then come to a sandy plateau at about 20 metres, very very rich in life.

Sailing north you reach Sha'ab Rumi reef, one of the most fascinating places in the Red Sea. So beautiful that we unanimously asked the guides to let us stay there another day rather than go to Shaab Suedi, to visit the wreck of the "Blue Bell", which sank in '77 with its whole cargo of Toyota vehicles. The Umbria had already more than satisfied our appetite for wrecks! We therefore had the chance to do an encore at every dive site described below, and I assure you the second time was never the same as the first...

SHA'AB RUMI SOUTH TIP – and here there's no photo that can sum it all up! Here too the wall drops for some twenty metres before continuing into a plateau that is one of the underwater wonders given the abundance of marine life. During the dive you also witness a continuous passage of pelagic fish: barracuda and reef sharks (whitetip and grey).

Even just staying still and watching, you'll see a whole world of flora and fauna around you; it's like being at the cinema! But this dive has stayed in our hearts especially for one reason: having descended to just 40 metres, we turn our gaze into the blue and suddenly, as if by magic, a school of hammerhead sharks materialises, about ten of them, and they rise towards us to look us over a bit and offer us an unequalled spectacle! It's truly a very intense emotion to stay still there and watch the hammerheads that almost seem to dance around you! I used up almost 100 bar in those few minutes!!! The second time we went back there, unfortunately the presence of the 'rhino parrotfish' (the ones with the big bump on their heads, that almost look like a prehistoric species) created an empty space around us; all the other fish took good care to stay away from them, including our video operator

.

SHA'AB RUMI - Remains of Precontinent II

Just outside the pass you find the remains of Precontinent II, chosen by Cousteau in 1963 as the site of his scientific project aimed at studying man's adaptation to long stays underwater. For this purpose, special dwellings were built at various depths, which housed the divers, keeping them at the same external pressure by means of a helium mixture. We entered the 'dome', which some even used as a diving board during the night dive, for an insane moon walk! Here we were honoured by the presence of moray eels, stingrays, a few groupers and a turtle which, in the eyes of our guide, "was sooooo old that it couldn't wait to die". During the night dive you can see, besides the same turtle from before sleeping, also many crabs along with the ever-present lionfish.

SHA'AB RUMI - North

Here too we were graced by the presence of a group of hammerheads, though not as large as the first, and we had the luck to observe the biggest and most world-weary tuna ever seen, so much so that it earned the nickname Rambo! given the strong current from the North, this is precisely where I recommend bringing gloves and a spare mask, as mentioned at the beginning, better safe than... sorry: better to treat the cuts on your hands with vinegar!... in short, we saw EVERYTHING we wanted to see and even more! we're missing the tiger shark and the manta, a great excuse to repeat the experience!

--- Curiosi di sapere altri dettagli ?

--- The Guides ---- Availability and professionalism were common to all three of our guides, who allowed us to dive in safe conditions and always with respect for the underwater environment. All three were definitely a fundamental ingredient in the success of this magical holiday, each in their own uniqueness: Alessio practically instilled in us a new philosophy thanks to his pearls of wisdom lived in Roman dialect; Cisco, clearly a rasta, gave us a mix of Sardinian friendliness and San Salvadorian warmth and a spectacle never seen before thanks to the jellyfish-effect of his free dreds underwater; and finally, Andrea (known to friends as Pozzi), an ever-present video operator, who immortalised the best moments of our dives and of life on board and at the same time was so attentive to each of us that he rushed to help at the first difficulty, and for this was nicknamed by the group 'sea a

ngel'. Obviously we all bought his DVD, a sweet companion in the moments of nostalgia that assail you on your return,... but also an effective way to arouse the envy of the diver friends who stayed at home (especially the hammerhead shark part). Want a taste?

---- But how would we have managed without the crew? --- Sama (nostalgic Egyptian facility manager), Sala (all-round sailor), Jango (The Captain), Mohamed (The cook, the unsurpassable), Mohamed and Kaled (the tireless zodiac drivers)... all great and super efficient! And here, as good Italians, a special mention goes to the cook who delighted us every day with fantastic delicacies that had nothing to envy Italian cuisine!!! and me who wanted to lose weight on the boat!!!

--- And what's life like on the boat? The days unfolded mainly like this, with time marked only by the sound of the bell! 6:30 wake up, briefing and dive 8:30/9 hearty breakfast (crepes, Nutella, jam, honey, cheeses, omelettes prepared on the spot,...) and then relax 11/11:30 briefing and second dive; usually this was the best of the day 13:30 lunch and then relax 15:30 briefing and third dive 17 afternoon snack with freshly baked cake.. and then for the insatiable ones there's also the possibility of a night dive depending on conditions and where we are, around 20:00, and then back again 'with legs under the table' for dinner...

Despite the apparent repetitiveness, every day was different from the previous one: because of the type of dives, the group chats, the chance to fish both from the boat and from the dinghy, the dolphins that sometimes came close to the boat or the dinghy and accompanied us for a stretch, and there was even a pizza night!!!... One day we even 'touched land', going to visit the Sanganeb Lighthouse, from which you enjoy a spectacular view over the reef. There were also a few minor technical hitches, but the competent staff was always able to handle everything promptly... even in the case of small wounds or muscle pains, the guides were always close by and supportive, with the first-aid kit within reach on the boat.

We even had a doctor in our group (but that's a stroke of luck that can't happen to everyone!) The weather was a bit changeable – there were a few days of wind and rough seas, but the sun always turned up punctually around midday, warming the days. In short, the unforeseen event that on a normal day at home can only create boredom and annoyance, here turned into an occasion for fun and helped to create a cheerful atmosphere and a strong team spirit!

--- Oddio no, dobbiamo proprio ? Il ritorno ---

On Friday evening we return by boat to Port Sudan, where a few chosen ones are greeted by a tiger shark emerging from the water in all its majesty... during dinner we're accompanied by the music of a little party at the port, with our spirits sad at having to leave this magical adventure and this group but at the same time full of joy for the experience just lived. On Saturday morning we seize the opportunity to take a walk in Port Sudan to visit the market... the atmosphere is that typical of an African city: dilapidated shops, warm colours, many smells blending together, curious gazes, scorching heat, Arabic-sounding music, animals hung up surrounded by unidentified insects...

taking a walk here is pleasant, you don't even feel you're in a country with such internal tensions, but, seized by the irrepressible desire to return to the boat, here we are back on board for the last lunch, the final goodbyes with the crew and the guides (sigh!). By shuttle we return to the airport, crossing a somewhat improbable road... and in the evening we're back in Cairo -> another entry, another visa (€12). After spending the night at the Novotel, the following Sunday the pitiless plane for Milan awaits us, where we arrive at 14:30 local time, and waiting for us is... below zero!

--- Diving cruise in Sudan in two words? --- Suffice it to say that before boarding the boat I was a bit sceptical out of fear of getting bored seeing nothing but sea... but on the last day I didn't want to get off anymore!!!