Jan 23 - NextGen Diaries (the 25 experience dives in Dahab)
Part 1 – ending 2022 in the same way I started
After my first winter Christmas back home with family in 3 years (but only for a grand total of 6 days) - it was soon time to manically pack, buy all the last minute items that one always forgets, and pray that my plane would not be affected by the UK airport strikes. Then we were off, and soon I was on the banks of the Red Sea, staring at the sky as 2023 rolled around. Crazy to think that last New Year in 2022, I was in the same place - alone on the Red Sea, but on the Saudi Arabian side. At that time, I never thought that A) I would have left Saudi, and B) I would be back to the Red Sea so soon! The universe is strange but amazing! Nevertheless, I was here to spend ~3 weeks with Sameh Sokar, and the team at Scuba Seekers, here in Dahab, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. I had always wanted to come to the Gulf of Aqaba to dive - and by pure serendipity, Sameh himself came and found me at the GUE conference to offer his assistance! Long story short - and a few zoom calls / emails later, I am ever so grateful to Sameh and Kim for allowing me to stay, learn, and get back into to diving after months on expedition vessels. Check out Scuba Seekers here for more info!
It was also the first time I took my Halcyon steel BPW and regs with me. As someone who has never packed all my dive gear before for travel - I was super worried about damaging them, so I put them in a hard suitcase as well as an expedition backpack. I am actually away for a good few months (so any advice on packing would be amazing - as I could leave the suitcase behind and bring the gear in a duffel bag if I end up getting more items).
Of course, in typical me fashion, I arrived in Dahab still recovering from my standard winter illness of fever, chest infection and cough / blocked sinuses that I had somehow picked up from the twin the day before I went to the airport. However, after consuming copious amounts of Fankosh (a Egyptian hot tea consisting of orange juice, mint, lemon, lime, honey, ginger and cinnamon), and a good few days of staring at the Red Sea glistening amongst the mountains of Dahab / Saudi Arabia, it was time to (eventually) get stuck in. Being conservative with ears = diving longevity!
PSA - I always offset my carbon footprint on flights / transport as I am aware of the amount that I am travelling, and the air miles that I am doing.
Part 2 – the 25+ between-dive dives
My goals for Dahab - being my first stopover en route to other countries - was simply and foremost to dive again. Part of GUE’s requirement between courses is a 25-experience dive pre-requisite, in order to progress vertically up the certification levels, or to move from Rec 1 / Fundies to other level 1 / foundational courses such as Scientific, Documentation, and Photogrammetry Diver. I love this concept - as I am a huge advocate of taking your time between courses, not rushing them, going at your own pace - and building up your confidence via experience and time. If I don’t think I am ready, I will literally step away and postpone a course. Long story short - I first did my Rec Fundies during covid, and then hopped to Saudi to work on OceanX, where I dove on a jacket BCD, not BPW. So, I was still yet to log 25 post-fundy GUE dives, and this needed to be fixed!
The lack of currents and easy shore entries in Dahab made this a perfect playground for these dives. Of course, even aside from a blown SPG on my my checkout dive (in which I was the “calmest person ever in an out-of-air crisis”), my Halycon system felt personalised to my body again, even after months of not using the setup. I loved being able to tinker with my backplate after some dives - adjusting the D rings and the webbing as they stretched again in the ocean, and allowing for my different body composition and exposure suit. Watching myself back on film, and establishing a consistent / timed breathing pattern; I was trying to perfect my ocean astronaut game - to hang utterly motionless in the water. Of course, at 22/23 degrees, I was still diving in a wetsuit here (my comfort zone), but I’m taking it slow and steady. And - I will say it as there is nothing like hyping oneself up QUEENS :) - it is THE BEST FEELING when your buddy comes out and says “hang on - what level are you? As you are GOOD!”
Part 3 - the balanced rig
I absolutely LOVE working on my buoyancy and trim. Personally, it is the most underrated, undervalued and (maybe the hardest) one to learn. After a while, it almost gets stigmatised, and it seems uncommon for a professional to admit that they want to work on it. GUE’s focus on this is another reason why I like their agency (having been someone who was initially taught how to mask-clear kneeling on the bottom of a pool). I dive for the feeling - the weightlessness, and the meditation aspect (a dive for me is good if I feel like my trim, buoyancy and rig are all in tune, and is not necessarily determined by the number of fish or corals we see!). This is why I am investing time making sure my equipment is properly fitted, my weighting is ok with gear adjustments (even when I put on a hood, or change my fins from jetfins to RK3), propulsion techniques, and breathing.
Buoyancy - being neutral in the vertical plane. Buoyancy can be affected by a change to the diver’s total weight (and therefore the gas they consume) or a change in the amount of water that a diver displaces (due to the expansion and compression of a BCD). Once neutral, divers primarily use breathing control to make finer adjustments to their position in the vertical plane, and stay at a desired target depth by adjusting breathing patterns (more deeply or shallow).
Trim - a diver’s “attitude” in the horizontal plane of the water, the degree to which they are horizontal or vertical. Good trim will allow one to maintain situational awareness, avoid damaging the environment, provide efficient propulsion, and maintain buoyancy. We dive most often in the Delta position - arms stretched out, the body flat from chest to knees, knees bent up and bent, feet high and with flattened fins, head back with an altogether arched back.
Balanced rig - a complete scuba system in which both weighting and lift (negative and positive buoyancy) are balanced so the diver can reach the surface in the case of a wing failure (weighted upwards swim) and hold a shallow decompression / safety stop with almost empty cylinders (50 bar). One needs to consider the tank materials, neoprene wetsuits v drysuits, and wing lift capacity in order to ascertain the correct (and safe) amount of lead on weight belts.
Experience dives are perfect for getting confidence back and settling in - so one feels ready to take the next step. And we did it in style! Days were spent in the bay under the bridge, meandering through the giant corals of “The Islands” dive site, or trying to spot seahorses in the seagrass in “Lighthouse”. One day we ventured to “The Blue Hole” via the Bell’s Chimney reef table - gazing out into the sun-dappled blue as we descended. We were one of the few dive groups that DID NOT hit our tanks in the very narrow crack (as the name implies); such were the delicate movements and positions of our fins. And a memorable moment was gazing at the entrance point of “The Canyon” dive site, through the multitude of bubble streams that seeps out of its formations. As my time here ended, the GUE style of diving was becoming more second nature, and I felt ready to get (maybe) into double tanks, drysuits and more complex skills again in the near future. This was solidified when I partook in a Fish Surveying Program (REEF Check surveys), and clean up dives (Divers against Debris) with marine biologist Christina at Scuba Seekers. The increased task loading of underwater fish ID, learning survey techniques and communicating as a team was a good first step into laying the foundation for a Sci Diver course! It was also helpful in reminding me about all the fish families that I had forgotten from past research work, although I cannot seem to get any of the wrasse / parrotfish species’ names in my head (sorry Christina :D). This made for for amusing underwater dives, especially when I ended up having a handy, ready-to-show page on my wet-notes, which simply read “that was my second ID guess” (which was used a lot).
Part 4 – THANK YOU
Honestly, I did not expect the strength of the connections / friendships I formed in these short few weeks. When I wasn’t diving, I was out hiking in the desert with my new-found friends, dining out on all the food / teas, and going on morning swims with a steadily increasing group of people (shout-out to Khamis, Amar and the rest), albeit our swim : second breakfast ratio seemed to be steadily going in the latter direction… Thank you to Haley for the hikes, Khamis for the fried ice cream and morning swims :), Christina for the fish surveys; Alex for the photography dives and nerding out with me over macro settings (see below for pics!!!); Mina and Khamis for being my dive buddies, Amar for introducing me to amazing pastries, and the morning moped rides!! Also Mahmoud, Alfred, Amr, Shady, Italy… the list goes on. Thank you for being my family out here. :D
I also met so many people that came through the dive centre during my stay. It was fascinating to hear about their stories - how diving in Dahab / Scuba Seekers changed their lives, how they ended up staying, how their dive career evolved, or why they came back. Shout out to Ollie and Ellis from BBC / NHU, Jake and Cowyn (@2guysvstheworld), and Luisa Weinert - an upcoming marine biologist / photographer who connected with me over on instagram. Funny how all stories start with “so I was only meant to stay for 2 weeks…”. Oh and this pertains to me too - so many staff members said that I should come back; that a potential return is on the cards for me (Tech Fundies in summer 2023 maybe??”). Watch this space!
Scuba Seekers itself is an amazing place to hang out, a courtyard away from the hustle of the main street. The team here, are not only regarded as some of the finest and rigorous instructors in Dahab, but they are also the friendliest bunch ever!! After all, Scuba Seekers promotes exemplary dive education, be it rec or technical, so that all divers are able (and willing) to dive with anyone. I just want to address this as I received a few comments about it on my instagram - ALL DIVERS ARE WELCOME HERE. If you are PADI, TDI or GUE. If are GUE and you dive in wetsuit / single tank, or a drysuit and a CCR. There are just a few massive benches around the centre - so the tech guys putting together their sidemount systems are rubbing shoulders with the new guys picking out fins, or a very small-statured GUE scholar learning how to rethread their webbing in their too-big harness :) All of which cultivates an atmosphere of inclusivity, open-mindedness, and an inquisitive-ness to learn more without judgment.
And even when I wasn’t diving, I was able to learn about gas blending, and participate in the GUE Tech Fundies swimming exercises with Sameh - with chocolate bars by the sea for afters. Dahab was the perfect place to dive and to feel like a “proper GUE diver”, no matter my set-up! Indeed, a special shout out to Sameh for hosting me at the centre for these amazing first weeks of diving, and for also buying half the town electricity (accidentally) in order to restore power to my flat. I am currently reminiscing writing this; trying to keep awake on an overnight airport layover. Check out the centre (Scuba Seekers) and also Sameh here, for excellent GUE recreational or technical courses. As for me, to the next destination…
Photo credits throughout the blog: Mohamed Leheta, Amar Ali, Karim Nagui, Christina Ewerhardy, Mahmoud Esmat, Mohamed Khamis, Haley Holeman - contact for specific photos