SAND KICKERS

For a short while at one of our local sites you could find a juvenile crested velvet fish in no more than 5m of water. Unfortunately for the fish it had chosen a spot that is very popular with instructors conducting the confined sessions of diving courses, and the main entry point for the dive site. Consequently the fish was often covered in a sandstorm from people who had yet to master basic buoyancy or were applying the wrong fin kick for the conditions, so, seemingly, decided to move to a less busy area.

 WHY FLUTTER LIKE A BUTTERFLY ...
 Most newly qualified divers are taught the Flutter Kick when they start diving. It’s easy to understand why; the Flutter Kick is just like free style or forward crawl in swimming but without the arm movements (although some divers take a while to understand this), and the most common style in swimming. It’s easy for us landlubbers to transpose the skill from swimming to diving. And that is all well and good. However, there are two inherent disadvantages to the Flutter Kick: i) With the flutter kick you don’t just propel water behind you, but above and below as well. This is a waste of your energy & air, contributes nothing to forward motion and the downward displacement of water can cause damage to flora and fauna as well as stir up silt and severely reduced visibility. ii) The other inherent problem with the Flutter Kick is it dramatically increases your profile in the water, making it harder for a diver to move through the water than it should ideally be, as well as causing the diver to rock from side-to-side. ... 
WHEN YOU CAN KICK LIKE A FROG?
A better style of fin kick is the Frog Kick. The Frog Kick is, again, based on a similar technique in swimming, the breaststroke (but again without the arm movements). It is not complicated, it just requires a little time and practice. The Frog Kick has several benefits: i) It’s a more efficient form of propulsion as the majority of the water is propelled behind the diver - not above and below. ii) It’s a more balanced form of kicking as it does not rock the diver from side to side, and is therefore more comfortable. iii) When performed correctly, the Frog Kick places less stress on a diver’s legs and joints. iv) As the water is not propelled down, you are less likely to stir up the bottom, which is great for all dives but essential for sites that have silty floors such as caverns and wrecks, and that is really good for all those underwater critters that like a calm place to call home.

BUOYANCY

If you’re a diver, you’ll know about positive, negative and, the Holy Grail of Diving, neutral buoyancy. “The power to float or rise in a fluid; relative lightness”, is dictionary.com’s primary description of the word buoyancy. For the non-divers, a object that floats on the surface of a body of water (such as a beach ball) is considered to have a positive buoyancy, whereas an object that sinks in water is considered to have negative buoyancy, and an object that neither floats nor sinks, you guessed it, has neutral buoyancy. While all three states of buoyancy are of interest to divers (as well as anyone on a sinking ship), positive and, in particular, neutral buoyancy are the two more pertinent states for divers.

LATE AFTERNOON DIVES

One of the obvious advantages for a diver living in Sharm is the chance to go diving in the Red Sea almost anytime you want. If I want to go diving tomorrow, it’s just a case of making one or two phone calls. The same if I suddenly decide to make a night dive today, I just need to call one or two people and off we’ll go. This was the fundamental reason why I moved to Sharm in 2004; rather than have Stoney Cove or Dosthill Quarry as my local sites (I lived in the Midlands at the time), how about Shark & Yolanda, or Umm Sid or the SS Thistlegorm instead? (Afterall, my local site in the UK, Stoney Cove was 40 miles away from my home, yet the famous Red Sea wreck is not even 40 kilometers from my apartment in Sharm). One of the obvious disadvantages about diving around Sharm is the number of divers here; which is only to be expected, it is a major diving destination afterall. I’ve made night dives where there was so many people in the water that you could switch your torch off for the whole dive (but I’ve also had night dives where there was just me and my guests). The Thistlegorm on a busy day can resemble an aquarium air pump decoration with all it’s bubbles, the top deck a spider’s web of mooring lines, and the holds full divers all seemingly going in the opposite direction to you (but I’ve also had days at the Thistlegorm where we’ve had the wreck to ourselves). Some of the most popular sites, like Jackson reef for example, can be often completely obscured by divers (but sometimes you are lucky and find you have a reef to yourselves). Now some people like to be in a crowd when they are diving, and none of the previous examples would be an issue for them but for me, I love a quiet dive it’s calm, peaceful and I believe, without all the noise generated by dive boats, speed boats, zodiacs (RIBs), swimmers, snorkelers, tank bangers, shakers and quackers, you are more likely to encounter the shy and elusive underwater creatures that generally move away from the site while it is noisy. So what’s a diver to do? How do you avoid all these divers? How do you make a quiet dive in the middle of a popular tourist and diving destination such as Sharm el Sheikh? One easy solution is to make a late afternoon shore dive. For me there is a magical feel to a dive in the late afternoon. Firstly there is the rich, deep blue ambient light you get only when the sun is low in the sky; it gives the appearance of being in deep water without being deep. Then there is the peace and quiet. Usually, by late afternoon, most dive centers have finished their daily activities. They may be on-site, but the guides and their guests have finished diving for the day and by now are either writing up their logbooks, or packing away their equipment. The vast majority of the dive boats have finished for the day and are sailing in to Travco marina, if they’re not already there. The water is quiet now, it will stay that way till dawn. The reef is very alive at this time of the day too. The diurnal reef life, those that are active in the day, are getting close to bedtime and as such, you’ll find them all either already bedded down on the reef or looking for a spot to spend the night. There’s a lot of hunting at this time of the day; the reef is busy, a busy reef attracts predation. Some fish, like rays and sharks, are crepuscular in nature, which means they are most active during dusk and dawn (and, as far as sharks areconcerned, the reason why snorkelers & swimmers are told to avoid being in the water at these times of the day), so there’s the possibility of a large marine encounter. Another advantage of a late afternoon dive is the chance of a lay in and a late breakfast. For people, especially guests, who enjoy Sharm’s night life, the idea of waking up at 07:00 is not exactly the ideal option but, because a week is only a week long, then have to if they wish to go diving. A late afternoon dive allows you to recover from whatever ails you from the night before, whether it’s too many Sakaras, too little sleep or both. You can also plan a late afternoon dive so that, during the course of the dive, it becomes a night dive and gives you the chance to see nocturnal marine life as well - assuming you plan well enough to have torches with you - or you could simply plan a late afternoon dive followed by a night dive.

VIVA LE LOCAL!

If you ask anyone who has dived around Sharm el-Sheikh which is their favourite area for diving, the answer is usually the Strait of Tiran, or the Ras Mohammed National Park, or the Strait of Jubal (with the wrecks of the SS Thistlegorm and the SS Dunraven). When we have walk-in guests to our center it is always “We want to go to Ras Mohammed”, even though the guests often have no idea about the diving in Ras Mohammed.

Nobody ever says “we want to go local”, and we find that a little strange.

No one would compare in the same light Temple and Shark reef, but what about Ras Umm Sid (Local) compared with Ras Burg (Ras Mohammed), or Ras Nasrani (Local) with Ras Za’atar (Ras Mohammed) or the corner of Ras Katy (Local) with Ras Ghozlani?

BOAT BRIEFINGS

One of the first things that usually happens when you start your diving holiday is your guide gives you a boat briefing. Yeah, yeah, we know, you’ve heard it all before the last time you were here but for those who haven’t had the pleasure yet and for those who have had so many many boat briefings that they literally sleep through the latest version, we thought we’d go through a standard boat briefing.   i) Your boat’s name. Thankfully people are rarely left in the water at the end of their dives or snorkeling experience but it can, and sometimes does, happen. When another friendly boat comes over and plucks you from the water, you need to be able to tell them the name of your boat so they can then radio her and arrange for you to be transferred back to her. Telling them “it was a white boat with divers on” just won’t work. Your boat has a name, and you should know what it is.   ii) Wet & Dry Areas. Usually the saloon and sun-deck are off limits to wet objects, including people. You should always remove your suit and towel yourself off before going in either areas. You should also refrain from standing on the stairs to the sun-deck when wet (even if you’re asking someone to throw you your towel); water makes the steps slippery and slippery steps are a risk to everyones well being. While mentioning the stairs to the sun-deck, it is advisable that you face the stairs going up AND down. If your facing away from the stairs and slip you will land on your back   iii) WCs. All the boats around Sharm have one or two WCs, or “marine toilets”. By this we mean they empty directly in to the ocean. Any paperwork you produce should be placed in the bins placed next to the toilets, and not the toilets themselves. Nobody wants to be swimming in used toilet paper or old sanitary towels, and the reefs certainly look better without such things littering them. Another reason, boat plumbing is small and easily blocked (and it could be the ship’s chef who is tasked with unblocking the toilet). Only organic matter that has passed through your body should go in the porcelain bowel. If you feel the need to spew, please do this over the side of the boat as chunky carrot blocks pipes as easily as paper.   iv) The dive deck. Space is at a premium on a dive boat. You should keep your dive crate under the deck benches as often as possible. Don’t litter the deck with all your equipment, it can easily cause someone to trip over, and is a great way to have your equipment broken. Between dives, you should keep your weights and mask in your box.   v) Below decks. The boat crews live on the boats, and the cabins are usually where they sleep at night. They are not for guests, or guides, to grab 40 winks during surface intervals. You probably wouldn’t be happy finding strangers in your bedrooms (Mmm ...) and neither are the crews.   vi) The Galley. The galley is nautical parlance for “kitchen” and, unless you are told otherwise, is off-limits.   vii) First Aid & Oxygen. All boats are required to carry a First Aid kit and oxygen however, for some reason, this seems to be the responsibility of the dive centers. Your guide should tell you where the First Aid kit is stowed as well as the oxygen unit. In the first aid kit you’ll find an emergency assistance plan that you should follow in the event of an emergency. Most dive guides do not demonstrate how to use an oxygen unit but if you ask, they will be more than happy to show you after the briefing.   viii) Dive Log and Enriched Air Log sheets. All guests are required to log their dives with the center on a day-by-day basis. Each center has their own variation on what details are required, but the basics usually include max depth, dive time, air in and air out. Your guide will show you where these log sheets are, and hope that they don’t have to chase everybody at the end of the day to get their details.   ix) Cylinders. Cylinders usually have either tape or plastic plugs over or in their valves. This tells everyone that the cylinder is full. Once you finish your dive, even if you have 100 bar left in your cylinder, you should not replace the tape or stopper else the staff who fill the cylinders at night will believe they are full and you’ll have half empty cylinders on the boat the next day.   x) Finally, Rubbish. The only thing you should throw in the water is yourselves (or the guide, or crew members, or your friends). Please do not throw any waste in the water, nor cigarette butts, or your lunch (unless you’re hurling). The boats have waste bins for waste, ash trays for cigarette butts, and the fish have their own food sources.

MANTA MAN RESCUES DOLPHIN

Nearly everyone has heard stories about dolphins protecting shipwreck victims from sharks, or helping a tired swimmer to shore. So it is heart warming to see a video where a dolphin is helped by diver. And not any diver but Manta Man aka Keller Laros. Keller Laros is a Professional Scuba Instructor, and has logged 9000+ dives in the waters of Hawaii since 1985. As his name suggests, Keller is rather keen on manta rays and has been conducting night dives (“Kona Manta Ray Night Dive”), several times a week, for almost 20 years. It is because of a dolphin however, and not mantas, that Keller recently caught the attention of the worldwide media after he posted a video of a recent night dive. During the dive a bottlenose dolphin appears and Laros notices that the dolphins left pectoral is caught in a fishing line. Keller, who is co-founder and President of the Manta Pacific Research Foundation, gestures to the dolphin to come closer and, amazingly, the dolphin seemingly obliges and then stays with Keller while he removes a fishing hook and frees the pectoral by cutting away the fishing line. The Manta Pacific Research Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to research, education, and conservation concerning manta rays and the marine environment. You can learn more about Manta Man here www.mantaman.com/Mantaman.com/MANTA_MAN.html and watch the amazing video here      

iPhone Applications for Divers

We’ve compiled 9 iPhone & iPad applications for you to wile away the winter months. So, wether you’re sat at home, in the office, or sat on a train that’s been delayed because its horn is full of snow (really!), you can still plan your next dive trip thanks to DIVE Magazine, log your paper dives with Diving Dude or the London Diving Chamber (as well as simulate lots of interesting diving related injuries and their best treatment ... should you want to), learn interesting facts about some of the Ocean’s greatest sharks with Learn Sharks Now! and Ultimate Sharks, or, for those of you in the UK, learn that your weekend trip has been cancelled due to bad weather before your group’s organizer with Wind Guru. iNitrox is a very easy to use enriched air calculator. You select a blend of oxygen (21% - 40%), depth (0-40m), and iNitrox provides you with: - Equivalent Air Depth - Maximum Depth (1.4 ata) - Contingency Depth (1.6 ata) - Oxygen Partial Pressure DIVE Magazine - Developer - Implere Ltd Get the latest issue of DIVE magazine for free each and every month. That’s right, FREE! This app allows you to read the latest edition of the popular scuba magazine. If you wish to read a previous month’s edition, they can be purchased individually or with a ?10 subscription.   Diving Dude Developer - Pierre-Yves Guillemant Diving Dude is a social logbook for scuba divers. The app allows you to log your dives, add and search dive sites, add and search dive shops or browse your buddy’s dive trips.     Baltic Lite Developer - Eskil Olsen Another free app, Baltic Lite is a planning tool for decompression dives. The Lite edition features recreational depth levels and Nitrox-only diving.     London Diving Chamber Developer - London Diving Chamber Ltd London Diving Chamber has launched a key resource for scuba divers on the iPhone with:

• Dive Incident Planner - easy-to-follow instructions and advice on what to do in a scuba diving emergency or incident.
• Pre-Dive Check List - Are you fit to dive? Go through the head to toe list and check you are both physically and mentally ready for your dive.
• Worldwide Chamber Locator - right there on your iPhone.
• A-Z of Dive Medicine - and if you can't find the answer to your question, you can send LDC an email via your iPhone.
• My Dive Log Book - log your dives on your iPhone.
• Easy.

Learn Sharks Now! Developer - Live Doodles, LLC Another free application, this one for young children. Learn Sharks Now! Allows you to know what over 30 different sharks look like, with some interesting information, and then tests your knowledge with a fun quiz.   Ultimate Sharks Developer - Discovery Communications Definitely not one for young children, this great application with 10 3D interactive sharks, exclusive HD videos, and high-resolution photos from Discovery allows you to swim among some of the ocean’s most fearsome sharks.       Wind Guru Developer - Perceiveit Limited For all you Salty Dogs and Surf Dudes, probably the best weather site is now available from your iPhone for free. Wind, wave and weather data can be accessed for almost 3000 spots around the world, from wherever you are in the world.     Marine Tides Planner Developer - Tucabo Limited An essential tool for anyone involved with sport or leisure at the seaside. No connection is required to access over 5,000 locations. The initial free download is limited to tides for one day. To get future predications the user must use the extensions within the app which involves a small charge.