The ferry crossing back to Sharm-el-Sheikh is bouncy to say the least. Some passengers look decidedly green and bin bags are handed out by the crew. I sit back and enjoy the movie; Russel Crowe as a schizophrenic mathematician, much better than the way out which I instantly forgot.
The Journey takes just long enough for the video to finish. Following arguments with a couple of taxi drivers who try to rip me off, I find an honest driver with a well used Peugeot and am at Ocean College by lunch time.
Too late to dive that day, I settle in and catch up with old faces. It turns out that Mark Andrews and Chris Boardman are on the last day of a technical trip.
At the other stops on my road trip I had asked the dive centres to show me the best, show me something different, and show me what is special about the location. At Sharm-el-Sheikh I already know where to find all that; the Tiran reefs and Ras Mohamed.
My day at Tiran begins at Gordon reef with a drift along the shelf to the south-east side. We then tie up at Jackson for a second dive and lunch, to be followed by a third dive on the north of Jackson. I elect to miss the second dive, it just seems a bit crowded with so many boats moored up. Maybe I should have done it because those that did came back raving about it, then the boat's engine breaks down and further diving is curtailed while other boats are co-opted to tow us home.
Earlier in the trip I would have felt frustrated. Here I just chill out and enjoy the scenery. Such mishaps can't be helped and next day the divers are given an extra dive to make up.
That evening I am in the Camel bar. Roxy the dog is still laying across the door as a big hairy doormat and Chris is smiling and greeting customers. It feels like I have come home. My old friend John Kean teases me about being a Jonah. Last time I had been at Tiran was when a snorkeller on a nearby boat had died of a heart attack, followed by the incident now referred to as "lost wife, saw barracuda".
At Ras Mohamed, dive guide Justine gives a detailed briefing taking the dive from anemone reef round shark reef to the wreck of the Jolanda. I skirt the edge of the group into a gully behind shark reef, looking for a favourite horizontal wall of gorgonians across the gully, but am diverted by a shoal of jacks spiralling further up. I am in photographer heaven.
Working my way round I pass all the usual scenery. Sheer vertical walls of soft corals, Slopes crossed by picket fences of gorgonians, dazzling coral heads with antheas zipping in and out, and for a grand finale - a huge pile of toilets. It's a dive I have done many times before. A dive that always stands out from the crowd, but for some reason this time it really clicks.
When I had spoken that morning with Tim, manager at Ocean College, he had joked that if a broken engine was the only thing that went wrong that week he would be happy. At Ras Mohammed a diver slips on the dive ladder and gouges his leg. Maybe I should get a complex about the Jonah joke. Justine radios base and 20 minutes later the rescue RIB arrives to take him off for stitches. Just one of the facilities funded by the $1 per day donation all the big dive centres ask for towards chamber and emergency services.
Diving continues at Jackfish Alley and Ras Goslane. Both good quality dives with lots of fish, but somehow not in the same league as Ras Mohamed.
Its decompression day and my flight home is just before midnight. At each stop on the trip people have been asking me where was best? For me it is not that simple. Everywhere I visited had top quality reefs, walls and diving. Every dive centre was well equipped and organised. It wasn't one of my prerequisites when planning the trip, but I am pleased that every dive centre had a solid environmental policy.
It really depends on personal choice. Do you want wrecks, caves, coral walls or big critters? Do you want shore diving, RIB trips or day boats? Do you want a close to nature camp or a hotel? Do you want a bustling town, a self contained resort, or somewhere completely out of the way? I experienced the full range, and they all had excellent diving.
The departure hall is just as crowded and confusing as arrivals. At least the Explorers rep on the transfer coach gave a no-nonsense and accurate briefing on how to get through it all.