It can be stressful organising and running a large trip, especially when going abroad. Trying to meet all personal needs can be difficult at the best of times. Fortunately, everyone arrived at the airport on time and check-in, even without a boarding pass wasn’t too taxing. So on to the always stressful experience of the security screening prior to the obligatory stroll through Duty Free and on to the bar for breakfast or lunch and maybe a beer whilst awaiting the flight out. Don’t forget to book your preferred seat on the plane should you wish to shell-out more cash!

Settle down for the reasonably short, 5-hour flight and then step off the plane out into the gorgeous welcoming 30-degree Egyptian sunshine. A short transfer to Camel Dive Hotel in Naama Bay for a quick bite to eat and a beer before bedtime, ready for a busy first day.

After the pre-paid dives, a third dive option is offered at one of the local dive sites on the way back and then the obligatory de-brief to discuss the wonders of the days diving and a chance to unwind and have a laugh.  It’s always a joy to see the faces of the newer divers beaming with awe recounting the amazing underwater sites they had just encountered first hand rather than viewed digitally on a screen.  It is always a pleasure to introduce divers to the Camel set-up in Naama Bay.

Evenings were spent dining in the local restaurants in the warm evening air and blowing the froth off a few more beverages, some indulging more than others, but no sore heads and no dives were missed the following day.

The diving and dive sites were amazing with abundant fish life and corals of every variety and colour.  Reef dives, wall dives with unlimited drop-offs, swim throughs, wreck dives and more.  Maher, one of the guides always full of stories on his dive briefings said about Jackson reef – “it’s like fish soup” and it sure was, schooling Bannerfish, Tuna, Jacks, giant Sea Fans and much, much more.

Over the week the group visited some 20 dives sites and 200 dives were carried out by 14 divers.  We managed 11,637 minutes underwater totalling 196 hours.  Most were boat dives but we also managed a shore dive and a mid-week night dive on the local house reef.

One piece of kit was lost, much to the dismay of one of our divers and subsequently found and thankfully returned.  No illness this time (which was a huge relief!) other than a dehydration event on the last day, good job we had an in-house nurse on hand who managed the situation brilliantly.

We were tasked with a secret mission of checking out the facilities of other boats in the area  – or it may have been one of our divers climbing the wrong boat ladder!!

The banter between us all was fantastic with no fall-outs, which is always a bonus.  The boat and crew were brilliant and the food on-board was amazing.  The Camel dive guides (Fahad & Maher) were accommodating and fun.  The water was warm and clear and the diving was awesome.  Will we be back to Camel?  I’m certain we will.

Thank you everyone for making it a memorable, fun trip.