Dahab, Egypt
Tuesday my windsurfing lesson was scheduled for later in the day so I decided to take advantage of the extra time in the morning to visit another modest dive/snorkeling site a 15 minute walk down the coast from the Iberhotel. According to information I found on the internet, the site is called Lion Fish Rock. I took my wet suit along and tried it for the first time in Dahab. The site was upon first impression not spectacular but if one is a careful observer, one can discover new things to see in unlikely places. In this case I discovered conger eels for the first time as well as prawn goby fish and the Emperor Angel fish. :
1) Mustache conger (Conger cinereus) I came across this eel species two time. The first swam back into a hole to hide as I approached and then he stuck his head out and looked at me. The second was just poking its head out of its hiding place.
2) Klunzinger's Wrasse (Thalassoma klunzinger)
3) Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator)
4) Yellowtail Surgeonfish (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
5) Picasso Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi)
6) Prawn Goby - I saw it sharing its hole with a shrimp
7) Sarcophyton Soft Coral (Sarcophyton trocheliophorum)
8) Mushroom Coral (Fungia sp.)
9) Domino (Dascyllus trimaculatus)
10) Pearl Toby (Canthigaster margaritata)
11) Worm-shell (Dendropoma maxima)
12) Comb jelly (Leucathea sp.?)
13) Blacktip grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus)
(Islands Dive Site)
When I returned to take my lesson it was clear that there wasn't enough wind for it. So I continued my fish watching at another dive site called "Islands" about 40 minutes walking east of the hotel. You can also catch a taxi for about 5 LE. There are certainly plenty of taxis about but they don't all agree on the same price for a ride. The hotel staff had tipped me off that the ride from Dahab bay into Dahab city should cost no more than 5 LE. It took me a few tries though to find a taxi that would take me at this price. This site was the most spectacular of the ones I had visited until then. The reef wall extended quite far down into the water.
New animal life I observed there.
1) Blackspotted Grunt (Plectorhynchus gaterinus)
2) Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)
3) Checkerboard Wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus)
4) Parrotfish (Scarus sp.)
5) Sohal (Acanthurus sohal)
6) Unicornfish (Naso sp.)
7) Sulphur Damselfish (Pomacentrus sulfureus)
8) Whitebelly Damselfish (Amblyglyphidodon leucogaster)
9) Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis sp.) - he was well blended into his environment and not very large)
10) Clearfin Lionfish (Pterois radiata)
11) Slate Pencil Urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus)
12) Parson's Hat Urchin (Tripneustes gratilla)
13) Sticky Snake Sea Cucumber (Opheodesma grisea / Euapta godeffroyi)
14) Barracude (Sphyraena sp.)
15) Goldstriped Soapfish (Grammistes sexlineatus)
16) Doublebar bream (Acanthopagrus bifasciatus)
17) Red Sea Bird Wrasse (Gomphosus caeruleus)
18) Chevron Butterflyfish (Megaprotodon trifascialis)
19) Chestnut blenny - the color looked to be black (Cirripectes castaneus)
The wetsuite helped me stay out longer but even with it, I got chilly after a while, and my fingers got all tingly in the gloves. When I had had enough, I collected my things and walked back to the hotel as there was no taxi available to take me back.
As the sun sets early, its necessary to find something to do in the evening when it's too dark to be about. The Iberhotel offers a shuttle to the area called Assilah where there are many shops and restaurants. Here you can also find internet cafes which charge reasonable rates. Checking e-mail and blogging and such are good activities to do while waiting for the hotel restaurant to open for dinner.
I'm personally not one to partake in the activities organized by the hotel after dinner, so, as I'm usually pretty exhausted by the days activities I spend my remaining time quietly and go to bed pretty early.
A note for the future, I brought along the Economist magazine and a novel that I was already pretty far into but it would have been better to have even more reading material. There was only one English speaking channel on the television and that was BBC news. There are no international newspapers available at the hotel.
Tuesday my windsurfing lesson was scheduled for later in the day so I decided to take advantage of the extra time in the morning to visit another modest dive/snorkeling site a 15 minute walk down the coast from the Iberhotel. According to information I found on the internet, the site is called Lion Fish Rock. I took my wet suit along and tried it for the first time in Dahab. The site was upon first impression not spectacular but if one is a careful observer, one can discover new things to see in unlikely places. In this case I discovered conger eels for the first time as well as prawn goby fish and the Emperor Angel fish. :
1) Mustache conger (Conger cinereus) I came across this eel species two time. The first swam back into a hole to hide as I approached and then he stuck his head out and looked at me. The second was just poking its head out of its hiding place.
2) Klunzinger's Wrasse (Thalassoma klunzinger)
3) Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator)
4) Yellowtail Surgeonfish (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
5) Picasso Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi)
6) Prawn Goby - I saw it sharing its hole with a shrimp
7) Sarcophyton Soft Coral (Sarcophyton trocheliophorum)
8) Mushroom Coral (Fungia sp.)
9) Domino (Dascyllus trimaculatus)
10) Pearl Toby (Canthigaster margaritata)
11) Worm-shell (Dendropoma maxima)
12) Comb jelly (Leucathea sp.?)
13) Blacktip grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus)
(Islands Dive Site)
When I returned to take my lesson it was clear that there wasn't enough wind for it. So I continued my fish watching at another dive site called "Islands" about 40 minutes walking east of the hotel. You can also catch a taxi for about 5 LE. There are certainly plenty of taxis about but they don't all agree on the same price for a ride. The hotel staff had tipped me off that the ride from Dahab bay into Dahab city should cost no more than 5 LE. It took me a few tries though to find a taxi that would take me at this price. This site was the most spectacular of the ones I had visited until then. The reef wall extended quite far down into the water.
New animal life I observed there.
1) Blackspotted Grunt (Plectorhynchus gaterinus)
2) Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)
3) Checkerboard Wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus)
4) Parrotfish (Scarus sp.)
5) Sohal (Acanthurus sohal)
6) Unicornfish (Naso sp.)
7) Sulphur Damselfish (Pomacentrus sulfureus)
8) Whitebelly Damselfish (Amblyglyphidodon leucogaster)
9) Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis sp.) - he was well blended into his environment and not very large)
10) Clearfin Lionfish (Pterois radiata)
11) Slate Pencil Urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus)
12) Parson's Hat Urchin (Tripneustes gratilla)
13) Sticky Snake Sea Cucumber (Opheodesma grisea / Euapta godeffroyi)
14) Barracude (Sphyraena sp.)
15) Goldstriped Soapfish (Grammistes sexlineatus)
16) Doublebar bream (Acanthopagrus bifasciatus)
17) Red Sea Bird Wrasse (Gomphosus caeruleus)
18) Chevron Butterflyfish (Megaprotodon trifascialis)
19) Chestnut blenny - the color looked to be black (Cirripectes castaneus)
The wetsuite helped me stay out longer but even with it, I got chilly after a while, and my fingers got all tingly in the gloves. When I had had enough, I collected my things and walked back to the hotel as there was no taxi available to take me back.
As the sun sets early, its necessary to find something to do in the evening when it's too dark to be about. The Iberhotel offers a shuttle to the area called Assilah where there are many shops and restaurants. Here you can also find internet cafes which charge reasonable rates. Checking e-mail and blogging and such are good activities to do while waiting for the hotel restaurant to open for dinner.
I'm personally not one to partake in the activities organized by the hotel after dinner, so, as I'm usually pretty exhausted by the days activities I spend my remaining time quietly and go to bed pretty early.
A note for the future, I brought along the Economist magazine and a novel that I was already pretty far into but it would have been better to have even more reading material. There was only one English speaking channel on the television and that was BBC news. There are no international newspapers available at the hotel.
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