TRAVELSPECIAL
A wonderful routine
Divers rise early for a 6:30am breakfast with a 7am depart and spend the morning at sea for two dives around 30 minutes from the resort . This can be bouncy on a windy day ( Wadi Lahami also offers kite surfing when the winds pick up ) but the ride is without exception worthwhile . As the boat approaches the turquoise blue reef tops of the dive site , the captain drops the speed and the excitement and anticipation of what lies beneath builds . Sites with heady names , Angel ; Stairway to Heaven ; Blumen ( Flower ) offer unrivalled hard coral gardens and enormous rock arches covered with soft corals . Sitting atop the enormous reef structures are soft and hard coral heads hosting countless species of surgeonfish , anthias , coral grouper , rabbitfish , parrotfish with the continued patrols of predatory trevally and jacks and snapper .
The two sites of Abu Galawa Small and Big must be seen in any itinerary ; they feature a small yacht wreck from the 1980s and a huge coral encrusted tug boat from the 1940s , and were highlights of my trip . Glassfish congregate inside the wrecks in their millions , attracting the usual lurking predator suspects , among them coral grouper and lionfish .
Afternoon dives after a delicious soporific lunch and night dives after tea and cake are a more local affair , taking in some of the equally spectacular local sites of Habili Daisy , Habili Gazella and Shabrour . These pinnacles are teeming with life , impossibly vibrant and healthy and all within a five-minute ride from the resort .
Octopus out for a walk on Habili Nakari
Basket star on a night dive
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