Northwest Dive Club

OK, needing some advice!

I will be spending 8 days diving the Red Sea out of Eilat, Israel in July. I'll be doing a combination of day boat dives and shore dives in the area, so I won't be venturing way south. (I doubt we'll go as far south as Sharm El Sheikh.)

Yes, I am excited! These will be my first warm water dives after 150 plus in cold water and I can hardly wait!

Without breaking the bank, I'd love some advice on some fish & invert ID book(s) that I could purchase to help me out on that trip. It would be nice to have SOME idea of what I'm looking at, as opposed to "Wow that was a pretty cool looking psychedelic colored thingie"!

Ideas? Advice? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

-Tom Nic

i was in eilat last june and i loved it. (that was where i did my first discovery dived and got HOOKED - came home and got my cert as soon as i could).

one of the divers on our boat had this book, which he was recommending to other divers:
<a href="" target="_blank">The Diver's Guide to Red Sea Reef Fishes</a>
i didn't take a good look at it, just flipped through. it seemed pretty basic in it's coverage, but might be a good start. i can't recall if it covered invertebrates, though.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8751101@N0 ... 0309989772" target="_blank">here a few pictures i took snorkeling and diving</a>

do you know which dive shop you'll be diving with?

spatman wrote:i was in eilat last june and i loved it. (that was where i did my first discovery dived and got HOOKED - came home and got my cert as soon as i could).

one of the divers on our boat had this book, which he was recommending to other divers:
<a href="" target="_blank">The Diver's Guide to Red Sea Reef Fishes</a>
i didn't take a good look at it, just flipped through. it seemed pretty basic in it's coverage, but might be a good start. i can't recall if it covered invertebrates, though.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8751101@N0 ... 0309989772" target="_blank">here a few pictures i took snorkeling and diving</a>

do you know which dive shop you'll be diving with?

Awesome! Thanks! I just ordered the book.

We will be diving with Aqua Sport... this is after internet research, not "personal" recommends.

I realize that you were pretty "new", but I still have questions!

What did you like? dislike?

What would you do differently?

What would a "must not miss" be for you?

Which were your favorite dive sites and why?

Do you remember the water temps? Did you use an exposure suit?

Great pics, by the way! What camera set up did you use?

Thanks again!

-Tom

Tom Nic wrote: We will be diving with Aqua Sport... this is after internet research, not "personal" recommends.

that's the outfit i went with as well. they were really great. mohammed was the name of the divemaster on our trip and he was very supportive and knowledgable.

Tom Nic wrote:What did you like? dislike?

we were only there for a few days, so i can't really say what i disliked, if anything. i had a great time snorkelling the marine park with my wife. the sites we went to on the dive trip were really beautiful as well. all three were great snorkelling and the divers all seemed really happy with what they saw. i dove the site called "the fjord" (i know, weird name for a dive site off the egyptian coast) which is where the huge school of glassfish were. in all sites there was so much to see i was amazed. the water was crystal clear with viz easily 150+ ft, maybe more.

i would say that my only complaint was that crossing the egyptian border to get to the boat was a little bit of a drag, but it really wasn't such a big deal.

Tom Nic wrote:What would you do differently?

i would stay a lot longer and dive as much as i could. there are hundreds of sites easily accessible from eilat, some off the coast of jordan and many off of the egyptian coast.

Tom Nic wrote:What would a "must not miss" be for you?

maccabee beer and falafel. a good shwarma, if you like greasy meat. mmm.

as for the diving, i felt like i missed a lot. the next time we visit i'll be staying much longer. maybe i'll hit you up for some advice by then!

Tom Nic wrote:Which were your favorite dive sites and why?

like i mentioned, i only dove that one site, because i hadn't been certified at the time. i loved it mostly becuase of the glassfish, but there were plenty of other critters and corals to explore as well.

Tom Nic wrote:Do you remember the water temps? Did you use an exposure suit?

i did use a 3 mil shorty, but i don't think i really needed it. but then again i was only at 35 ft or so, so it might've come in handy had i gone deeper.

i would guess the water temp at 35 ft was about 80 F.

Tom Nic wrote:Great pics, by the way! What camera set up did you use?

i have a canon A610 with the canon housing for it. it's pretty good at 6 megapix, but my biggest complaint is no external strobe.

i hope this helps. let me know if you have any other questions!

spatman wrote:

Tom Nic wrote:What would a "must not miss" be for you?

falafel.

Mmmmm.... falafel...

Very helpful!

Thanks!