Tag: shaab rumi

Caught between dolphins and sharks

Posted on by Livia (Volgyesi) Hertelendy

We found ourselves caught between dolphins and sharks during our dives last week in Sudan. One excitement after the other, one dolphin after the other! If we were not diving, we were snorkelling or “scootering” among the dolphins in the turquoise waters of the lagoon at Shaab Rumi.

Tour date: April 13-20, 2013
Itinerary: Sudan-North
Air temperatures: 35C
Water temperatures: 27C
Visibility: 30m

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The weather was perfect, we were able to dive at all the sites in our North itinerary. We ran into hammerheads at Angarosh, Qita El Banna and Shaab Rumi too, where, not surprisingly, we met up with a school of 30 hammerhead sharks. To top it off, 4-5 bottlenose dolphins followed the zodiac and swam to us, while on out safety stop. It seems this was the week for dolphins and sharks because after the shark dives, we were able to snorkel with dolphins by the boat in the lagoon, not once but twice.

Our weekly video is full of action too. Click the picture to watch! With scooters among dolphins.

Day 1: Sanganeb West, Sangabeb West, Sanganeb West
Day 2: Angarosh, Angarosh, Merlo, Gota Shambaia
Day 3: Qita el Banna, Blue Belt, Precontinent, Precontinent
Day 4: Shaab Rumi, Shaab Rumi, Shaab Rumi észak, Shaab Rumi lagoon
Day 5: Shaab Rumi, Sanganeb South, Sanganeb South, Umbria
Day 6: Umbria, Umbria

A new week, new hopes. We will be back next week again and let you know what we will have seen.

In case you have missed out on our previous reports, you can catch up by following these links:

Scooters in action!
Sudan, the Jolly, under and above water
An Eiffel Tower in Sudan
Manta, hammerhead, barracuda!
The sharks winked back!
Angarosh, the “Mother of Sharks”
A perfect start in Sudan!
Fish parade in the month of the Pisces!

The Sharks winked back!

Posted on by Livia (Volgyesi) Hertelendy

Last week Poseidon showered us with his affections once again – sharks were winking back at us at every dive site! The air temperatures keep rising in Sudan – this week it was already 30-32C and only our last 2 days were a bit windy.

Tour date: March 2-9, 2013
Itinerary: Sudan North
Air temperature: 30-32C
Water temperature: 25C
Visibility: 20-30m

There were plenty of sharks at all the main dive sites. At Abington we did not know where to look because 20 hammerheads were circling around us at 15-25m for as long as 5 minutes, only 2-3m from us. Angarosh and Shaab Rumi did not disappoint again. Thankfully the grey reef sharks have returned to Shaab Rumi, giving us plenty to see. The giant school of barracudas was at Sanganeb, as always. We were able to visit all the dive sites in the itinerary:

Day 1: Shaab Suedi; Gota Shambaia; Gota Shambaia
Day 2: Angarosh; Angarosh; Merlo; Gota Shambaia
Day 3: Quita el Banna; Quita el Banna; Blue Belt; Shaab Rumi Precontinent
Day 4: Shaab Rumi South Plateau (2 dives), Precontinent
Day 5: Shaab Rumi; Sanganeb South; Sanganeb South; Umbria
Day 6: Umbria

A new week, new hopes. We will be back next week let you know we have seen.

If you have missed the action of the past weeks, click on the links below to catch up!
Angarosh, the “Mother of Sharks”
A Perfect Start in Sudan!
Fish parade in the month of Pisces!

Fish parade in the month of the Pisces!

Posted on by Livia (Volgyesi) Hertelendy

We are happy to report that our third week was a success too! The Sun is already well in the month of the Pisces and we keep threading the waters of the Sudanese Red Sea (as well) week after week in order to see and be able to show you more and more fish. Among last week’s offer were hammerheads, and not just a few, grey reef sharks, jackfish and the inevitable schools of barracuda. And for dessert, we were able to marvel in a full moon as well.

Tour date: February 23 – March 2, 2013
Itinerary: Sudan-North
Air temperature: 28-30C
Water temperature: 25C
Visibility: 20-30m

We have started out with stronger winds, we were fighting the elements but despite it all, we were able to visit all the sites in our North itinerary. The usual 4-hour boat ride between Shaab Suedi and Shambaia lasted 5 ½ hours this time. Thankfully the winds had quite died down by the second night and the rest of the week was calmer, sometimes a bit cloudy but warm.

Day 1: Shaab Suedi, Gota Shambaia, Gota Shambaia
Day 2: Angarosh, Angarosh, Merlo, Gota Shambaia
Day 3: Quita el Banna, Quita el Banna, Blue Belt, Shaab Rumi Preconitinent (night dive)
Day 4: Shaab Rumi South Plateau (2 dives), Precontinent (night dive in the lagoon)
Day 5: Shaab Rumi, Sanganeb South, Sanganeb South, Umbria
Day 6: Umbria

This week again we were focusing on the large fish, we were scouring the big blue around us where we could expect sharks to appear. We counted 20 hammerheads at Angarosh. At Quita El Bana 10 nice specimens circled 3-4m above us and Shaab Rumi was true to itself again with grey reef sharks showing up and 2-3 hammerheads swimming near us.

The schools of barracuda and jackfish at Shaab Rumi left everyone in an awe. The waters were clear at Cousteau’s Precontinent and at Umbria as well. Taking advantage of this, we wandered in the entire wreck.

A new week is coming, new hopes are rising and next week we are coming back with another report.

If you have missed last week’s happenings, click here to catch up:
Angarosh – the Mother of Sharks
A Perfect Start in Sudan

Angarosh, the “Mother of Sharks”

Posted on by Livia (Volgyesi) Hertelendy

This time around we have enjoyed a lot more sunny days then last week. Winds were not too strong and luckily the waters were quite calm at the northern dive sites. Our dives were made more colourful by the schools of hammerheads, jackfish and barracuda. This week Angarosh rocked!

Tour date: February 16 – 23, 2013
Itinerary: Sudan-North
Air temperature: 28-30C
Water temperature: 24-25C
Visibility: 25m

We were able to visit all the sites of the North itinerary:

Day 1: Shaab Suedi, Gota Shambaia, Gota Shambaia
Day 2: Angarosh, Angarosh, Merlo, Gota Shambaia
Day 3: Quita el Banna, Blue Belt, Shaab Rumi Precontinent (day and night dive)
Day 4: Shaa’b Rumi South Plateau (3 dives), Precontinent (night dive)
Day 5: Shaa’b Rumi, Sanganeb, Sanganeb, Umbria
Day 6: Umbria

We hardly saw any other boats this week again, and this made our dives undisturbed at most sites and no other diving group’s bubbles disturbed our underwater adventures.

Shaab Rumi, one of the most beautiful dive sites in the world, lies 40km north of Port Sudan. Visibility had improved since last week and the site was especially rich in marine life. The shallow waters of the lagoon protected from the currents, were perfect for night dives. Another thing that makes Shaab Rumi so famous and why we love this place, is Precontinent II, the experimental underwater station built by Cousteau, whose remains are still visible today.

Still, this week we saw the most sharks at Angarosh. We counted about 20 of them at once. No wonder the reef was named the “Mother of Sharks”. The name serves it right, week after week at every dive!

The hammerheads got closest to us at Quita el Banna, to about 4-5m. After our dives, we marvelled at the gorgeous scenery and sunsets.

To be continued next week…

You can read about our last week’s adventures in Sudan here…