One Space Available On This Workshop.
“This workshop is not supposed to be an annual event, but the diving keeps being so good that I can’t stop going back,” says Alex. “ In 2015 we had oceanic whitetips at the Brothers, Elphinstone, Daedalus and Rocky Island. All in one week. We also photographed scalloped hammerheads, silky shark, thresher shark, tiger shark, grey reef shark and reef whitetip shark. And swam with 150 spinner dolphins and even photographed them mating. And when we weren’t doing all that we were shooting the amazing reef life and scenery. Please note that I cannot guarantee any of the sharks will be around in 2016, but people have been seeing them all year, so I am hoping for a classic.”
The workshop is run on the excellent MY Hurricane, operated by Tornado Marine Fleet (who run Whirlwind, that Alex also uses for workshops in the northern Red Sea). Hurricane is one of the very few Red Sea liveaboards with a steel hull and is perfect for exploring these offshore reefs. Autumn in the Red Sea is a great time to visit. The water is still warm from the summer, but as the temperature starts to drop, so the bigger beasties start to come in to the reef. The aim of this workshop is to combine spectacular offshore and remote cavern filled reefs, with (hopefully) great shark encounters in Egypt’s Deep South.
Check out this GoPro footage from the November 2015 trip.
The main target shark is the charismatic oceanic whitetip, a species which was once widespread throughout the warm parts of the world’s oceans, but it has been fished near the point of extinction. The Red Sea is one of the few remaining places to see them reliably. We will NOT be using any bait, so there can be no guarantee they will be there, but we’ll do all we can to ensure good photographic encounters.
But there is much more to this trip than sharks. We fly direct to Marsa Alam, the most southerly airport in the Egyptian Red Sea, which is a much quieter and more pleasant experience than the other Egyptian airports (within an hour of landing we’ll be on board). We will try for sharks at the offshore reefs, which even if the sharks don’t show are still a great wide angle dives. But we’ll also take in picturesque reefs and coral cavern sites that are both challenging and educational places to take images. We will also try and swim with the resident spinner dolphins in Fury Shoal.
The teaching element of Alex’s Red Sea Workshops is always themed on making the most of the photographic opportunities. The lectures for this workshop will primarily cover shark photography (with an emphasis on field craft, making the most of brief opportunities and the differences between baited and unbaited dives), wide angle compositions (with particular emphasis on background and creating images which look three dimensional) and cavern photography. Alex adds “in the evenings, I will lead group image review sessions, which are always very popular and allow me to cover post processing tips.”
Caroline at Scuba Travel (caroline@scubatravel.com) will give you the full package details. Please also note that the longer travel times between some of the sites and the shorter days in November will mean we generally do 3 dives per day. Although at Rocky Island in 2015, I still managed 5 hours underwater with oceanics in one day!
I am keen that everyone takes the package’s official flight to Marsa Alam, and if you do not please do arrive before the group and leave after. Please also note that our Thompson charter flights are tight on hand baggage allowance, so pack carefully for this trip.
For reservations please contact:
scuba diving travel insurance uk
And ask about Whitetips and Wonders with Mustard
VITALS
The trip runs for 1 week from Wednesday 2nd November to Wednesday 9th November 2015. The price is £1595 GBP, which includes flights from/to London, accommodation, full board (not including alcohol), diving, nitrox, workshop, transfers in Egypt etc. It is possible to book the trip without flights, but please arrive before the group (the boat will leave port when the main group is aboard).
For further information and for reservations please contact: