Jordan

[ChrisH]

Around one year ago, I had the pleasure of being invited to a live shootout to Aqaba, Jordan. Having never been there before, it was quite a challenge as you only had one day (limited to two dives) for shooting each wreck dive site. But it was super fun, I learned a lot and got to know a lot of very talented and super kind underwater photographers. I was more than happy that even two of my shots actually got awarded!

 

We made trips to the Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum which was also a great experience!

[Guest]

Very nice.

The wrecks are relatively recent but looks like they are getting some fish on already

[Davide DB]

Wow terrific shots

Thanks

[ChrisH]

9 minutes ago, Interceptor121 said:

Very nice.

The wrecks are relatively recent but looks like they are getting some fish on already

Thank you!

 

The "military museum" and the plane (Tristar) were sunk on mostly sandy bottom with almost no reef around it. So on the outside you have almost no fish, but a lot of small fish using the inside of the wrecks to hide as shelter (have no pictures of that unfortunately). But I did not notice relevant coral grow on the wrecks. Maybe to much divers or still not time enough.

 

We also had some bad weather (sandstorm catched us on surprise), with rather low visibility (to Red Sea standards).

Edited June 2 by ChrisH

[ChipBPhoto]

2 hours ago, ChrisH said:

Around one year ago, I had the pleasure of being invited to a live shootout to Aqaba, Jordan. Having never been there before, it was quite a challenge as you only had one day (limited to two dives) for shooting each wreck dive site. But it was super fun, I learned a lot and got to know a lot of very talented and super kind underwater photographers. I was more than happy that even two of my shots actually got awarded!

 

We made trips to the Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum which was also a great experience!

 

Hey @ChrisH - Absolutely terrific images!!  As someone who enjoys wrecks, you've added a new destination to my list!  The remote lighting and well placed dives really brought the images to life.  If you liked the live aboard operator, please share the name.  

 

Also, how challenging was it to get to Petra from there?  That is also at the top of my list.

 

Thanks for sharing your work!

[humu9679]

@ChrisH Wonderful images! Your model was spot on in every instance, and that one frame of the plane's lighted exhaust is fun!

[ChrisH]

32 minutes ago, ChipBPhoto said:

 

Hey @ChrisH - Absolutely terrific images!!  As someone who enjoys wrecks, you've added a new destination to my list!  The remote lighting and well placed dives really brought the images to life.  If you liked the live aboard operator, please share the name.  

 

Also, how challenging was it to get to Petra from there?  That is also at the top of my list.

 

Thanks for sharing your work!

 

Thank you very much, happy you like the pictures! 😊

 

We were not on a liveaboard and at least some of the wrecks can actually be accessed from shore. But we were on daily boats and I would recommend doing that.

 

As for operators, I cannot praise Omar from Divers Divers (https://diversedivers.com) enough! Hope the link is ok in this forum?

He did an outstanding job and is a really nice guy that really does care about you and not just takes the money. 

On our way back, our flight from Aqaba to Amman was canceled. The distance to Amman is about 5 hours by car. Within 20 minutes Omar send us his bus from the dive center and a driver in the middle of the night!!

 

Doing trips to Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum is an absolute must in my opinion! Wadi Rum is close to Aqaba (where the diving is), but Dead Sea and Petra will be better from Amman. As most international flight go to Amman, I would do trips to Petra and Dead Sea from there and then go to Aqaba and Wadi Rum.

 

I was surprised about Petra: we all might know the one famous building (Indiana Jones anyone? 😄), but it is a huge area. our guide there told us if you want to see all of the ancient city it is about 12 hours by foot! There are very nice hotels at Petra, so I would recommend to spend at least one night there and then have the evening and morning in the ancient city. We were at the middle of the day in June.... not so much recommended 🥵.

 

 

 

[ChrisH]

21 minutes ago, humu9679 said:

@ChrisH Wonderful images! Your model was spot on in every instance, and that one frame of the plane's lighted exhaust is fun!

Thank you! Actually our model cancelled the trip because of private reasons a few days before the start. Lea (the model in the pictures) was kind enough to join, although we didn't know each other before and it was also her first time modeling! I had a camera and a housing that I had never used before, a model that I didn't know and a model that hadn't done something similar before. What could possibly go wrong 😂

But she did an amazing job right from the start! And those shots would not have been possible without her!

[SwiftFF5]

I dove Aqaba about 10 years ago, and second the trips to Petra, the Dead Sea and Wadi Rum.  We rented a car, and did a loop to take in all three of those sites in one day.  It was a long day, but well worth it.  If you have the time, take more than one day for them, though.  I just prefer being underwater...