Hello everybody
I just uploaded an album of my favourite photos from my recent Red Sea trip:
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http://www.fredwobus.com/gallery/thumbnails-45.html
I went on the Grand Sea Serpent from Marsa Alam to St. Johns. Unfortunately we didn't spend too much time in St. Johns itself - only 6 dives. But there were 3 more dives in Fury shoal, which was just as good.
The reefs down there were simply amazing, even compared to Indonesian places like Komodo and Wakatobi.
Admittedly the species diversity isn't up to Indo-Pacific standards but the reefs are incredibly healthy. The entire food-chain from reef fish to sharks is present. Species, such as Napoleon wrasse and sharks still abound in the Red Sea, while they are already over-exploited and severely threatened in Indonesia . Same goes for huge shoals of fish which cloud the reef wherever you look.
The trip also allowed for 3 dives on Elphinstone reef, which I also found in good condition. It's full of soft corals and curious cornetfish. Even a hammerhead cruised by on one dive.
Sorry if I'm getting excited over a couple of sharks, but apart from Raja Empat there are no virtually sharks left in Indonesia - the bastard chinese/taiwanese have bitten all their fins off.
A technical note on gear: I use a Canon 300D with a 550EX Speedlite, both in UK-Germany housing. For lack of a dome port for my 10-22, I used the EF-S 18-55mm for moderate wide-angle on most dives. The venerable kit-lens isn't too bad, but pixel peepers will notice a certain softness - the centre softness can be blamed on the cheap plastic lens, the corner softness is due to the flat port.
Some macro stuff was shot on the super-sharp EF-S 60mm macro - real pixel peepers will be able to spot which ones they are :-)
Have fun!
