So there we were in the wilderness that is the Southern Red Sea. Our only engine had fallen silent. Bits of the Turbo were spread all over the dive deck and there was a lot of head shaking from Hisham, who’s dancing talents it seemed to us far outstripped his engineering skills. The mainland we were told was somewhere over the western horizon, but anyway was scorching uninhabited desert. If there was any human habitation it was the Egyptian military who would immediately arrest us and throw us in jail, if we were not shot first. Yasser imparted this information with his usual broad grin. I returned the smile although the funny side of the situation wasn’t totally apparent. We had already been desperately trying to contact anyone in the area but the VHF just hissed emptily back at us.

The year was 1996 and we had ventured into the Southern Red Sea on Angelina II, a 22mtre liveaboard with one engine! No one including the skipper had ever been in the area before. And what an adventure it was. We had snorkelled up close and personal with a huge oceanic white tip shark (Well I had, the others had more sense and watched from the boat), and rescued a family of Bedouins marooned when the engine on their faluca failed. We had not seen another living soul (apart from the Bedouins) for two weeks. Eventually we raised David Halal on Sea Surveyor who offered to come to our aid, although Hisham finally fixed the turbo using one of his wife’s nylons. (no we didn’t ask). Finally Yasser our tireless diveguide, who had faithfully and faultlessly guided us through the unknown reaches of the Red Sea dived into the pool at the Hurghada Hilton and split his head open. He has the scar to this day.
How things have changed! I saw Angelina II off Gordon reef a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t really comprehend how we ever termed her as “Luxury Liveaboard “ and dared venture out into the unknown, lovely little boat though she is. But of course she WAS “luxury” compared with most of the liveaboards back then. A typical Safari boat (Safari was the word then, we promoted the term Liveaboard) was a converted day boat. Endearing features were the charming green Astroturf, flaking paint, single rusty ladder, noisy Mariner compressor tied on the dive deck with blue nylon rope, and single smelly deck toilet for all guests and crew.

The boats we operate now are a far cry from those early safari boats. In the early nineties I made a few trips on Poseidon’s Quest, considered to be ”out of this world” luxury compared with her contemporaries such as Lady Jenny and Sea Surveyor. However there is no comparison with today’s sleek powerful luxury vessels.
Today’s liveaboard diver wakes up in his spacious air-conditioned cabin, having cruised all night from the previous site. Takes a piping hot shower in the ensuite bathroom to the sounds of Dido that he has selected on the multi channel music system. He strolls up to the salon bar for juice and coffee. Flicks open his laptop to check for mails through the inboard radio connection and satellite communications. Then out onto the cocktail deck for the dive brief, check that his 32 Nitrox fill that he ordered the night before is correct and picks up the digital camera he’s hired from the dive manager. After the first dive buffet breakfast in the dining room is the same as any 5 star hotel, with eggs and pancakes prepared to order and a wide selection of Continental, European and local fare. After breakfast a thorough briefing on the semi closed rebreather followed by a try dive on the unit. After lunch he checks out the mornings images in the cabin on the DVD and screen provided cabins. After the last dive he relaxes in the spa bath on the sun deck with a cold beer, or watches the sun go down with a cocktail. After a four course dinner with a bottle of wine he settles down in the bar to watch finding Nemo on the plasma screen. He has a discussion with the Tri-Mix Inspiration divers who are telling him about the 95metre wreck dive they made in the morning and then turns in. In the cool of his cabin he drifts off to sleep to the sound of his favourite jazz artist played on the cabin CD/DVD system.
The Egyptian diving industry has achieved a remarkable feat in a few short years. Their boat builders have more than matched the aspirations of their demanding European guests, improving the size, standard and safety of the boats beyond all recognition. Painting and maintenance teams visit the jetty on changeover days to ensure everything in top condition.

The quality of service has also come on immeasurably. Standards of catering and housekeeping are in line with those of better hotels ashore, and today’s boats offer every service for the diver, Nitrox, Trimix, rebreather facilities and hire, digital camera and video hire and courses etc. etc.
I do find it rather curious that some new companies advertise their boats as “Operated and managed by a British company” and “Bringing British Standards to the Red Sea”
The Egyptian Liveaboard industry is now providing it’s guests with boats and service second-to-non in the world. Anyone who has been onboard a boat around the UK coast will for sure not want “British Standards” brought to the Red Sea.

And what for the future? My personal view is that the Red Sea will remain a top diving destination long into the future. Whilst other areas face threats from commercial fishing, agricultural run-off, over population etc the Red Sea is to some extent protected from these pressures. In years to come the Red Sea will become the Serengeti or the Masai Mara of the oceans. A World National Park, where we can still explore a rich marine environment, with all the wonderful creatures that live there.Of course as with any national park on land or sea there are certain measures the relevant authorities must take to ensure continuing conservation of this special area. After the classic monuments the Red Sea is Egypt’s most valuable resource. Things that in my view need attention would include management of the remarkable variety of shipwrecks and restricting the number of boats and operators, as well as making sure the increased tourist population on shore doesn’t impact on the marine environment.
And what is the best way to explore this wonderful marine environment?
Liveaboard of course.

Finally, it´s happening! For quite a while now I have been trying to organize a Pro Trainer Course with IAHD, the International Association of Handicapped Divers, as our Dive Center SUB SINAI wants to open up new perspectives, further the integrational aspect within scuba diving and open up the beauty of the underwater world to everybody. Daniel Zuidema from IAHD organized the trip together with IAHD/Able To Dive Germany and so we are expecting 7 people, able-bodied and disabled, to arrive on the 2nd of April at Sharm el Sheikh Airport.

I am really very excited about this week to come!

The minibus arrives and 7 people are very surprised and maybe a bit shocked about their new environment:

Dirk Wondrak, IAHD Germany, Course Director, Daniel Zuidema, IAHD, Patrick, physiotherapist, Holger and Olaf-Rolli Olli, both paraplegic, and Uwe with muscular dystrophy in combination with spasm. Britta is Olaf´s wife and is spending the holiday together with her husband.
Soon we have to find out that the steps in front of the hotel rooms are too high for the wheelchairs and also the access to the beach-front restaurant is difficult. But as this is Egypt where something can be made out of nothing, the hotel-owners and my husband Khaled fix some kind of ramps that facilitate things a lot! And within the first half-hour we are in the middle of a discussion about how hotels should be designed to be fully accessible for people with special needs! Yes, that´s exactly what I expected - an exchange of ideas and lots of new input from people who know much better than anybody else, the disabled themselves!

The next morning we start the IAHD Pro Trainer Course with 5 candidates:

Ahmed, Ayman and myself from SUB SINAI and 2 other instructors from Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh.
The practical side of life is taken care of today - we go diving! I am again and again surprised how independent and flexible those guys in their wheelers are and how imaginative they are to make their life easier! We are told that being overly careful and doing everything for the disabled is not what they want - stay back, watch and act when you are asked. Holger and Olli speak very openly about their handicaps, how they happened and what kind of additional health problems they have because of them.

Gosh, I am watching, listening and learning so many things!
Once in the water, which takes us quite a while, Uwe is moving almost like an able-bodied diver, his spasm is hardly visible any more. Holger and Olli move mainly with their arms and hands using special webbed gloves as they have no fins or only use them to stabilize themselves in the water. And everybody´s buoyancy is just perfect, even if this is Holger´s first time diving in the sea!

After a great dive and a relaxing
lunch-break with once again lots of questions and discussions Dirk shows us on the second dive various techniques to enter the water with disabled divers and teaches us how to descend/ascend with them and guide them along under water using direct body contact. Looks easy, but Olli turns out to be a ‘tricky customer’ as his legs keep floating up and it is quite difficult to keep him straight and descend in a controlled manner! Holger and Uwe are much easier to deal with as their handicaps affect them in a different way.
Back at the Dive Center our SUB SINAI staff moved one locker unit next to the counter and a new walkway was built between the counter area and the rinse pool to have the wheelchairs move easily - as I said, flexibility is THE most important thing in Egypt…We spend the next 2 days in the classroom looking at IAHD Standards, learning about different disabilities and how to deal with them during scuba diving and having lively discussions.
Again I have the feeling that an intense learning process is taking place - great!
During our theory sessions with Dirk and Patrick/Daniel the rest of the group is out there having fun in the water exploring the Dahab dive sites.
During the next 2 days we dive the breathtaking Canyon site and the world famous Blue Hole. At the Canyon the entry is reasonable easy for the guys and the Lagoon is the perfect place to descend. Everybody loves to go into this impressive underwater crack and the big Napoleon fish right at the fishbowl makes the dive perfect!
The Blue Hole with its wooden footbridges over the reef table proves to be very easy to enter, it is basically like gliding into the water off a boat, so Holger, Olli and Uwe have no problem at all. We have two beautiful dives surrounded by schools of innumerable reef fish and cross the ‘Big Blue’ on our way back through the Blue Hole - an unforgettable experience!
With another dive to the south of Dahab we finish off this beautiful week of diving. Back at the Dive Center Olli surprises us no end. Because diving relaxes his muscles so much, he can actually stand up, leave his wheelchair and, holding on to the wall or some other stable device, walk a few steps! What a chance scuba diving can give to paraplegics!

In the afternoon some guys go off to see different hotels and check out their accessibility. Dirk, Daniel, Khaled and myself discuss future business cooperation and marketing possibilities and we also meet Dr. Hossam Nasef who will be opening in short time the Dahab Recompression Chamber next to SUB SINAI. Medical matters are discussed and the IAHD representatives stress the convenience for disabled customers to have a fully equipped medical facility right next to the Dive Center. This truly is a perfect setup!

In the evening we have a special dinner in the mountains prepared for our guests - Fish Bedouin style, Bedouin rice, salad, vegetables, fresh Bedouin bread and steaming hot Bedouin tea flavoured with fresh herbs from the desert. The Bedouin people working with SUB SINAI prepared the spot in the mountains really beautifully, with candles, carpets and cushions. The incredible night sky with its millions of stars also make this a really special evening for all of us.
On the 8th of April in the morning Dirk hands out the certificates to all those who participated in the course and then it is time to say good-bye. Lots of hugs and kisses are exchanged as well as e-mail addresses and the promises to meet again, either in Dahab or in Europe. Luggage and wheelchairs are stowed away in the minibus and after some final hand waving the minibus disappears out of sight.

THE CONCLUSION OF THIS WEEK:
For me personally this whole week was marked by plenty of new experiences and the chance to get an insight into the life of people who are not as fortunate as us in being able to move without any physical barriers.
I got new stimuli to think in different directions and new doors opened up, both in terms of my personal way of seeing things and also in finding unexplored business opportunities.
My children had the chance to meet disabled people without barriers and prejudices, finding in them new friends and being able to experience what integration means.

For all this I would like to say thanks to all the people involved, but especially to Uwe, Holger and Rolli-Olli. Thanks for supporting us throughout the Pro Trainer Course, thanks for your openness and honesty and thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge.

And Olli, I really like the words on your stamp - ‘UNDER WATER I CAN FLY…’

For further information please contact:
Daniel Zuidema, IAHD, www.iahd.org, daniel@iahd.org
Dirk Wondrak, IAHD Germany/Able To Dive, www.abletodive.org, dirk@iahd.de
Gabriele Pointner, SUB SINAI, www.subsinai.com, info@subsinai.com

September 17th is the 20th Anniversary of International Cleanup Day. Once again, SCUBA divers around the world will join in and contribute to make this year’s cleanup the largest effort yet, by adding underwater cleanups to beach events. Each year PADI and Project AWARE Foundation co-ordinates the underwater portion of International Cleanup Day , in co-operation with the Ocean Conservancy, recognising that divers are a vital part of the effort to remove debris and contribute to solve marine litter issues.

Once again, Project AWARE Foundation is calling all SCUBA divers to take action and participate in river, lake, beach and underwater cleanups in their local area.
This means that as summer draws to a close, thousands of dedicated SCUBA divers will be embarking on dives in search of something they hope they won’t find – rubbish. Unfortunately, last year, they did: cigarette butts, glass and plastic bottles, food wrappers and drink cans among other things – it certainly builds up. Litter is a growing problem in the oceans and on beaches around the world, largely resulting from our increasing use of non-biodegradable packaging and irresponsible waste disposal. Litter is not just a surface problem. Rubbish from oil drums and drink cans to plastic bottles and discarded fishing gear also accumulates on the seabed.
The disposal of litter at sea, in rivers or on beaches has wide ranging impacts. “As a diver, you see first hand the devastating effects litter can have underwater. Marine litter contaminates habitat and harms aquatic life,” states Dr. Drew Richardson, Chairman, Project AWARE Foundation. “Divers have the training and skills necessary to remove much of the debris found below the surface. The data they collect during International Cleanup Day, helps complete the overall picture of debris sources in an effort to resolve these issues.”

Project AWARE hopes this year’s cleanup events will raise awareness of the needless and irresponsible dumping of debris that is still prevalent in many areas and hopes to encourage local communities to care for their fragile aquatic environments. The volunteers will be recording and photographing the rubbish they collect and this information will be used to produce a worldwide, annual report of the results as well as campaign against the sources of marine litter.

How to take part?
You can join the 20th Anniversary celebration by organising your own beach and/ or underwater clean up or by volunteering at someone else’s. Everyone wishing to organise an event must register and complete the sign up available from: www.projectaware.org.
Alternatively you can contact Project AWARE Foundation (International) at info@projectaware.org.uk. If you want to take part as a volunteer or want to join forces with another cleanup co-ordinator, please search the database of cleanup locations on the Volunteer Network section of www.projectaware.org to find an International Cleanup Day event near you.