Red Sea Log

Before buoyancy, before navigation, before air consumption, there is one skill every diver has to get right. Most divers stop thinking about it after their first few dives, which is exactly why ear injuries remain one of the most common problems in diving. What is actually happening inside your ears on the way down, how to equalize properly, what a reverse block is, and when to call the dive.

The two biggest destinations on the Red Sea sit directly opposite each other, separated by water rather than desert. So why is there no easy way to cross between them? As of 2026 there is no scheduled passenger ferry between the two. The route existed, came back twice, and never held. What happened to it, and how people actually make the journey now.

The liveaboard Sea Spirit sank off Gebel El Zeit on the evening of 14 July 2026 while transiting the northern Red Sea. There were no guests aboard. Of the five Egyptian crew sailing her, four were rescued alive. One crew member died. The cause has not been established, and an official investigation is underway.

Almost everything caught on this coast is caught on one of three reels. A spinning reel does most of the work, a conventional reel takes over when the fish or the depth gets serious, and an electric reel has quietly become standard on the deep drops. What each one actually is, how it works, and which job it belongs to.

For years the story of the ocean has been one of decline. It is not wrong, but it is incomplete. Wherever a stretch of sea is genuinely protected and given time, marine life returns, sometimes within a single decade. The ocean is far more resilient than we give it credit for. The northern Red Sea holds some of the most heat-tolerant corals on Earth, and shows what is still possible.

One of the great year-round sailing grounds, and one of the least sailed by private yachts. A practical guide to cruising the Egyptian coast: when to go, where to base, how clearing in actually works, the cruising grounds north to south, and the reef navigation discipline the Red Sea demands.

The most common thing on any Red Sea dive boat is divers carrying more lead than they need, and most of it gets added in one moment: the weight check passed, but they still cannot sink, so they clip on more. The fix is descent technique, not lead. How to actually get down from the surface, and why piling on weight leaves you fighting to hold a safety stop on an empty tank.

The moment you cross into decompression, your computer stops counting down and starts giving instructions: a ceiling you cannot ascend above, and a timer that has to clear first. Most divers were never taught to read it. A breakdown of how Suunto, Garmin and the new Suunto Ocean each show it, and exactly what to do.

A three-metre shortfin mako shark appeared in shallow coastal water near Quseir on 15 May 2026. No attack occurred. Local fishermen caught and killed it. Egypt's National Institute of Oceanography formally condemned the killing as scientifically unacceptable, then deleted the statement without explanation.

The Blue Hole is a world-class dive site. The Arch has claimed more lives than any other dive site on earth. Four specific mechanisms explain why, and why experience alone is not sufficient preparation.

A 71% global population decline since 1970. Trophic cascades. The landscape of fear. Nutrient cycling across ocean zones. The case for sharks as structural components of marine ecosystems, not charismatic fauna, but the architecture the ocean depends on.

Five Italian nationals, four marine scientists from the University of Genoa and a diving instructor, died inside an underwater cave in Vaavu Atoll on 15 May 2026. A Maldivian military diver died in the recovery attempt. The liveaboard operator's licence has been suspended. Investigation ongoing.

The third Egyptian liveaboard lost in 2025. Firebird struck a reef on April 20, 2025, all passengers and crew evacuated. The CDWS confirmed significant damage. Questions remain about navigation and night passages.

Fire broke out at 6:30am while the vessel was moored at Port Ghalib. All 29 people evacuated without injury. A possible shore power fault is under investigation. The five-time award-winning flagship under the Emperor Divers brand was a total loss.

The Red Sea's prevailing NNW wind is among the most consistent on earth. A guide to the meteorology behind it, pressure systems, mountain channeling, the Gulf of Aqaba funnel effect, and a regional breakdown of Dahab, El Gouna, Safaga and Hurghada.

Offshore wind, boat traffic, thermal gusts and the risks of riding unfamiliar water. A frank safety guide for kitesurfers and windsurfers, with pre-launch checklists, self-rescue guidance and the hazards that matter most.

In February 2025, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch issued a formal safety bulletin warning divers to book only through reputable operators. Sixteen accidents in five years. Here's what the bulletin actually says.

Bring a banana aboard a fishing charter and see what happens. One of the oldest maritime superstitions in the world, traced back through three centuries of real events involving speed, infestation, fermentation, and floating wreckage.

Oceanic whitetips at the Brothers. Hammerheads at Jackson Reef at dawn. Threshers off the deep wall before sunrise. A Red Sea-specific guide to in-water conduct, species by species, site by site.

The commercial fishing catch from the Egyptian Red Sea represents two percent of Egypt's national marine production. The fishing pressure it creates runs at ten to twenty times the sustainable rate. A data-led investigation into what has been lost, what is still being taken, and what the 2024 bans actually mean.

Divers who dived the Thistlegorm in 2005 and dive it today are looking at two different sites. Anchor damage, overcrowding and years of unmanaged access have taken their toll. A documented comparison of then and now.

One of the most intact beaches on the African continent sits inside a protected national park, and a hotel development project is threatening to end that. The Atlas documents what Ras Hankorab is, what the law says, and what divers can do.