June’s a good month for fishes. No, not because the vegetarian congress is in town but because the water is warming up. It’s not just good for fishes either. Whilst I’m happy to report that the schools of snappers, jacks, batfish and unicorn fish are back on Shark Reef, there have also been sightings of Manta Rays and Whale Sharks along the ‘local’ coastline. I just saw some excellent video footage of a rather large lady who seemed totally non-plussed by the attentions of a multitude of divers and snorkellers whilst floating serenely behind a dive boat a mere 2 metres below the surface. There was a Whale Shark there too. Meanwhile, out in safari boat territory, there are the sure fire signs of summer arriving. Thousands of baby barracuda are schooling up in Sha’ab Ali – shark bait, always a good sign – not to mention large numbers of thong fish to be found hanging off the backs of Italian liveaboards.

I borrowed a friend’s speedboat running out of Shark Bay last weekend and took my piratical kids out on a ‘treasure hunting’ expedition to Tiran. It was a tad bouncy in the Gulf of Aquaba that day, but this was soon forgotten as we arrived in the middle of a pod of dolphins. There must have been hundreds of them, leaping about all around us. When you’re down at sea level in a little speedboat it’s a pretty impressive sight, especially when even the baby dolphins are jumping higher than your head. The kids, of course, were not as excited as I was. They see dolphins all the time – it’s normal for kids who grow up here. I doubt that they’ve seen many traffic lights though. However, I had some explaining to do on the way back when we came across two turtles, amorously locked together on the surface just outside South Lagoona. I guess one of them was a bit tired and needed a piggy back…………..

Just when you thought you knew every dive site in Sharm, there are new ones being discovered. A group of underwater speleologists – that’s cave divers to you and me – are about to start exploring and mapping the cave systems in Jackfish Alley. This is not a past time for the faint hearted, believe me. They’ll start with the ‘shallow’ cave at 80 metres and then move onto the deeper ones. What drives these guys on is something of a mystery to me. Not only is it cold, dark and eerie, it’s also 100 metres underwater ! Fortunately, they’re all experienced Tec instructors and cave divers from Sharms’ local community who have just returned from similar environments in Mexico. I think I’ll just sit on the boat in the sun and count them in and back out again. Sounds much more befitting a man of my maturity – and nerves.