OUR ADVENTURES IN THE BAYS OF MARS ALAM 2 (Part 1)
“The year has passed like an empty dream... ” (c) - and what else could it be without the beloved sea? There were many plans, as always, but not everything goes as planned. And the hotel we originally planned, we failed to buy, and health "little" failed, and the old company did not all gather, but the Red Sea always gives gifts! And we love to receive gifts!
If we didn’t manage to get into the “Three Corners” again, we studied (theoretically) the Oriental district, where the tour was bought (read my review on the hotel) and planned suitable trips from there along the bays - WELL WE CAN'T SIT IN ONE PLACE! And there is where to go - a "fish" place!
One of our former partners even changed the hotel because of us (since we, unlike him, did not have time to book "Three Corners"). I dissuaded him as best I could, realizing that Oriental would be worse - I always want to be at odds with my conscience. But he said that he agreed to go anywhere, they say, "drag me further, since they stretched me through all the bays last year. " Plus, we were joined by more lovers of the Red Sea, who wished to join the ranks of the explorers of the bays, whom we met on the Internet for a year. Their first phrase upon arrival was: "Where are we going tomorrow? ". It was the first non-virtual acquaintance, and we immediately understood - OUR PEOPLE! "Let's work together, " as one of the heroes of the cult comedy said. A week later, we expected another replenishment of four people of the same "crazy". So the rest promised not to be boring.
Fortunately, the Oriental itself shines with its underwater beauties and their availability, so every day, like last year, there was no need to dangle - this is excellent, because we have already realized that it is quite tiring even for trained conquerors of water delights and expanses.
1. MARSA GABEL EL ROSAS.
It would be reasonable to start with a description of Marsa Gabel el Rosas, that is, from the bay of the hotel, where we spent two weeks of our unforgettable vacation.
The bay is not large - about 700 m long and up to 150 m wide. Moreover, even at the exit (in the widest place), swimming in the center, with tolerable visibility, both the northern and southern reefs are visible. Depths - from zero to 20 m at the exit from the bay and further to "infinity". The center of the bay, as usual, is sand, and at a shallow depth with grass, which makes it possible for stingrays, cuttlefish, flounders and other lovers of such a landscape to live there. Also, it should be noted that the bay is protected from the wind, so you are guaranteed a snork in almost any weather. And in general, it is suitable for any level of sea lovers - from just "bathers" (do not forget about shoes) to divers and freedivers.
It would seem that in two weeks you can thoroughly explore one small bay, but no such luck! The reefs here are multi-tiered - lagoons, chic roofs (in general expanse at high tide), beautiful edges and slopes of the reef. Add here the outer walls behind the exit from the bay and its center with the inhabitants and you will understand that there is something to do there for more than one week!
Entrance from the beach of the hotel on the sand, in neoprene socks is quite possible, if you take precautions, so in the shallows we put on our shoes.
The SOUTHERN REEF inside the bay will be poorer than the northern one (mutyak periodically takes place), but at the exit - incredible beauty! The angle is excellent and I really liked the clouds of small red-toothed triggerfish, big fish - coranxes, rhinos, snappers, etc. of impressive size and in large quantities pleased. Of course, we sailed far beyond the bay - the reef is getting poorer there, but it is clear that the places are "large". In the morning you can meet "someone" if you wish. We came across a very good-natured large male hawksbill there. Usually you need to catch up with them, but here I was forced to swim away from him myself, as he strove to kiss me. To be honest, I saw how many turtles I saw, but here I got real pleasure from communicating with him. This male often "hangs out" on the slab of the southern exit and behind it, where the tail is such that you can see it with the naked eye - a horseman! And very sociable.
After dinner, there is often a terrible turbidity - milk, for which it can be cool in the lagoon (depending on the tides). The inner northern lagoon is generous with gifts - a large octopus, various scorpionfish and many large lionfish and everything. We have repeatedly seen a lionfish larger than 40 cm - we have never met such a large individual so close. At depth - this is one thing, but nose to nose is cool!
One day the weather got very bad - an enemy wind blew. There is turbidity, current and wave in the bay! Nevertheless, we swam out to the outer south, decided to walk along the "mushroom" / "rowing" / places - we pumped up on the waves so that it rocked until the evening.
NORTH REEF - just great! From the very beginning, you can count on a successful meeting. There is a mass settlement of pepper moray eels, and a giant one lives near the pipe (only get into its presence, but it is not permanent), lionfish, large hedgehog fish, scorpionfish and a lot of interesting things! Moving deeper, you understand that the beauty is still all ahead. And just before the exit from the bay - it’s completely beautiful! Crazy coral fans, labyrinths and crevices, naturally inhabited by living creatures, clearings with leathery and soft corals. And even further away is a huge island of gorgeous bright green echiopora. I confess that not a single decent photo of this place turned out, I am posting one, at least to represent the scale of this beauty. The hawksbill turtles are frequent guests here.
One of the days on the northern reef turned out to be just "moray". At first, the pepper hostel amused us near the shore, then, a little further, at a very shallow depth, the giant gave us pleasure with its presence while it was being cleaned. And on the outer reef, some kind of shock befell us. I don’t know what the moray eels had for the holiday, but in the north, immediately after the exit from the bay, they had some kind of aggravation, possibly autumn (maybe love? ). All over the reef they scurried like mad. A huge number of giants swam along the reef, through cracks and holes, and without end. It was a bewitching sight, from which it was impossible to break away - moray eels here and there! On that day, it was just some kind of "moray" holiday. Moreover, with whom they didn’t speak, no one got to this feast, it’s even a shame. Until that day, we could say that we had not seen the "giant" in the local bay (except for the protruding head at a depth), and here is such a gift!
Another interesting point - a huge barracuda once attacked a bottle of water, which is usually attached to our buoy, and gnawed it. My husband, who was dragging a buoy behind him, at first thought that the wind was pulling him like that, turned around - "log". Rybina, as soon as she saw him, went into blue. One of the following days, the same barracuda again tried to attack the water bottle on the buoy. True, no one managed to see her except me, and then, I managed to notice her fleeing, but I photographed her (sorry, not in the process of attacking the bottle), although the photos did not turn out worthy, so I don’t exhibit them, you just have to take my word for it. One can only guess why the shiny bottle attracted the hostess of the bay.
One of the days we got just "skatsky"!
We saw two large ringed ones at the same time, then a lot of bracken, and of different caliber. Well, teniurs, of course, scurried around - where would we be without them?
In general, with the presence of eagles there - excellent! There is a constantly present family - a large one, a little smaller and two teenagers (one with a bitten off tail), which often dignifiedly appears in the center of the bay. Also, a trio of some stray sailed, plus the handsome singles were pleasing to the eye, however, they did not indulge in soaring in shallow water.
In addition, on that day, we were again pleased with the barracuda with its presence, and also puzzled the people who walk barefoot half a meter from the scorpionfish sitting under the pebble. Well, a flock of mackerel hunting for plankton, as usual, adorned the bay.
On the last evening swim, when almost all the equipment was already folded, and all that remained was to regret the instantly flashed weeks of rest, I dragged my husband to the DC pier, where I watched a family of three plataxes in the morning. And not in vain! We spent the whole evening with a friendly family of these fish - as many as six of them! Just fell in love with these wonderful creatures! A real pleasure just to swim with them and watch - alien creatures! At the same time, there were also swallows, so they weren’t afraid, but they even seemed to be playing with us, cutting circles and pecking at the camera.
You can talk about this bay for a very long time, but, nevertheless, it is better to see it! I think it will take us there!
2. JOURNEY TO BRAIKU
The proximity of this bay to the place of our permanent location excited initially. Of course, all approaches to it were studied, as well as the presence of holes in the fence, etc. But experience shows that getting into the territory is far from everything! The staff keeps a close eye on the "aliens" and in the end you can not get into the sea without a bribe for a beach-skid, and it can be unreasonably expensive. Although, one can understand the owners of the hotel - business is business.
On one of the days, which, by all indications, promised to be super comfortable, we (our, at that time, a small company of five people) agreed to meet at a very early time on the beach in order to explore the northern reef of our bay. At the appointed time, four came, while they were putting on their equipment, everyone was looking towards the approach to the beach - if our fifth companion would appear. Well, everyone is ready for battle - the fifth did not appear, well, okay, in the end, everyone came here for a rest, and there is no obligation.
Let's go along the northern reef, of course, it's impossible to just swim there - you will definitely hang somewhere, or even get stuck for a long time. Unnoticed, we got to a chic cape, which is located at the exit from the bay. We look, and here we are no longer alone, despite the early morning, there is another lover of beauty, besides us - it pleases! We sailed out of the bay - such a calm that you can't believe your eyes! It can't be, especially on Mars! It seems that you put a feather on the surface of the water, it will "hang" on the surface indefinitely. Not even a ripple! And the silence? ! It just hurts your ears - a completely unusual sensation! With what pleasure we swam about three hundred meters to the north, contemplating the reef and its living creatures! We looked around, and the snorkeler we met at the cape is also swimming with us - respect, we respect like-minded people!
I expressed the opinion that today we have a chance to swim in Braiki Bay, since there may not be another such gorgeous weather situation, and it’s not close to swim against the current. Our four had nothing against this proposal, and we calmly sailed along the reef further north, admiring its beauties, as well as the inhabitants. I won’t say that we came across someone super-unusual, and the reef in one place (approximately in the middle between the bays) became very poor, but the living creatures were present - large snappers, shoals of rhinos, aluters, hawksbill turtle and much more accompanied us that delighted our eyes and soul.
My husband, as always, swam the deepest of all on the blue (his hobby is to look for large fish), so he was rewarded by contemplating a flock of huge tuna (according to his estimates, about 50 kg, 8 pieces). They swam past him to meet him at great speed (which is quite usual for these fish), even creating a vibration, which, as I understood, pleased his sea-loving heart. But he is without a fotik, so there is no material evidence. And we, meanwhile, sailed closer to the reef, and, where possible, also above its cover and admired other beauties. At the same time, we noted all the way that a foreigner (as we decided, most likely a German) kept our company. More than once, O. and I stopped and noted his perseverance and determination, once we even praised him among ourselves, saying "most likely, he decided that he himself would not dare to take such a voyage, but then he sees that there is a company, you have to sail - well done! "
So, slowly, in a state of nirvana, we reached Braika Bay. In the bay, we understand that we need to take a break, because the path was not close. We look, and our foreigner is also here - stunned! O. and I looked at each other, nodded approvingly to each other, raising our thumbs up - our man! I catch myself thinking that this foreigner has flippers, a mask and a snorkel, like our “fifth”, who did not come to the beach at the agreed time. Further more! I begin to look closely - the mustache, too, like his. But, nothing caught on, because I know that he did not come to the beach at the agreed time. O. begins to pick out English words from his brain, trying to tell (frantically waving his arms) to our foreigner that we are now in the bay of the Bryka hotel, and also ask him about his well-being, warn him that he still needs to return home, and find out what country he is from . The foreigner only nods his head, we think, looking at each other - he is stupid in German, he doesn’t even drag English. We took off our masks, we need to catch our breath, and look around - what is being done here in the district? He took off his mask and our German - wow! A silent scene from The Inspector General, then a laughter that this bay has not yet heard - it is still our companion who did not come to the beach at the appointed time! Our halves were puzzled by the reaction, as they did not immediately understand what was happening. It turns out that even at the exit from Oriental Bay they saw that it was our K. who caught up with the company and even greeted him. And my husband was so completely surprised that I didn’t understand who it was, since he kept watching my silent communication with the “foreigner” and how we show each other interesting moments on the reef, my husband was even calm for K. all the way, so as he is "under my supervision"! Although, in the end, everyone laughed - an incredibly funny, but real story turned out! I ask our "German": "Why didn't you find yourself, seeing how O. suffers, trying to explain some English text to you? " To which she replied: "And I was wondering how it would all end. " We laughed to colic and tears, and all the time I remembered the phrase from the good old comedy: "I agree to recognize her, but in a coat and a hat! " There are such "eclipses"! If someone told me, I wouldn't believe it. We could not remember this story without tears until the end of the vacation, and even now we still cheer ourselves up with memories of it. Thank God, we managed not to drown from laughter then, because there was also a desire to look at Braika Bay.
And she is small (even smaller than Orientalskaya) and wonderful! True, she upset with her trampling, and also created the impression of "tired". Although, the bay cannot be called bad, and now, despite its load and the current dominance of the people in it (in connection with the opening of Braika Royal), it courageously withstands all this. If anyone wants to relax in Braika, then do not delay, because further it will still become poorer - such a number of people per cubic meter of water cannot be beneficial. We must pay tribute, apparently they are watching the bay and trying to delay the moment of its catastrophic deterioration, otherwise it will end very soon. I am glad that the owners understand this - even a large number of huge amphoras were left to the bottom (I attach a photo), so that living marine organisms settled there, both outside and inside. I really liked the place with chic coral lace. We saw a crocodile, had fun and other fish.
Having made a circle of honor in the bay, we looked at the clock and remembered that we still need to return to the base (and the path is not close), we decided to move south. The calm gave way first to ripples and then to a small wave. It seemed to us that it would be easy to go with the flow, but no such luck! There are sections where we had to decently row against the current - just some kind of turbulence.
Having reached the home beach, we, tired but full of impressions, crawled ashore to reminisce and discuss a wonderful adventure that lasted more than five hours. I was right, there was no such gorgeous weather anymore. I concluded (it means that the swim was useful in all respects) - I won’t plan a vacation in Braika, because I understand that it will be “crowded” for us there.
TO BE CONTINUED
