One advantage of living in the Northwest Area of Saudi is the close proximity to the Red Sea.   The diving is spectacular, almost on par with the  Great Barrier Reef of Australia.  What makes the Red Sea so great is the fact that on the shore, it is a desert, almost devoid of life.  But once you enter the water, you are surrounded by thousands of tropical fish, beautiful coral, and amazing invertebrates.   It is truly a privilege to dive here.  Since the reefs here are fringing reefs which are against the shoreline, they are readily accessable to almost any skill level of diver or snorkeler.

We usually drive out to the beach on Wednesday evening, and camp out  until Friday afternoon.  Camping here is one of the most challenging things you can experience.  In the middle of summer, it can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade.   You must have some means of making shade, or  you will suffer heat stroke and a severe sunburn.  Items that we carry with us to the beach include several gallons of water, dry and canned foods, sodas, and a well stocked first aid kit.

And all of this is free.  It only costs you the price of your gas to drive out to the coast.   Tourists at Sharm Al Sheik in Egypt pay top dollar just to dive on the reefs there.  We just go, set up camp,  and hit the water.  It is fantastic!
 
 
 

I also Spearfish.   For all of you who may wonder, I eat what I catch, and I catch no more than I can eat.   And, I am a purist.  I freedive for my fish, I don't use Scuba.  It makes for a fair battle between the fish and I!

Click on each photo for a larger view.
 

This photo makes a great desktop picture! These are a pair of Anemone fish.               This is me with a wrench
                                                                                                                                        I found on the shipwreck
                                                                                                                                        "Georgios G.".
 
 

This is a photo of the PADI  "Project Aware" beach cleanup in September of 1998.  We removed over thirty 20-gallon trashbags of trash from a beach south of Haql, KSA.  The beaches in Saudi Arabia are covered in trash and debris.  We returned to the same site a week later, and you couldn't tell that we had ever cleaned it up.  It is a sad testimony to the lack of environmental awareness in Saudi Arabia.