We broke the week in gently by starting off at The Gardens - an in-shore reef where you might find the slightest of currents to push you along. For some people this was their first taste of Red Sea diving so the colourful coral and interesting fish life did not disappoint.

Next day we dived White Knight as we needed to conduct our PADI Advanced Open Water Deep dive, and this site has a really handy sandy gully that goes down to just under 30 metres, allowing the space to test the skills needed.

At the top of the reef (about 8 – 10 metres) we had all the time and air to just float around looking at all the life that likes to settle in the strong sunlight.

Some of the highlights were Blue Spotted Rays, very large Grouper, Box Fish and a tiny little Pipe Fish.

In the afternoon we dived Gordon Reef which is over in the Straits of Tiran, a great dive with some stronger currents to give a taste of what drift diving is about.

The next day we started off at Ras Ghazlani, which is just before you get to Ras Mohammad. This is a long fringing reef where you jump in one end and just follow it down until you get to a certain point to exit. Here you will find some of the most stunning hard corals in the area - absolutely beautiful.

In the afternoon we dived the world famous Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef which lies at the southern point of Ras Mohammed Marine Park. (For more information try www.rasmohamed.com or www.geographia.com). Cited as one of the world’s best dives  it sits where three strong bodies of water meet creating a veritable aquarium. You dive around the drop off at Shark Reef where it drops to around 800 metres, you can see big schools of snapper, Tuna, Barracuda and even sharks if your really lucky.

You then come round and dive between the two reefs admiring the soft corals which are prolific, the fish life which is abundant and exit near the Yolanda wreck. Check this at www.trekearth.com or www.divernet.com. Generally you will see very large Napoleon Wrasse who like to come very close for a good look. There is a resident Turtle called Dave but we did not see him.

We also dived Woodhouse that was a very nice gentle drift, and Jackson lagoon where we moored up overnight and did a night dive. Extra info at www.touregypt.net or www.sportextreme.com. We were lucky enough to see a Turtle, a Spotted Snake Eel  and some fantastically colourful Tube Worms.

We spent the rest of the week trying to fulfil what we went out for, finding the elusive Hammerhead sharks.

July and August is the time when you have good chances of seeing them so we had our fingers crossed and set off for Jackson Reef which is the last reef in the Tiran system. To find them you have to do Blue diving which is jumping off the boat and swimming out away from the reef into the blue where you might find them swimming around. After hanging in the blue for about 20 minutes you then make your way back to the reef and carry on with your dive.

We conducted three dives on the Northern side of Jackson and three times we saw Hammerheads, which is a 100% success  rate. Everybody was chuffed and beaming from ear to ear, even our guides Bryan and Dave from Emperor Divers were jumping up and down.

On the 2nd dive we saw about 10 that swam towards and then under us, they were so close that you could make out all their features even their eyes. We also saw White Tip Sharks prowling around the reef at about 20 metres and on one dive we saw the same two Turtles again and again, which was fantastic.

We also dived the south side of Jackson which has the most amazing coral gardens on both corners. You will find a sand patch that sits in the middle and depending on the current you can dive either side. We went left to the Western Garden and then back along to the Eastern Garden. The abundance of soft and hard corals is truly outstanding on both sides.

We saw a very rare Red Anemone that sits at about 25m, the colour when you see it cannot be described, it literally glows.

We also saw the Long Nosed Hawkfish that generally sits on a Gorgonian and hides every time you get close enough to take a picture. We passed a large Turtle happily munching away on some coral as well a load of everything else that you would normally find in the Red Sea.

Of an evening we would enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Naama Bay, Sharm el Sheik. This is a very busy area which has been built for us, the tourists. You can eat, drink and buy a whole array of trinkets without trying too hard.