Diving in Sudan
Posted By Ed Whiting on 21 August 2001
Sudan is reputed to be a difficult country to get into and sometimes equally as difficult to get out of. It may not be the top of many peoples 'beach holiday list', but as a place to dive?
On the 9th June I flew out of Sudan after two weeks diving in the Red Sea. We had arrived on a hot humid night by Air Sudan, the weekly Saturday flight from Cairo. This last leg of our journey had been surprisingly uneventful, other members of the party had heard tales of the airlines reputation. The plane was old and yes, small and we had been delayed four hours, but it had carried us safely for the two hour flight, the in flight food and service both excellent. Possible truth in the tales only came to light on the return flight as a man with two screwdrivers in his back pocket, got out of his seat after the plane had boarded and proceeded to work on one of the engines, delaying us by one hour.
If you have spent anytime traveling in places like Egypt then you first impressions of Sudan will be familiar. All our luggage was hand searched for the usual as well as any alcohol (Sudan is a dry state) and magazine pictures that may show people under dressed. Possession of such items could result in imprisonment or deportation, usually both.
Our first morning in Sudan, brought sunshine and 30 degrees C by 7:30 am with 14 days of diving ahead of us. Our first impressions of the Sudanese Red Sea were the view of a huge reef as we left the harbour. Unknown to us then we also passed over a highlight of our trip, The Umbria, languishing just below the surface. I would have liked to have taken some photographs of the land and port, however we were told not to take any pictures until we had left the coast.
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