ACTIVE
DEEPLY SATISFYING
SCUBA DIVING IS EASIER THAN YOU MAY THINK, BUT AS EXCITING AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE - AND IT OPENS A GATEWAY TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD. THE RED SEA AND EGYPT OFFER SOME OF THE BEST DIVING LOCATIONS ANYWHERE. HERE'S HOW TO TAKE THE PLUNGE.
Words by Nat Barnes; Pictures by Corbis and Getty
The water in the Red Sea is reckoned to be some of the clearest in the world, but right now I wish it was as black as molasses. Eighteen metres below the water's surface and following the rest of the dive group, I glance down - and right below me, is a real-life, call-Roy Scheider shark.
OK, so it's a baby nurse shark and about as threatening as a golden retriever, but when there's nothing between you and it except three millimetres of neoprene wet suit, it sets the heart racing. That, though, is just one of the many joys of scuba diving - the ability to enter a completely different world that's right on your doorstep. Diving is one of the most exciting and invigorating, yet most relaxing sports you could ever try.
DIVE LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
A relatively short flight away, the Red Sea not only offers some of the easiest diving locations for us to reach from the UK, but also benefits from being one of the very best places in the world to dive.
There are many reasons to visit Egypt, but there's one huge one to visit Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea's Sinai Peninsula - and that's to dive. The weather is reliable, it's a reasonably affordable destination, and the resorts are superb - even for families who stay above water.
The Sinai Peninsula is home to Egypt's first marine park, Ras Mohammed, located at the