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Scuba Diving in the Red Sea
Dive Site: Abu Hashish
Location: Hurghada
Description: Wall, sandy plateau and seagrass area
Depth: Wall drops away to about 50m (165 feet), sandy areas average about 10m (30 feet)
Visibility: 10 metres (30 feet)
Rating: **
Abu Hashish means 'Father of Grass', named because of the seagrass found at this site. The site is made up of a sloping wall that is topped by a sandy plateau between 10 and 20 metres. On the plateau there is another coral ridge from 10m to the surface. There is also an area of seagrass (over which the boats moor) which gives the site its name.
We moored at this reef overnight in the sandy area and did a night dive in the shallows and a morning dive on the wall. On the way out on the night dive the reef was proving to be rather uninspiring and there was not much of note to see. On the way back I decided to swim over the sand and seagrass area in the hope that I might spot a seahorse. I didn't see one but what I did see was a tiny baby cuttlefish and a tiny octopus, both about the size of a thumbnail. The octopus went purple when it saw me in effort to try and stop me from eating him but the cuttlefish just pretended it wasn't there. Also in the sand was a crab and a hermit crab. These four little critters made an otherwise dull dive worthwhile! The wall dive was not up to much either, there were all the usual reef suspects, but nothing noteworthy.
I was told the site was named after smugglers who used to dump their hashish here to avoid detection. Apparently there is a cave somewhere around here under the surface where they used to hide it. Nice story if probably not true!
Ian Higgins, Dive Guide
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