Up early and down to the boats. After finding suitable gear, we were off - first out. Our host was called Ahmet and after going through what was going to happen during the day, hew went round the boat introducing himself and learning our names.
After about an hour, we stopped at an island. We all clambered off the boat in to the sea (having been strictly instructed to stay with our guide). The snorkeling was very good. A lot of larger fish including a large napoleon and a moray eel. There were also the smaller clown fish and the like. The weather was overcast and cold and when we returned to the boat, we wrapped ourselves up in our towels and shivered. Looking around we were surprised to see that an armada of other boats had gathered. In fact since we had been in Egypt we had not seen so many tourists gathered in one place. We were thankful that we had been the first boat out and had most of our time under the water without company.
Our second stop was only about 10 mins from the first between two islands. Here the fish were smaller, but the coral was stunning. Only 5 out of the group of about 20 on the boat - being the Herrmanns + 1 - got in to the water so we had a lot more freedom. I fact after a while, the guide told me that he was going back to the boat and that we should return in about 10 minutes.
After the second dive, we had a fairly substantial lunch - salad, macaroni, kofta and fish - and then we headed bo an island with a beach. We were collected from our boat by a smaller boat which took us to the beach. We lay in the 'sun' for a while but soon we decided that we needed to do some snorkeling. There wasn't much of a reef here, but the snorkelling was OK with a couple of small outcrops of coral. We returned to the boat ( again all the other boats had arrived after us and by the time we left, the beach was crowded.
Our final stop was next to another reef where we could also fish. We opted for fishing this time (it was now getting really cold). They gave each of us a wooden reel with some line and a baited hook. Ahmed caught 2 fish and I caught 1 - these were the only fish caught. I threw mine back and it just lay there floating - I had a terrible feeling that I had killed it. Fortunately after a minute or so, it came back to life and swam away - much to my relief. Everyone fished and had a good relaxed time.
The boat headed back to Sinbad with us feeling that we had made an excellent choice for our last day there. There was a guy taking video on the boat who was a real card. He had a hair lip and so we didn't understand him too well, but he was well able to get people amused. On our return trip he did a whole lot of towel tricks to keep us amused.
Guy and I played volleyball with the usual Russians, but this time they brought their family along which really didn't work so well. We returned to our room and I had an Egyptian whisky with Fiona (who had by now gotten over the taste and smell) before we headed out to dinner.
Our last supper in Hurgharda was at El Ramadan - the place we'd been to on our second night there. We returned home well fed and the children went off to play pool and say thier last goodbye to the friends that they had found. We enjoyed another whisky and the last of the blue cheese we had bought earlier in the week.
