A favourite spot of liveaboards and daily boats alike, Shouna is one
of those areas where you can have magic encounters. Sites include:
•Ras Shouna - The corner and outside north of Shouna is unique for
its sprawling sand plateau. Littered in table corals of all shapes and
sizes, pick your depth on the gradual slope and see what's hiding
beneath each one. Of course blue spot rays are abundant, but certain
times of year bring in breeding guitar rays and other surprises.
•Aquarium - The name says it all - this is the site to come to for that
fish-tank feel. Cleaning stations up and down the reef serve the
resident schools of snappers, batfish, goatfish and fusiliers.
Crocodilefish, lionfish and scorpionfish lay in wait for the meals to
come to them and the keen eye will spot more camouflaged critters
on this site than any other. This is a dive you could do again and
again...
•Shouna Seagrass - The fine sand of Shouna supports a lush seagrass
bed that runs down the middle of the bay and around two shallow
pinnacles. This is a classic dive where you won't have to go far to see
large whiptail rays and green turtles. Ghost pipefish, snake eels and
shrimpfish are regularly seen but one of the greatest sights is the large
school of golden trevallies that hunt in the seagrass like a pack of
dogs. Interested in divers, these large fish come very close - but
beware the sand trail the leave behind! For the lucky ones also, Dyson
our local dugong is spotted here.
•Sha’ab Sireer - The 'bed reef' could be named after the lazy speed we
find works best to take in the scenery - but actually it's so called for
the fact that more often than not we encounter sleeping green turtles
at about 20mt. Massive male George and cute female Tracy are the
most regularly spotted, but there are plenty of others that make
cameo appearances. Posing for pictures, you'd be forgiven for not
noticing the massive schools of snapper and bream cruising amongst
the stunning corals above.
•Sha’ab Abu Khaled - Named after one of our captains, this reef is
characterised by steep sloping reef tongues extending down from the
reef wall, separated by sandy areas. These sandy areas reflect the sun,
lighting up the profuse colourful soft corals and giving another
opportunity to see big sleeping green turtles. Large shoals of
unicornfish, fuseliers and red snappers congregate next to the reef
wall, and you may even be lucky to see something a little bigger out
in the blue. The reef tongues are teeming with anthias reminiscent of
the more offshore reefs.
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