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Snorkelling Photos
The second set of photos were taken whilst snorkelling on the famous coral reefs of the Red Sea. We snorkelled mainly on the hotels' excellent house reefs, but also further afield at Tiran Island and Ras Mohammed. The photos came from a simple point-and-shoot Olympusndigicam in an underwater housing.

We start with the Parsons fish: I found this female specimen on the first day and she was quite tame, following me around for the rest of the holiday. Parsons fish (female)
The Melia Sinai hotel is blessed with an excellent house reef called Ras Nasrani. It's so good that every day, dive boats brought snorkellers and divers from other hotels. The orange fish shoaling over the coral are scalefin anthias, a common sight on any of the reefs. Scalefin anthias
Parrotfish are another common sight on the shallow part of the reef. There are many different species but they all have similar green and purple coloration. This is a Red Sea steephead parrotfish. Red Sea steephead parrotfish
The small black and white fish in this photo at Ras Nasrani are called half-and-half chromis, and they could often be found alongside the orange anthias. Anthias and chromis
The Indo-Pacific sargeant, also known simply as Sargeant majors in formation!
This is a bluefin trevally, a member of the jack family. They are large predatory fish that patrol the reef in small, fast-moving groups. They hunt mostly at night. Bluefin trevally
A whole host of smaller fish stay close to the corals, especially when jacks and trevallies are in the neighbourhood. One of the most conspicuous are the yellow or sulphur damsels. Sulphur damsel
Butterflyfish are easily identifiable by their distinctive shape and vivid colours. Here, a threadfin butterflyfish and a sargeant major are having a nibble on a jellyfish. Threadfin butterflyfish
Wrasses are a large and diverse family of fish: two varieties can be seen in this photo. The large fish is a juvenile broomtail wrasse: adults have a distinctively ragged tail. Here, its gills are being cleaned by a bluestreak cleaner wrasse. Broomtail wrasse
Puffer fish are unmistakable. The masked puffers are one of the more common species, with a striking black band across their eyes. They also move their round bodies in an unusual fashion, whirring their fins as they pilot themselves slowly around the reef. Masked puffer
Another parrotfish swimming over a multitude of staghorn and finger corals. This is a bullethead parrotfish, and like all members of the family, it uses its powerful beak-like jaws to break off dead coral from the reef. For a snorkeller, the sound of parrotfish munching away the reef is easy to pick up. Bullethead parrotfish
The hotels build floating jetties from the shore out to the point where the reef begins to drop away, to give swimmers, snorkellers and divers safe access to the water. Many kinds of fish take shelter under the jetties, something that can be quite a shock when you first jump in! Dipping toes
There's a bit of a feeding frenzy going on here involving parrotfish, angelfish and tangs. All these fish together create a colourful display and are quite easy to find at Ras Nasrani. Feeding frenzy
Nestled in amongst the corals are the blue lips of a giant clam. This must be just a youngster, for they can grow much bigger. Giant clam
A colourful royal angelfish swimming over the rounded forms of brain corals. These angelfish are quite wary and often move around alone, but we usually came across them on most snorkelling trips. Royal angelfish
This is a lined bristletooth. In dull light it can appear a uniform dirty brown colour, but the yellow pectoral fins are a giveaway. When the light is more flattering, the fine horizontal lines along its sides can clearly be seen. They are related to tangs and unicornfish. Lined bristletooth
The curious-looking hawkfish like to conceal themselves by perching motionless on corals, but they swim away if you approach them. Here, a pale form of freckled hawkfish can be seen alongside another lined bristletooth. Freckled hawkfish
Some fish are more common seen in large shoals, like these yellowfin goatfish. With protection in numbers, they often bravely swim further into open water. Shoal of yellowfin goatfish
On our last snorkel at Melia Sinai, we decided to brave the tides and currents and follow the line of the reef margin around the headland and all the way to the next hotel along the coast, the Baron Resort. Not only did we discover new kinds of fish, but also these fantastic coral outcrops. Coral outcrop at Ras Nasrani
On our first snorkelling trip to the Middle Garden, the reef just offshore from the Hyatt Regency hotel, we came across some familiar friends. These scalefin anthias have congregated around a brain coral. Anthias and brain coral
Another familiar shoaling fish are the fusiliers. The most commonly seen is the red sea fusilier, plain blue with black and white flashes on its forked tail. These are striated fusiliers, another common species with horizontal lines on their sides. Straited fusiliers
The shallowest part of the reef may only be one or two feet below the waves, and will extend all the way to the shore - this is why it's not safe to walk into the sea. At high tide fish such as this colourful Sohal surgeonfish swarm on to the reef platform to feed. Sohal surgeonfish
At the Middle Garden, I had a close encounter with a giant or titan triggerfish. It was so busy feeding that it let me approach quite close. These have a reputation for being very aggressive creatures and have been known to attack divers, hence the local nickname Titan triggerfish
My most memorable encounter of the holiday came at the Near Garden, another reef near the Hyatt Regency hotel. I was out on my own a long way from shore or from any other snorkelers, when suddenly I saw two large shapes appear out of the gloom. They were a pair of spotted eagle rays, which can measure 2.3m from tip to tip. Was I scared? Hell, yes! They did a graceful turn in front of me and disappeared back into the blue. It was only later, when I consulted the guidebook, that I discovered they are harmless and timid. Spotted eagle ray
Red Sea bannerfish can be found in pairs close to the corals, often motionless beneath an overhanging lip of reef. They also congregate in larger groups over outcrops of coral, where they seem to hang in the water. Red Sea bannerfish
On a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, we did three separate snorkelling trips. The second and most spectacular was to Ras Z'atar, a steep reef pounded by waves beneath red sandstone cliffs. The dropoff is vertical and disappears beyond sight, the water is crystal clear and vivid blue, and big fish are often spotted. Little wonder it attracts scuba divers. Scuba Divers at Ras Z'atar
A shoal of scalefin anthias massing over net fire corals at Ras Z'atar. During our snorkel here we saw a turtle and a Napoleon wrasse (the largest of its kind), but they were both too deep and distant for photographs. Anthias and fire corals
Some fish won't come close to the surface - you have to go to them, as I am demonstrating here. After a few practice dives it's easy to get the hang of diving with a snorkel - the main problem is staying down with buoyant fins. Chris diving
One of the strangest looking creatures is the Arabian picassofish - never has a fish been more appropriately christened. They live on shallow outcrops and along the reef margin, but can be quite difficult to approach. They are related to triggerfish. Picassofish
At the Far Garden, further north along the coast from the Hyatt, we swam into a shallow lagoon and had a close encounter with a dense shoal of fish. At first I thought these might be mackerel, but these are infact young barracuda. The yellowstripe barracuda is a smaller and more peaceful than its fearsome larger cousins. Yellowstripe barracuda
Lurking on a coral outcrop was this huge Napoleon wrasse, the biggest fish we saw all holiday. They can grow to 7.5ft long and weigh over 400 pounds! Napoleon wrasse at Middle Garden
The Napoleon wrasse came back for a closer look at me. They are known for being intelligent and wary fish and perform an important job by eating destructive invertebrates such as the crown-of-thorns starfish. Napoleon close up
These small black and white fish are called humbug dascyllus, and they often congregate over staghorn corals. The yellow fish is an exquisite butterflyfish. Humbug dascyllus
Bluespotted stingrays are a relatively common sight on the reef, but they sometimes hide under ledges or in caves. This one was making a dash for the shallow reef platform. Bluespotted stingray
Some of the colourful corals of the Middle Garden. Many of the Red Sea's reefs have been damaged by coastal development and tourism, but the reefs are more valuable alive than dead and some now have full protection. Corals of the Middle Garden
The healthy corals of the Near Garden are just as dramatic. In this picture, net fire corals, staghorn corals, brain corals and finger corals can all be seen. More incredible corals
A narrow chasm between two coral cliffs had attracted this huge shoal of small vanikoro sweepers, a deep-bodied fish that disperse at night to feed on plankton. I swam right through the middle of them! Shoal of vanikoro sweepers
More members of the brightly-coloured butterflyfish family. The predominantly yellow pair are masked butterflyfish. The single fish to the right with a black More butterflyfish
One last look at the beautiful corals. The familiar shoals of small anthias and chromis are joined by a vivid yellow slingjaw wrasse. This fish can extend its jaws to pick shrimps, crabs and small fish from the corals. Anthias, chromis and slingjaw wrasse

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