It's every diver's dream: Wake up early on a midsummer day. Fill a 4 x 4 Landcruiser with dive gear and camping kit. Throw in an armload of maps and nautical charts, a few phrasebooks and a cooler full of drinks.
Ask the neighbour to feed the cat, get a friend to forward your mail, and head off on an open-ended dive safari. Get off the ferry at Calais and just keep driving - next stop, the Red Sea. How could it get any better?
I'll tell you how - you could get paid for it. Write all your costs off as business expenses. And rely on the most knowledgeable dive veterans in the Red Sea to point you in the right direction.
You could also have the region's top dive operators show you every nook and cranny of the local reefs, as well as
giving you free air-fills and rides on their boats. You could have one of the best underwater photographers in the Red Sea come along to document your trip.
And, just to keep things interesting, you could spend the whole trip looking for out-of-the-way dive sites that most visitors never see; or finding fascinating, hidden sides to even the most popular reefs.
I left a few details out - the long hours of desert driving, the infuriating bureaucratic struggles, the bribes, the breakdowns, the hair-raising near-miss accidents, the language barriers and general frustrations. But that is how I spent most of 1995 and early '96, researching a new diving guidebook, The Dive Sites of the Red Sea.
With me for much of the trip was Alex Misiewicz, long-time Red Sea skipper and one of the finest wide-angle photographers working today. Alex was my buddy on many of the dives that made the trip so special and which are highlighted here; other sites I dived alone, so you just have to take my word for it!
Jordan gets the short end of the stick in terms of Red Sea publicity - the country has some of the best coral in the northern Red Sea, but still loses out to places like Eilat when it comes to diver awareness.
Two sites are my own favourites, and a good introduction to the many surprises hidden along Jordan's tiny coastline. About 300 metres north of the Jordan/Saudi Arabia border, one of the real treasures of the northern Gulf of Aqaba is a steep sloping reef with outrageously thick coral growth becoming denser and denser as you descend.
The coverage is fantastic, with an almost perfect balance between hard and soft species, all beautifully preserved and densely packed, with barely a gap between one patch and the next.
Fish life is excellent, especially among smaller reef species - damsels, basslets and clownfish, tiny basslets and anthias in particular. Wrasse, butterflies, boxfish, porcupines and pufferfish round out the picture, while lyretail grouper, Napoleon wrasse and rock cod mix with regal, map and other angelfish.
This remains one of the nicest coral sites in Jordan, and is definitely a must-dive location for anyone visiting the area.
The other great site nestles among a cluster of more popular sites 3km north of the Royal Diving Centre on the coast south of Aqaba. This is a flat reef, almost horizontal for most of its length, broken only by New Canyon, a steep, sandy-bottomed valley dropping sharply to well beyond 40m.
It is a fairly recent discovery, a sort of little brother to the well-known, heavily dived Canyon site just to the south. The upper reef features scattered depressions and gentle ridges, and drops to 30m or more well offshore, but you need to swim several hundred metres to find this kind of depth.
Coral cover is excellent - barely a sandy patch mars the even reef growth. The site's relatively undived state means better coral quality than most local sites, with fields of hard corals and swaying carpets of dense soft corals, particularly dendronephthia.
Fishy attractions include huge scorpionfish, lionfish, lots of lizardfish, triggerfish and surgeons and many different wrasse varieties. Jewel-like basslets wreathe entire coral heads in dazzling colour.
Egypt is probably the highest-volume diving destination in the Red Sea, yet there are still untold "secret sites" that escape the attention of most divers.
Some are remote or inaccessible; others are hidden in plain sight in the major diving areas, offering far better dives than more heavily hyped local sites.
Just a short jaunt up the coast from tourist-laden Sharm el Sheikh, Dahab is the location of some of Sinai's best-kept diving secrets. Chief among these is The Islands, a dense, labyrinthine concentration of pinnacles and patch reef just off the Dahab shore.
The site is just 16m deep, yet it is phenomenally varied, with a range of peaks, valleys, corridors, sand patches, bowls, amphitheatres, deep wells and coral peaks that almost defies description.
Every millimetre is covered by dense-growing, pristine coral - probably the most diverse and well-preserved in Sinai. Every conceivable species is present, giving the reef a jewel-like quality that has to be seen to be believed.
Stunning as the coral may be, the fish life - huge schools of barracuda, snapper, surgeon and unicornfish and 101 other species - almost outshines the reef itself. This dive's otherworldly qualities will draw you back, dive after dive.
Half the attraction of Gabr el Bint in Sinai is the novelty of getting there - by camel, along the inaccessible coastline between Dahab and Sharm el Sheikh. The sight of a camel train, loaded with high-tech dive gear and driven by Bedouin in full regalia, is one you will not forget quickly.
The site itself is a deep, sheer wall topped by a sloping reef flat dotted with sand bowls and table corals. The wall is dramatically sculpted, its craggy contours cut by deep inlets.
To the north, the upper reef slope widens, blanketed by a forest of soft corals and gorgonians growing to 2 or 3m across. Inshore, a sandy lagoon dotted with coral heads is excellent for spotting rays and crocodile fish.
Coral growth is superb, with both soft and hard species in amazing abundance. Black coral and big gorgonians sprout deep on the wall, while an excellent range of reef and schooling fish - jacks, surgeons, groupers and snappers, angels and many others - round out the picture.
Turtles are common, and the reef is packed with octopuses. This is one of the most unusual dives on the Sinai coast.
Still in Sinai, Ras Ghozlani is a site just inside Ras Mohammed National Park, and a real hidden gem. Unlike justifiably popular sites nearby, this site is not visited by hordes of divers each day, so its delicate beauty has been preserved.
A sheer, shallow inshore wall gives way to a deeper sloping reef face; on the wall, dense coral growth is jammed edge to edge, while the deeper slope alternates between patches of thick coral and sandy basins and washes.
It is hardly worth listing the range of coral species on offer; just pick up a book on corals and start turning pages. If it exists in the Red Sea, you will find it here, undisturbed by the relatively few divers who visit the site.
Fish life is also stunning - like the coral, every possible species is here in a riot of scintillating colour. This is possibly the nicest spot on the southern coast for reef fish.
Another Ras Mohammed site, Anemone City, is often overshadowed by neighbouring Shark Reef, a world-famous site that attracts swarms of divers daily.
Anemone City is actually one of the nicest reefs in the area, so its low profile is a blessing. It is one of the few Ras Mohammed sites that can be dived from shore. Wonderful at any time, the reef is best at dawn, when the first rays of the sun illuminate swarms of fish engaged in early-morning feeding.
Anemone City's sharply angled reef is broken by plateaux and shelves, where dense pinnacles and coral heads tower in a blaze of colour. Coral growth is very rich, but the stars of the site are the anemones, covering the reef in a carpet of gently waving fronds. Their density is amazing, unmatched in the region or indeed the whole Red Sea.
As well as anemones and unbeatable coral, the site boasts superb fish life: barracuda and needlefish hang patiently in the water as huge triggerfish cruise by, and big schools of fusiliers flash in the open water. Added to these are Napoleons, jacks, grouper ... the list goes on.
The coast around El Quseir in southern Egypt is really one huge, secret dive site. Barely explored, pristine reef stretchefor miles in every direction, each site seeming better than the last.
Beit Goha is possibly the finest of all, and that is high praise. The site takes its name from a terminally confused Egyptian cartoon character, and this labyrinthine coral garden is so complicated that even the guides get lost here.
Phenomenal coral growth and diversity make Beit Goha unique. A huge array of hard and soft species beggars the imagination on a reef that twists and turns until you are dizzy, hosting an unexpected bounty of reef and schooling fish, with sand patches playing home to guitar sharks, white-tip sharks, bluespot stingrays and crocodilefish.
Everyone loses their bearings on this dive - but on a reef this stunning, it is a pleasure getting lost.
El Kaf is another Quseir site, this excellent dive beginning in a canyon opening onto a narrow, sandy bay, its coral walls running straight out from shore. An assortment of coral blocks and pinnacles litter the sand, flanked by steep, spiky slopes full of pinnacles, shelves and sandy areas.
To the north and south, the reef is split by sandy ravines and long swimthroughs leading into cavelets, blind alleys and tiny passages.
Main reef and pinnacles both have excellent coral cover, with a huge variety of exquisite coral on show. Acropora tables and carpet-like dendronephthia are a high point; beyond the mouth of the bay are a scattering of huge, dead acropora tables completely overgrown by pale soft corals.
The excellent variety of coral growth is matched by a large and diverse fish population; El Kaf is a lovely dive, with an amazingly varied profile and layout for such a relatively compact site.
Rocky Island's north coast faces the prevailing north swell, turning the surf zone into a churning maelstrom for much of the year. Conditions can make boat pick-ups impossible, facing divers with a long swim through rough surface waves to calmer waters.
This means that the north coast is often neglected, which is a shame, because this is one fantastic dive. Sheer walls and a rugged, jagged profile make a dive here feel like flying over the mountains of the moon. Roaring currents make for a bullet-like drift dive, with strong surge even at 25m or more.
The entire north reef wall is covered in soft corals, making it perhaps the best soft-coral site on the island. Fish life is rich and varied, with a bias toward schooling species - swarms of snapper, surgeons and unicorns, barracuda, tuna, and jacks in particular.
Sharks are a tantalising possibility - big grey reefs and hammerheads are often sighted.
Part of Rocky Island's popularity is its range of different dive possibilities, amazing for so small an island - and this dive, so unlike those to the east and south, demonstrates that diversity. Dramatic profile, challenging conditions and excellent fish life make this site a magical adventure for suitably experienced divers - unmissable .
Eritrea is as unknown a diving destination as you could wish for. It is rebuilding itself after a 31-year war of liberation from Ethiopia; and part of this renaissance is the rediscovery of dive sites last visited by Italian pioneers in the 1950s.
Anywhere you go in Eritrean waters you will find an unexplored dive site, but Nokra Dry Dock is an interesting legacy of the country's chaotic past.
Just off Dahlak Kebir, one of Eritrea's main diving centres, lies the old Nokra naval base, abandoned in the war's closing days. Before pulling out, the Ethiopians scuttled their equipment to keep the Eritreans from using the base; and among their cast-offs is a huge, sunken dry-dock.
This wreck lies in the narrow north channel between Nokra Island and Dahlak Kebir. Large cranes protrude from the water at its corners, and a catwalk runs just below the surface. Winches and other machinery can be seen on deck at 5-7m; debris and cables litter the sand around the base.
The dock drops sheer to the sandy bottom at 21m; some sections are undercut, forming deep hollows sheltering sweetlips and other fish.
The wreck hosts dozens of species, including snapper, map and Arabian angelfish, butterflies, big spotted grouper, wrasse, sailfin surgeons, emperors and big parrotfish. The surrounding sand flats are home to blue- and black-spot stingrays.
The wreck has been heavily colonised by hard and soft corals; delicate bushy heads of dendronephthia cover it in every imaginable colour, most notably violet, deep purple, maroon, and exquisite pearly white.
As a part of Eritrea's recent military history, for its fish and coral life, and for the sheer fun of diving on a safe and easy wreck, this is one of the best dives you will find in Eritrean waters.