Hook, Line, and Regulator (cont.)

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Hook, Line, and Regulator (cont.)
Trouble facing the aquatic paradise.

And the development pressures are likely only to worsen. New resorts are planned for almost every acre of empty sand remaining. As we drive back through the huge, dun-colored expanse of Ras Muhammad, Françoise stops at park headquarters and introduces us to one of the rangers, a burly, bearded fellow named Nabil el Dafrawy. "They are planning to develop the whole coastline," Nabil tells us. "They're already calling it the Egyptian Riviera," he adds with a sneer. But then he draws himself up and looks over at us almost arrogantly. "I'm not worried about our beach, though," he says. "Not yet. We still have an iron grip on Ras Muhammad." We nod at him encouragingly. I hope he's not being overly sanguine. Certainly I wish him well.

As bleak as the landscape appears to be here at first, the more you look the more life you see.

We drive off, the dirt road paralleling a small mangrove swamp. Suddenly Jessica calls for the driver to stop and whips out her binoculars. A pair of reef herons is high-stepping delicately through the shallow water. As bleak as the landscape appears to be here at first, the more you look the more life you see. Heartened, we watch for a moment, and then we leave the park behind.

When first learning the sport, you're told that you shouldn't drink after diving, but that seems to be a rule seldom followed by the divers I've met. Back in Sharm, for example, Jessica and I venture to a bar overlooking the bay and order a couple of G&T's as a spectacular scarlet sunset ignites the blue velvet sky. When the G begins to kick in, I notice that Jessica's face is glowing with the same blissed-out expression I saw on the Aussie divers I met on my last trip. I suspect I wear that look on my face, too.

Just then the lounge singer launches into a very special medley of "Killing Me Softly" and "You Are the Sunshine of my Life," reminding us that, yes, we are once again at a real resort. So we do the only sensible thing: We order a second round and start planning our next dive.

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