OCEANROAMERS

Sudan (officially the Republic of the Sudan) (Arabic: السودان ‎As Sūdān) is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area.

It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. The world's longest river, the Nile, bisects the country from south to north.

In the recent years the sad siege of war has cast a shadow over this dive jewel of the Red Sea. Sudan’s coastal and offshore reefs have fascinated the diving world for decades.

Sudan’s share of the Red Sea coast is approx. 650 km (400 miles). Soft and hard coral of colors beyond comprehension form perfectly preserved reefs with an abundance of fish only few can imagine – and even some that are still not found in any fish book. It is a fact that the profusion and diversity displayed on the reefs here makes the coastline of this shattered country the glittering crowning jewel of the Red Sea.

Turtles roam the reefs for sponges to eat – much too busy to even look up, and manta rays hover majestically over several cleaning stations while devil rays cruise by at the reef drop-off.

Outside the reef barracudas school on corners, drop offs and channels, but particularly the sharks are famed in this area, display a varied selection for the keen shark diver. Grey reef sharks and hammerhead sharks zoom about hunting - or just patrolling, while nurse sharks and leopard sharks wait for prey or take a rest on the bottom.

If you are into legendary diving you can retrace the fin strokes and explore the remains of Jacques Cousteau’s legendary Conshelf II underwater living environment. The reef that Jacques Cousteau carefully selected for this extraordinary purpose is the colorful Shaab Rumi, which is an oval reef lagoon 43 km (27 miles) north of Port Sudan.