Dahab perches on the edge of the Gulf of Aqaba like a cliff top retreat, but the cliffs are entirely submerged by the waters of the Red Sea.
They lap innocently against the beach side bars but just a few yards from the dry land, the sea bed plummets. In the space of three metres, we went from wading in water barely over our calves to floating over a vault of perfectly clear water, sixteen metres deep and teeming with life. The wall is heavily populated with coral and fish and has to rate as one of the greatest dive sites in the world.
Divers explore the SS Thistlegorm, sunk by the Germans in 1943 just off the shore, which rests in 25m of water, its cargo of trucks and aircraft spilled across the seabed.
For three hours we swam amongst the Dorys and Nemos, the Parrot and Angel fish. I finned down, time and again to be surrounded schools of flashing silver and blue small fry as they turned and circled as one, enveloping me close to the face of the coral. Deeper down, smaller shoals of larger fish cruised aimlessly along the wall, barely quickening their pace as I fell in behind them. Periodically a larger predator would surge into the reef and the resident population would scatter in a flash of colour and an explosion of reflected light.
Forty feet above me Clare hung in the vault with shafts of sunlight silhouetting her floating form as, lungs aching and mask pressed tightly against my face by the pressure, I raced to the surface for air after what seemed an eternity at the bottom, but in fact was barely more than a minute.
Eventually, exhausted and reluctant, we dragged ourselves from the water with hours of underwater footage to remind us of the unforgettable experience.
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