Live-a-board diving from the Shore - Elphinstone Reef - Abu Dabbab

Marsa Alam is where we do our turtle money-back gurantee holiday. Diving in Marsa Alam speaks for itself, however we go a step further. Working with Red Sea Diving Safaris allows us to be flexible and offer unlimited house reef diving for the same price as a normal 10 guided dive package, infact cheaper! We go as far as 3 hrs south of Marsa Alam, being the only non live-a-board company to reach the fury shoals and Sataya/Dolphin reef.

Some Intersting Facts about Turtles

Turtles are reptiles whose soft body is covered by a hard shell. Most turtles can pull their legs, tail, and head into the shell for protection. Different turtles live on land, in water, or both on land and in water. Some turtles that live on land are called tortoises. A terrapin is a turtle that lives in or near freshwater or partly salty, coastal water. The name terrapin is only used for a group of North American turtles.

>Turtles can be grouped into seven main types: (1) mud and musk turtles, (2) pond and marsh turtles, (3) sea turtles, (4) side-necked turtles, (5) snapping turtles, (6) soft-shelled turtles, and (7) tortoises. Like other reptiles, all turtles are cold-blooded; their body temperature about matches the temperature of their environment. They are found living in deserts, forest, grasslands, lakes, marshes, ponds, wetlands, coastal areas, and in the oceans. Turtles live in almost all geographic regions except those which are cold year-round. They cannot remain active in cold weather, so species in regions that have harsh winters must hibernate. Some desert species survive the hot, dry periods by going into a related state of limited activity called estivation. Sea turtles spend most of their life in the water. Other species live mainly on land or in fresh water or spend about an equal time on land and in water.

There are over 250 different turtle species; about 50 live in North America. Between species, turtles vary in size from the bog turtle of about 4 inches long (10 centimeters) to the huge leatherback sea turtle, which can mature to 4 to 8 feet lengths (1.2 to 2.4 meters). Many turtles spend their entire life within a short distance from where they were hatched, but most sea turtles migrate thousand of miles. Sea turtles are also fast swimmers; but on land most kinds of turtles are slow, lumbering creatures. However, some land turtles like the smooth soft-shell specie can sometimes outrun a human. Most turtles are omnivores, that is they eat both plants and animals but the exact foods consumed vary between the species. For instance, green sea turtles and tortoises feed almost entirely on plants.

A few freshwater species including the map turtle and soft-shelled turtles eat mainly other small animals. Today over 40 species of turtles including most sea turtles and many types of tortoises are endangered, and if turtle conservation and protection does not improve, certain species will become extinct. People are their greatest threat. Historically people have sought turtle eggs and meat for food. Turtle shells have been used for ornamentation. Rare exotic turtles have been shipped and trafficked as pets. Turtles are still hunted and captured today; turtle nests are plundered. People further harm turtles by eliminating their natural living areas as forests, swamps, and other areas are transformed for farms and urban growth. Further endangerment comes from continued pollution of their living areas.