A few months back I was contacted by the Equalizer Red Sea magazine through the pictures I post regularly on the H2O Facebook page. After a few email exchanges they asked me to write an article about the Reef Check programme we offer at H2O and so I did. This article was the opportunity for me to talk about the value and importance of getting better knowledge about the underwater word – coral reefs in particular, and how divers, even without scientific background, can make a difference in the reef’s conservation. Getting your Reef Check certification makes you part of a worldwide community. Eco-dives are another way to increase your knowledge and get more out of your dives than you thought you could.

This is the beginning of that article:

“I’ve been a diver for more than 15 years and there’s always been this one thing that struck me underwater: the less there is, the more you see. Of course when you’ve spent 12 years diving mainly in cold quarries with bad vis, it becomes a comfortable thought.

For the last 2 years though, I’ve been diving in Dahab, Egypt, where the corals thrive, and still I think the same. Being trained as a marine biologist helps though: your eyes accustomed to seeing small organisms, and with the knowledge behind to see more than meets the eyes. I’ve always had much more fun in dive sites that look less impressive but have more to offer if you know where to look – and what to look for!”

UPDATE: December 2016, The Equaliser Red Sea Magazine is not longer available online