Ras Bob .....Everything You Always Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask...

Ras Bob .....Everything You Always Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask...

I'm sure many of you have dived Ras Bob when you have been in Sharm....a nice local dive site Ras Bob is sheltered from the waves and wind and usually has weak currents!

As a shallow dive (3 - 6 m) with many small bays, caves and gullies it's an excellent dive for beginners and more experienced divers alike. The sandy bottom is the perfect home for Blue-spotted stingrays and crocodile fish and there's nearly always a big Napoleon fish looking up at you!

But why is Ras Bob named Bob? It's hardly an Egyptian name.....and no it's not like some of the old Dahabian crowd will try to convince you named after Bob Marley.....it is actually named after an English dive instructor and videographer who worked in Sharm El Sheikh for many years...Bob Johnson.

Bob was instrumental in setting up the dive site ready for the infamous Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society underwater ad of the 1990s. Divers of a certain age will remember the ad, taking 6 weeks to shoot and directed by Mike Portelly (director of the famous underwater movie "The Ocean Daughter"), the ad won first place in "best underwater commercial" at the Antibe Film Festival 1996.  (You can find the ad on Youtube if you have never seen it at the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4MDxAnHG3o)

For the dive site known at the time as the Labyrinth, Bob and other local divers, including Ahmed Sherif, made the set which was put there for the filming of the ad with the structures taken away when filming was complete. Apparently, you can still spot some parts of the temple structure in somebody's garden at a house in Sharm!

Shortly after the ad was screened the name of the dive site was changed to Ras Bob, a lot catchier than Labyrinth I'm sure you will agree!

Next time after diving Ras Bob raise a glass to Bob Johnson and his fellow divers who helped transform an unassuming dive site into one of the most spectacular Building Society adverts ever......I still don't know what Sharm el Sheikh has to do with either Cheltenham or Gloucester though......