Dive Report: Beirut
The Plan: I have to go to Warsaw a week ahead of a family vacation to sign some contracts and open bank accounts for our new Polish offices. Since this process will take only a day or two, this gives me a few days free between when I’m in Warsaw and when I need to meet my family in Barcelona. What could I do to fill this time? I decided to take a trip to Lebanon. I would stay at a nice seaside hotel in Beirut, explore the city and the countryside and of course, go diving. Of particular interest to me was the wreck of the Souffleur, a Vichy French submarine sunk by a British submarine British in World War II. And while I’m there I’d love to see the ruins of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley. I hear they may have been constructed by aliens and that’s always interesting.
The Dive Shop: I arrange for my dives with the Calypso Diving Center in Beirut. It has the twin advantages of being highly rated and also situated right outside the Hotel Movenpick, which is where I will be staying. The dive shop is run by Bassam Oud, who has been diving in Lebanon since he was a child. They have a well set up shop, friendly and helpful staff and are conveniently located just steps from the Marina where they operate their own dive boats. I was told ahead of time that the Souffleur dive was an advanced dive and I’d need both Deep and Wreck certifications so took those classes from my local dive shop, Pacific Wilderness in the weeks before my trip. I also arranged to take an SSI Nitrox 2 class at the Calypso Dive Center on my first day in Beirut.
Accommodations: My stay at the Hotel Movenpick was comfortable. The hotel is clean and modern, with great ocean views. There is a rooftop bar and restaurant that serves excellent sushi and has dancing and live music at night.
The Souffleur Wreck: The idea that French and British submarines engaged in naval battles in World War II came as a surprise for me. I knew little about Vichy France, and my idea of it was largely that of Captain Renault in Casablanca, a sort of unwilling collaborator playing both sides in order to survive. But in fact Vichy French soldiers did fight for the Nazis against the allies. French soldiers fought hard against American and British forces during the Invasion of North Africa. In 1941 British and Vichy French forces fought against each other in Syria and Lebanon during Operation Exporter. As part of this conflict, on June 25, 1941 the British Submarine Parthian fired torpedoes at the French submarine Souffleur, which had been forced to the surface to recharge it’s batteries. The sub was split in two, taking 52 sailors down with it.
Scenes from my dives on the Souffleur and AUB (American University Beirut) Reef
Underwater: There are a number of good dive locations within a short boat ride from the Marina and Calypso Diving Center, these include the AUB (American University Beirut) Reef and Canyon, Shark Point, Stingray Reef and the wrecks of The Souffleur and The Macedonia, among others. Due to wind, waves and currents the only locations I got to visit during my trip was the AUB Reef and Canyon, and the Souffleur. In July, water temperatures were quite warm ranging from 81 to 84 degrees. I dove in a rashguard and swim trunks and was never in the least bit chilly.
The Souffleur dive was the most memorable as I had never seen a submarine wreck before. It is not possible to do much penetration of the wreck, but one can venture a few meters on either side of where the sub was split in two. Debris is scatted alongside the wreck, and it has been picked apart a bit by local treasure seekers and battered a bit by fishermen with a penchant for dynamite fishing but despite all that it remains fairly well preserved.
AUB Reef and Canyon are (as the name suggests) just a few hundred meters offshore from the American University in Beirut. The reef is a beginning to intermediate dive. The canyon is suitable for advanced divers with a steep wall dropping down into the depths. There are some fun things to find during the dives here, like a trio of Harley Davidsons that Bassam sunk a few years earlier and a Katyusha Rocket that landed here during Lebanon’s Civil War. Bassam told me that he had plans to sink some tanks and other military equipment as well. Since my trip, I’ve seen that this has happened off the coast of Sidon, to the south of Beirut. No word though on whether they’ve done it in Beirut too. There were plenty of fish to see during my all my dives, a few turtles and rays. Nothing mind blowing, but all quite nice. I’d rank the Reef and Canyon dives as “good”, while the Souffleur qualifies as “spectacular”.
Getting out of Beirut to the Beqaa Valley: After 3 days in my hotel I was eager to get out and see more of the country. I contacted a guide and driver via Tours By Locals to drive me around the country. My one-day plan involved waking early, visiting the Jeita Grotto, the Beqaa Valley, Baalbek and the Ksara Winery and returning to my hotel at night.
Our first stop was the Jeita Grotto which is about a 30 minute drive from Beirut. Unfortunately there is a “no cameras” policy at the Grotto. I first assumed that camera flashes damage the cave, but there are an abundance of artificial lights guiding you through the cave. Perhaps the goal is to sell more postcards. Click the link if you want to know what it looks like. There have been several Lebanese cave diving expeditions to explore the grotto that are noted at the cave entrance but I don’t know of any regularly planned diving here.
After leaving the Jeita Grotto we passed through the Mount Lebanon range, passing by the Roman Temple at Faqra and the Mzaar Ski Resort, the largest ski resort in all of the Middle East. I was there in the summertime, so it wasn’t very busy, but looked like any other charming mountaintop ski resort designed by someone who had a penchant for naming buildings “chalets”. Once over the mountain range I saw the Beqaa Valley.
At the time of my travels the State Department had advised against travelling to Baalbek as it is only a few miles from the Syrian Border and skirmishes between Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon and ISIS militants from Syria had crossed the border more than once in the past year. But curiosity outweighed any concerns I had.
Scenes from the Beqaa Valley: Marijuana Farms, Syrian Refugee Camps and a Hezbollah T-shirt that I probably shouldn’t wear when entering the US.
Entering the Bequaa valley one passes through a number of Hezbollah security checkpoints, manned by armed guards. These were not particularly threatening and universally consisted of a guy waiving us through without any questions. In the Beqaa Valley the presence of Hezbollah is everywhere. Nearly every lightpost had yellow and green Hezbollah flags. And large posters and billboards line the roads with images of Hassan Nasrallah (leader of Hezbollah) and/or Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameni (Supreme leader of Iran, and Hezbollah’s main benefactor). Other banners and signs featured the images of martyrs that have been killed in the war in Syria. Along the sides of the road large marijuana farms stretched out in both directions. My driver told me that the profits from sales lined the pockets of Hezbollah and many a Lebanese politician. We passed by a number of Syrian refugee camps on the way to Baalbek. With a population of only 6 million citizens, Lebanon has a Syrian refugee population of 1.5 million. My driver viewed the Syrians fondly, telling me that Syrians and Lebanese are brothers. He offered that since we were so close to Syria, I should go see it in person, but I thought that perhaps seemed like a better idea for another day. It is noteworthy that not all Lebanese I encountered had the same feelings towards the Syrians. A gentleman in Beirut had offered me a very different opinion the day before. About an hour’s drive into the Valley we arrived at Baalbek.
Baalbek (Heliopolis): I knew of Baalbek through the History Channel show Ancient Aliens. I’m not a believer in the Ancient Aliens hypothesis, but I do find the show somewhat charming in it’s attempt to explain so many aspects of the past through a decidedly warped lens. It’s also equally amusing to watch these theories thoroughly debunked.
Scenes from around Baalbek
I hired a local guide at the entrance and made the mistake of telling him that I was going to tour the site quickly. (I had about an hour and a half) He followed me as I walked around, speed-talking from a memorized script too quickly for me to catch everything he was saying. But what I learned was fascinating: Baalbek was a place of worship at least 5,000 years ago and over the years has been a place of worship for Cananites, Phoenicians, Selucids, Romans, Christians and Muslims.
The temple complex is immense and features courtyards, ruins, columns and several nearly complete buildings. While I was there, an area inside one temple was being set up for an evening concert. I felt bad I couldn’t stay to see it, as the setup looked amazing.
On the way back to Beirut my driver stopped by Ksara Winery where I got a tour of the winery and caves, did some wine tasting and ran into a a group of British expatriates who I had been diving with earlier that week. It really is a small country. :)
Verdict: I had an incredible trip and wish I had been able to spend more time in Lebanon. There are many more locations to dive and attractions throughout the country that I’d like to see. Also my Hezbollah extra-large tshirt turned out to be really very small, so I need to get a new one. With any luck I’ll be able to return in the not-so-distant future.
