Red Sea (Egypt) closed (covid-19 confined)

[Sunn]

(...)
I did request a flight to Frankfurt, thinking I could book a Lufthansa flight from there, and was told I would not be allowed to board a flight to Germany without a COVID test either. They did not call or ask anyone before telling me this, so maybe it is all International flights, and maybe they are just overworked and underpaid and wanted to get rid of me.

these are the rules for Germany : Information on entry restrictions and quarantine regulations in Germany

@JustSurfaceInterval do you agree with this source ?

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

@Sunn
You may have noticed that there are no statements that a negative COVID test is required, even less if you are only in transit.
So, @bvbellomo, i guess that United ground staff had a bad day or simply decided that they does not like you.

 

[divezonescuba]

Those of us traveling to Egypt in the future, thank you for keeping us up to date.

 

[bvbellomo]

I got my COVID test results 1 hour and 30 minutes after my plane took off, which was 73 hours after I took the test. If the rule is the way I interpreted it (e.g. 96 after my plane leaves Cairo) and flight durations and layovers are the same as they were, that gives me just a 4 hour window I can depart. No planes useful to me left in those 4 hours.

I am going to try again towards the beginning of next year. Any advice on weather diving Brothers in January or February?

I may be the victim of an unfortunate travel date. Covid cases are through the roof, so labs are probably overrun with requests and if I tested a few weeks earlier, I bet I could have had results much sooner. Even if we aren't all vaccinated by January, there should be less confusion about the rules and if infections level off or drop, lab results should be much quicker.

 

[David Novo]

Even if we aren't all vaccinated by January

No if here: the amount of people vaccinated by January will be low.

 

[tridacna]

I got my COVID test results 1 hour and 30 minutes after my plane took off, which was 73 hours after I took the test. If the rule is the way I interpreted it (e.g. 96 after my plane leaves Cairo) and flight durations and layovers are the same as they were, that gives me just a 4 hour window I can depart. No planes useful to me left in those 4 hours.

I am going to try again towards the beginning of next year. Any advice on weather diving Brothers in January or February?

I may be the victim of an unfortunate travel date. Covid cases are through the roof, so labs are probably overrun with requests and if I tested a few weeks earlier, I bet I could have had results much sooner. Even if we aren't all vaccinated by January, there should be less confusion about the rules and if infections level off or drop, lab results should be much quicker.

What did this CF cost you in dollars?

 

[bvbellomo]

What did this CF cost you in dollars?

Everything was reimbursed in some way, although vouchers and rebookings are useless if I don't go within a year. I suspect Lufthansa profited rebooking me as many times as they did (the cost of the new flight was always a few dollars more than the old one) but this was a small amount of money. If I am able to make this trip, the reduced prices due to the pandemic saves far more than any small amounts of money lost. If I never go, I am out around $1000, depending on if use vouchers for something else or get partial refunds.

Of course, the cost in time far outweighs the cost in dollars.

 

[Sunn]

Any advice on weather diving Brothers in January or February?
.

It will certainly be good, as there are few boats going there for monthes.... but water temperature lowers (coldest month of the year, and with the wind....).

7mm necessary or drysuit if you dive 3x/day