5 Days First-time Diving in Red Sea

[marianne777]

I just booked my flight to Egypt to do some sightseeing and diving towards the later part of this month. Kind of a last minute trip and I'm very excited! I have my land sights all planned out but still need to plan my diving. I was thinking of doing 2 days in Dahab and 3 days in Sharm. I wanted to dive the Blue Hole and do the camel safari... Sounds interesting and can be a good conversation starter! I was curious to experience the laid-back feel of Dahab.... Do you recommend this? Or is it too much moving around and should just stay in a Sharm hotel during the entire time? Another option is to stay in Sharm the whole time - do my Nitrox cert the first 2 days and then more diving! Number 1 priority for me is best diving -- I like seeing big stuff (rays, sharks, etc) and I definitely want to see a wreck. I tried looking for a mini safari out of Sharm but none of them are confirmed during my stay there (not enough people signed up).

Do you have recommendation for a good dive op in Sharm or Dahab? I'm interested in small dive groups (~ 6 people) and I prefer speed boats (in regards to Sharm as I hear there are no boats in Dahab).

If you also have hotel recommendations, that would be great! I am mainly interested in diving and laying out so near a beach would be nice. Safety is also an impt factor as I am traveling solo.

I'm leaving next week so please send your suggestions soon. THANKS!!!

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Yes this is very good. If you want to see a wreck, then the Thistlegorm is a must.
Regarding the camel dive safari, it also depends on numbers. In case there's no enough divers, it won't be applicable.
Hotels depend on your budget. Are you looking for 5 stars hotels or 3 stars would be enough?

 

[Divingdon]

Hi Marinane,

I work for Sinai Divers in Sharm El Sheikh, we have centres both in Sharm (Ghazala Beach Hotel) and in Dahab (Dahab Hilton). You can do as you say spend your whole time in Sharm and take trips up to Dahab, or split your time between the two. Dahab is a lot more chilled out an less touristy, so you may want to spend your couple of days there before coming to Sharm.

Sinai Divers have been in Sharm since the begining and have a very good reputation. Also at the moment if you book in advance there are some good discounts. Check out the webpage www.sinaidivers.com

At the moment we're quite quiet so it means that the boats aren't crowded, also the divesites are a bit quieter at the moment. The water temperature is 22C although it feels like it's warming up a wee bit.

You won't find many speedboats for diving in Sharm, the only speedboats are zodiacs coming off of safari boats. Our boats, the Ghazala fleet are nice and clean and I love being on the boats as the food is great!!!

If you want more information about hotel bookings/dive packages drop a mail to info@sinaidivers.com and you'll get a prompt reply from either Dana or Daniela.

If you've any questions feel free to mail me.

Don

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

There're a couple of speed boats in Sharm; Wind K and Sky K.

 

[marianne777]

Which dive op uses Wind K and Sky K?

As for hotels, I'm okay with 3-4 stars, so if you can recommend any in Dahab & Sharm, that would be great.

I'll check out both Sinai Divers and Red Sea Shadow too. Thanks for the tip!

Any more suggestions???

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Wind K and Sky K are run by their owners. They rent "boat seats" to all dive ops.

Wind K does the Thistlegorm and Sky K does Nabq.

As for hotels, I recommend Dyarna in Dahab and Kanabesh in Sharm.

 

[Red Sea Lover]

I agree with Asser concerning Dyarna in Dahb, also Nessima is nice in Dahab too.
in Sharm you can stay in Kahramana, it's a nice hotel.
concerning the trip organization, i recommand red sea shadow, Asser is a respectable simple experienced guy and i know him personaly....
i'm not saying that sinai divers are not good, at all... they're one of the most famous centers in the red sea.... but i still recommand Asser