AOW-- vital in the Red Sea?

[jjb160]

Hi all,

I'm visiting my friend in Egypt this summer, and having just gotten my OW certification, I'm very excited about the diving opportunities in the Red Sea! I'd like somewhere low-key and low-budget to spend 4-5 days diving and taking pictures of colorful coral reefs. Would Dahab be a good fit? Also, do you recommend that I complete the AOW course, or should I just do daily guided diving? I would love to advance to AOW, but I'm a little hesitant because of my limited time and budget. I'm not sure if I want to spend half of my time there doing training dives. Unless those training dives are as good and fun as the guided dives and AOW would greatly enhance my diving experience in Egypt.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

 

[James Bond boat entry]

If your budget is tight, you can do the single Deep Adventure Dive under the PADI system. Five different adventure dives certifies you AOW, Deep and Navigation are mandatory.

The dives sites in Dahab I really enjoyed were El Bells and the Canyon; you need to go down to 100ft/30 Meters. You may end up doing your single deep training dive at the Cayon or request it.

 

[Razmataz78]

Dahab is a very nice place, if you are looking for something low key. I took my OW in Dahab last year so I can't really compare the diving there with other places. However, we did a lot of shore dives to a max depth of 18 meters (60 ft.) which I found to be really great: Lot's of coral and fish!

If you end up in Dahab, make sure you dive "The Islands"

 

[El Orans]

Don't forget to compare the cost of AOW and daily guided diving.

 

[Druid]

Hi all,

I'm visiting my friend in Egypt this summer, and having just gotten my OW certification, I'm very excited about the diving opportunities in the Red Sea! I'd like somewhere low-key and low-budget to spend 4-5 days diving and taking pictures of colorful coral reefs. Would Dahab be a good fit? Also, do you recommend that I complete the AOW course, or should I just do daily guided diving? I would love to advance to AOW, but I'm a little hesitant because of my limited time and budget. I'm not sure if I want to spend half of my time there doing training dives. Unless those training dives are as good and fun as the guided dives and AOW would greatly enhance my diving experience in Egypt.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

Dahab is ideal for the sort of diving you want to do, lots of fairly shallow dives with plenty to see between 6 - 15m. Guided dives will cost about 50 euros a day (2 dives), AOW will be 200-250 euros for 5 dives over 2 days, and will allow you to dive the 2 classic Dahab dives, the Bells to Blue Hole and the Canyon. The AOW dives are not really training dives, there are no skills to demonstrate like OW, they're just to increase your experience.

there are plenty of decent dive centres in Dahab, but I always use Reef2000

 

[Scubadad1]

Most reputable dive centres will insist on AOW for some dive sites and rightly too. Just as a price comparison the AOW with the centre I work for will cost you 199 Euro which includes 5 dives and your equipment. To do daily diving on a boat for 2 days with 5 dives will cost you 120 Euro for the diving, 50 Euro for equipment rental plus about 20 Euro for the third dive so the AOW course is good value. Only one dive is without a "fun" element which is the Navigation; all the rest you will have mostly a normal dive.

With your AOW you can go to some great wreck dives and see the best sites in Ras Mohamed and Tiran.

Pleasse choose a reputable dive centre and don't be wooed by cheap offers - you get what you pay for!

 

[Red Sea Lover]

I think you should do your AOW as the cost is not different at all , plus those who say that the navigation dive is not fun, it's not exactly like that, you can do the navigation skills on land then practice it underwater, it will not take more than 5 minuits, then you can complete your dive as funny as you can, and i think it'll be in the light house whicj is a nice dive site.
also you can make a deep dive and a night dive which are a part of the AOW.
and as you say your budget is tight, so you might not need wreck diving or boat diving, but beleive me, in dahab you will enjoy shore diving a lot.
juat follow these steps:
smile
come to Dahab
smile
enjoy your time
smile
take the AOW
smile
enjoy diving
smile
go for a dinner in the mountains
smile
send me your feedback, and at this moment i'm sure i'm gonna smile
i wish you the best of the best
Ahmed

 

[SpaceCase]

Sharm El Sheik was an easy dive. The hotel we stayed at had a PADI dive center there who was very helpful and competent. The dives were right off the shore (about 20 meters out, accessed by the hotel's floating docks). I took my daughter, who had about 15 dives, prior to that dive. Current was minimal, vis was 20+ meters, reefs were plentiful and let me say massive. I was surprised at the minimal marine life but that could have been because of the massive reefs.

We also did a night dive there and that was spectacular. As far as budget... we all have them and they are smart to have. I suggest that you save more to spare no expense on your dive there. For most of us, it is a once in a life time opportunity. Enjoy and be safe.

 

[jjb160]

Thank you so, so much for the amazing advice-- Dahab it is! I'm going to be an AOW diver this summer!
SpaceCase and ScubaDad, you are totally right. This is a once in a life time opportunity, and I should just save more and not let cheapness mar my experience in any way.

I contacted Red Sea Relax in Dahab, and they said their AOW course will include
-Deep dive in the Canyon
-Multilevel dive from the Bells to the Blue Hole
-Naturalist dive and night dive at the Light House
-Navigation dive at Banner Fish Bay

Let me know if you guys have any suggestions as far as dive centers go. I just contacted Red Sea Relax because their price includes accommodation, equipments, and materials, so I thought it'd be convenient. Again, thank you so much! This is very exciting

 

[Razmataz78]

I did my OW with Sinai Divers Dahab (Hilton) last years. Really nice guys that seemed to know what they were doing:
Diving Sharm el Sheikh Dahab Hurghada Sinai Red Sea Egypt

However, my recommendation might not carry that much weight, as they are the only dive center I have used ;o)