Question Bring Sofnolime to Egypt?

[DiveVenture]

I will be diving for a week in Egypt and I'm wondering if I should bring my own Sofnolime. In theory I can get it locally but they only know 2 weeks before I travel what quantities they will have and the type.

Has anyone recent experience with bringing Sofnolime to Egypt?

 

[Mobulai]

My CCR Instructor does that whenever he goes to Dahab, he’s actually there right now teaching another instructor friend mod2 so I‘m sure he brought a lot with him— probably with like 20 Kilos of it in his room

Most of the (ccr) clientele actually at the host dive shop (Planet Divers) also bring their own Sofnolime

Where in Egypt are you going to dive?
What airport do you land at?
How much Sofno do you expect to need (with buffers) for the dives you’ll do?

The main worries would be checking it in (proper labeling before you fly according to where you fly from..), and the extra weight
if you fly into Hurghada or SharmElShikh almost noone will check you
If you fly to Cairo, some probability customs will wanna have a short chat with you, you play cat and mouse with them and once you tell them you are here to dive they’ll let you go without import charges (not a guarantee tho)

I haven’t done it (sofno) myself, but basing on my experience flying (as an Egyptian, so less „curtesy“ from customs than “tourists“) with my dive equipment from Germany to Egypt

 

[DiveVenture]

My flight and travel path is not the normal one: I fly to Cairo then a domestic flight to Luxor, and eventually by road to Port Ghalib for the actual diving.

So I will probably have the biggest issue at Cairo, but I wonder what will happen with the domestic flight.

 

[Mobulai]

My flight and travel path is not the normal one: I fly to Cairo then a domestic flight to Luxor, and eventually by road to Port Ghalib for the actual diving.

So I will probably have the biggest issue at Cairo, but I wonder what will happen with the domestic flight.

I actually never fl domestic in Egypt (maybe once as I child and have no real memory of it)
I can’t begin to guess on how sofnolime would be treated by authorities then
Personally (as an Egyptian) I’d avoid it
Rebreathers (when carried by Egyptians) aren’t such a welcome item by authorities already so I wouldn’t fly with one except to a dive destination— trying to explain sofno would be a headache I imagine; if I was a „tourist“ might be a different process (and probably they’ll just let you pass with ease, but also might make them suspicious bringing it to luxor )

So you’d have your gear, rebreather and sofno throughout that trip?
Why not send it out to the dive operator from Cairo directly?
I’m quite sure it can be arranged for maybe the same or lower price as the baggage charges for that extra flight

Let me also ask for you that friend about his experience going from Dahab to Hurghada with CCR and sofnolime, maybe sheds some light to both of us

 

[Mobulai]

Let me also ask for you that friend about his experience going from Dahab to Hurghada with CCR and sofnolime, maybe sheds some light to both of us

He says it’s quite alright as most airports in Egypt are informed about it now and should be easy — ignore my previous anxieties and traumas about authorities (I’ll just leave it at that )
Edit: might make it easier if anyone decides to be „meticulous“ to have the liveabord booking accessible on hand at airports

On the bright side, any extra sofno you end up with at the end of the dive week you can sell (or gift if you’re feeling extra generous) to the dive operator and they’ll love you for it (in case you wanna dive with them again)

 

[makar0n]

Went to Dahab in June with 3x 4.5kg of sorb, flew straight to Sharm though - Belgian security was a bit curious, but they had a look at the material datasheet/safe to fly printouts then let me through. Zero issues on arrival. On the way back still had some left, and that did attracted a bit of attention in Sharm but just said "rebreather, scuba, scuba" and all was fine.
Make sure to cover that corrosive warning label with something, I normally put stickers with my name/address there, that nicely cover it
Sorb prices in Egypt have increased quite a bit (was about 20 Euro a kg now) so guess depends on how much you are planning to use and your spare weight capacity i.e. if it makes sense to carry it that is.