Complicated Red Sea Question

[boulderjohn]

I am considering planning a Red Sea trip and have some exploratory questions.

The major complication is that I would like to bring my wife on the trip and have her enjoy herself. She is a non-diver but an avid snorkeler. I would prefer to make a somewhat extended trip which would include sightseeing in the usual great Egyptian sites as well as some intense diving. My wife and I have gone on many trips to locales where she has snorkeled (or done something else) while I dived and we then did other things together. That works wonderfully in places like Cozumel, but it is not so great in other places.

That arrangement normally rules out liveaboards, although we did one on the Great Barrier Reef together, and it was perfect because the snorkeling on the GBR is superb. I think she was in the water more than I was, and she had a great time.

I assume there are resorts that sound ideal for what I have said so far, but the complication is that I am a technical diver (through both advanced trimix and full cave) and would love to visit some of the deeper wrecks. That doesn't have to happen every day, but I would like to get in at least a few such dives.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

 

[TSandM]

John, do the MV Tala. You can tech dive while she snorkels (or free dives with a scooter, or all kinds of other fun). Most of the places we dove would have been suitable for snorkelers as well, as the walls went up to the surface or very close to it -- the only exception I can think of was the wreck of the Thistlegorm, but that's where we had a pod of dolphins come by in shallow water.

Faisal also set up a week of land-based travel for us in Egypt. We were not very happy with the tour operator in Cairo, and I would not recommend spending a lot of time in the city. I enjoyed Luxor/Karnak and the Valley of the Kings much more.

Hurghada was a very pretty place with gorgeous beaches, too.

Please feel free to give me a call if you want to talk about our trip!

 

[Searcaigh]

Check out Aqaba in Jordan, Dive Aqaba is a tech place and there are some good wrecks to satisfy you. Snorkeling is good too with some excellent viz.

On the land side there is Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea

 

[Vassilis Vlachopoulos]

Aqaba is a good choice, as Dive Aqaba do most of their boat dives close to shore - easy for snorkelers to participate. Dive Aqaba are also well into tech diving.

I would also recommend Dahab, provided night life / clubbing etc is not your first priority. I have spent some considerable time in Dahab in the past few months and I love this place. Actually I look forward returning on first occasion, accompanied by my wilfe who is not a diver but I know she will be thrilled with the place.
Dahab offers excellent tech diving spots, such as the Blue Hole and many others, all close to shore - i.e. perfect for snorkelers too. Unfortunately, there are no wrecks in the vicinity, however, there are several good ones in the entrance of Suez bay - a full day excursion from Dahab.
In addition, Dahab offers opportunities for land activities, e.g. excursions in the desert / valleys on Sinai mountain (on camels, 4X4 etc) staying, if you wish, overnight in bedouin tents. Climbing all the way up to Sinai top (where Moses received the Ten Commandments) is worth doing and it can be combined with visiting St Cathrine's monastery.

Re tech diving, I know a few tech dedicated diving centers, very competent and fully equipped.
Both in Aqaba and in Dahab, the diving centers can also arrange accomodation.

 

[samaka]

There are plenty of itineraries you and your wife would both enjoy. I'm guiding divers on liveaboards all over the Red Sea and we sometimes have snorkelers/non-divers on our trips.

If you by "deeper wrecks" mean the ones on +40 meters (+130 feet) then daily excursions are out. If you mean wrecks like Thistlegorm and Rosalie Moller then there are operators that are doing them on day-trips. The deeper wrecks like Zealot, Maiden, Numidia, Aida that you can dive on +50 meters or +165 feet are located on the offshore dive sites like Daedalus, Rocky Island and Brother Islands where you only get on liveaboards. If you want more detailed information you can have a look at my private website with Red Sea information WELCOME TO AZIAB you also find articles on technical diving in the Red Sea in the magazine The Equalizer. Feel free to email or PM me if you want more specific information.

...a...

 

[johnatabc]

I have found that Dahab works well with a non diving spouse.
Local excursions into the desert and St Catherines Monastery, or day trips to Cairo and the Pyramids or to Petra in Jordan.
You can also do the dive trip to Thistlegorm.
John

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

One more option you might like to consider is to have both worlds; liveaboard and land-based vacation. Now there are 3-day mini safaris (liveaboards) that could be easily combined with daily diving in Dahab.

 

[boulderjohn]

Thanks everyone--lots of good information!

 

[Crowley]

There are a lot of options - you can get Tec diving in Sharm as well, and although snorkelling is still restricted at certain hotels due to the shark attacks last year, Tiran and Ras Mohamed are open, and many dive sites, accessible by day boat, are great for both tec and snorkelling. Okay, you can't snorkel on the wrecks but if the hotel has shore diving, or you do it from a recreational boat, maybe there's a few more people for the missus to hang out with if you are planning to make extended decompression dives.

Dahab is great for both snorkelling and tec diving - plenty of deep walls and, of course, the Blue hole, where you can have a little party with all the other technical divers you will meet at the bottom, and plenty of mellow beach front bars and cafes, but the wrecks are more easily accessible further south, from Sharm and from Hurghada. They can be done as day trips from Dahab, but it's a LONG day - 4am - 8pm for Thistlegorm, which is mostly frequented by single tank divers. You can get all the day trips to the Pyramids and other sightseeing activities pretty much at any Red Sea resort.

Hurghada would be another good option but I'm not so familiar with the location; Samaka and Shadow will know more.

Liveaboards - for sure you can dive and snorkel and do tec diving - of course I don't know you guys, but from experience watching other couples in similar situations, the non-diving other half has to really want to stay on a boat for a week surrounded mostly by divers. I don't think I would personally recommend a tec-only liveaboard, but that's for you guys to decide. A recreational liveaboard that includes tec options might be more suitable, perhaps?

Hope that helps a bit,

C.