Dahab; hotel and small shop

[sonar]

Hi all,

I am planning a trip with my dad to Dahab in November. I am in doubt between booking a ticket and hotel in advance and find a shop on location and booking a whole trip online

Was hoping on some advice;

hotel
Nice and clean place; no allin resort. Close to the center & beach (<1Km) Nothing fancy but a swimmingpool is a must. Good breafast; we will eat outside.

diveshop
We are looking fo a nice small shop. My dad wants to do his OW, I want to make fun dives and pbb a introduction to tech- diving. We just want to dive with one instructor/ DM in a small group (max 4 divers) Just looking for a non-factory kinda dive shop where you hang out a bit after diving, chill out and maybe have a few beers together..

Since my dad gets seasick easily we don't want to be on a small boat for long trips (>30 minutes one way) but I understood most dives are shore dives. if we want to visit a place furtheraway I assume you have to book it together to save costs which is fine as well for a day.

Hope you can give me some advice

thx in advance

 

[Ste Wart]

You could try Red Sea Relax

Dahab Hotels|Dahab Diving

It's in a perfect position. Practically right on top of the main reef 'lighthouse reef'. It has a small pool and you're near all the restaurants if the food in the hotel doesn't suit you. It has a nice rooftop bar which I have spent many an hour discussing the finer points of diving in (ahem).
They also have a divers room. It is bunkbeds but if you are diving with the in-house shop you do not pay for accomodation. Not sure if that will be ok for your dad though.

You're right most of the diving in Dahab is shore diving, or as it is better known taxi-diving. As you are driven to sites by the locals. Which is always interesting, especially when Camels & Goats frequently block the road!
Dive sites not to miss are: Bells to Blue Hole, Islands and the Eel Garden.
There is a boat trip to Gabr El Bint and if you get the chance I would highly recommend this. The Corals are simply stunning.

There's also Eco Divers Eco Divers Dahab I mention these guys as they are run and staffed by Dutch. I notice your location as the Netherlands. They can also set you up with accommodation.

There is a lot of cheap accomodation in Dahab. Some is actually a lot cheaper when you are there than what is printed on the websites. So perhaps you could pay for one night and then go scout around for something else. After all with all the sun and diving in Dahab, do you really need a great room as well?

 

[sonar]

thx for you reply!

i will have a look at the sites and recommendations. You are absolutely right about the room. We both don't really care but with prices I found everywhere it hardly hurts to get a bit better place.. We mainly care about a nice atmosphere. We hate to be in some overpacked allin resort but, despite him denying, I don't think my dad wants to stay in dorm room with 19y old backpackers or on a bed next to the filling station..

Since it's just a week holiday i think we both prefer to book everything ahead, except for the diveshop maybe. Bit **** if you arrive somewhere, stay one day and then pack your stuff, move, negotiate a price and lose half a day on that..

That boat trip to Gabr El Bint, is that with a big boat? my dad gets seasick easily.. I read about it and it sounds really really nice

 

[Ste Wart]

Dahab is famed for it's wind, hence why it's the windsurf mecca of Egypt, just have your fingers crossed that it isn't a windy day when you day Gabr. As for boat size, it's the standard Egyptian dive boat, couldn't tell you the exact length. Big enough to lie down and groan if you need to But I wouldn't miss the dives, it's how Coral in Northern Egypt used to be!

SeaDancer dive centre is a good little shop and good value. Check their reviews on trip advisor. Tell them Stew sent you and they'll charge an extra 10%

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Normal size of the daily diving boats in Egypt is 15 to 30 meters (50 to 100 feet).

 

[String]

Id consider Blue Beach. Its a small hotel with a decent small dive centre. Has a pool, has a beach bar and is 2 mins walk from Lighthouse (the main area). Hotel is nothing flashy but its clean, effective and the restaurant serves good food unlike one of the places mentioned on here

If its a big sandy beach you want then it's Lagoona or one of the big chain hotels such as Hilton, Dahabeya, Ganet Sinai and so on. They're a long way out of town and not the small and friendly atmosphere you want though.

Coral Coast is another option.

Intro to Tech is going to restrict you quite a lot though. I can only really think of Dahab Divers (very expensive for normal diving) and mabe Sinai at the Hilton that could offer that which have accommodation attached.
Dahab is nearly all shore diving and no site is really more than 20 mins jeep drive away. Gabr El Bint is in my opinion the best dive site area but that is a 45 min boat ride.

 

[Druid]

I always use the Bedouin Moon hotel. Small (28 rooms iirc) friendly, clean. Swimming pool. Decent breakfast. It's about 3km from the centre though, but taxis are cheap - LE10.

Reef 2000 are based there, rec and tech diving and training.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Reef 2000 are based there, rec and tech diving and training.

Nice outfit indeed, but tech available only when the manager is there! He doesn't have much confidence in others when it comes to tech

 

[Ste Wart]

Nice outfit indeed, but tech available only when the manager is there! He doesn't have much confidence in others when it comes to tech

Really? Funny how he let me teach tech there

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Really? Funny how he let me teach tech there

Then he was there (he usually goes for like one and half month vacation!). I was told (by him) if he's not there, there's no tech. It doesn't mean that he must be in the water though.