Dahab; hotel and small shop

[String]

This shop is fine but nothing special. Good equipment, nice guides but I was highly adviced to join a dive to 'check my skills' (I am a DM) in a sjittty training site. During a boat trip they took 1 guide for 5 divers with different skill/ experience levels which is a bit cheap imo

To be fair to them being a DM (or even an instructor) generally says very little about actual diving ability. Its not uncommon to have a DM or higher with the buoyancy worse than a new OW diver. Most centres will with good reason insist on an easy dive first before allowing things like Blue Hole/Gabr/Thistlegorm and so on. What was the "****ty training site" though ?
Lighthouse reef maybe? In which case its one of the main normal dive sites but also has a confined area (so isn't actually that ****ty). Its a fringing reef with large coral pinnacles with depths ranging from 0m to 50m. Generally there youll see the usual reef fish along with octopus, unicorn fish, hawksbill turtles, lots of crocodile fish, *large* scorpion fish and so on. People actually request it. Yes training is done there - in the confined and the first 50m of it or so but that doesnt make it a "****ty training site"!

Mixed groups can sometimes cause problems but sometimes its not viable to pay 2 guides for 5 people and on lots of sites you really dont *need* depth. Part of the problem is that Dahab tends to be too "nanny'd" with diving - its all generally done as follow-the-leader group herding with very little or no responsibility given to individual buddy pairs. Its a shame and somewhat restrictive for customers that are actually decent divers.

Fish life - yes its getting noticeably poorer here than before. The out of control construction and other issues have done visible damage to the reef in the last 12 months and massive illegal overfishing (always a problem, now on a near industrial scale) by egyptian and mainly bedouin right on the main diving reef area is decimating it in places. They need to get law and order restored but i cant see that happening for several years.


As for the weather - yep its freezing. Getting mid february air and water temperatures (and wind) since early november. Its a VERY cold winter compared to previous years. Drysuits are great.

 

[sonar]

I've never been asked before to do a test dive. I can understand they don't take you straight to Blue Hole but I had the idea I was highly adviced to do the test dive because they had a dive planned there. The test dive was with some OW students who sucked big time which kinda ruined the dive for me. The site was indeed lighthouse reef but we only went to the sandy part with some coral here and there.

I understand they don't take an extra guide for financial reasons but not doing that makes the difference for me between an "ok operation" and a "recommended operation"

But don't get me wrong; I had an awesome time and I recommend Dahab to anyone. It's just that if I write a review other people might use the info so I want to be fair. Many people are just 100% positive or negative because they (dis)liked their guide and want him to have extra business

 

[Ste Wart]

The check dive in Egypt is a bit of money maker. Haven't dived the last 6 months? Oh well do 2 or 3 skills, go for a dive and we'll charge you an extra 15 euro on top of a normal dive for the privilege. With your dive count I would have pushed the point and refused to go. They would have backed down. Hell I've worked at Reef2000, I would have told you to get a beer rather than come with me for a check dive.

Lighthouse is an OK reef. It does get a huge amount of traffic, but it does have some redeeming features. It has been known to turn up Giant morays, guitar sharks even dolphins (although very rare). With a little time and care it can be a good dive. But the guide has to want to make the effort. A lot will just power to the saddle, round the corner, turn and come back without pointing out anything. Depends on the guide really. Normally the ones with an interest in photography will produce a better pace and more interesting dive; although we have been known to focus too much on the macro and miss some howlingly large things!

Swings and roundabouts. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

[sonar]

I wasn't charged extra or really had to do skills. The girl at the store told me to but the guide said it was cool.

Again just saying that it's the difference between an OK operation and a great operation. Reef2000 gets an easy 7 but I dove at some 8 or 9's stores in the past. If you decide to stay at Bedouin Moon, which I highly recommend, and don't have a specific recommendation you won't regret diving there

 

[Red Sea Leonfish]

'Check dives' are always a tricky issue. Crowley made some valid points in his recent blog on their use in helping to 'grade' divers. However, if they then just stick mixed ability divers in one group together anyway then the only real reason would be to check that you're at least good enough not to risk other people's safety on a dive.

I do slightly resent wasting one of six dive days (on a typical 7 night trip) repeating skills for the sake of it (at a surcharge) on a boring sand-shelf dive followed by a duff second dive with a inexperienced group. However, good operators/good DMs can normally spot a good diver fairly quickly and, where possible, can tick the minimum number of neccesary boxes in less than 5 minutes leaving you still 40-60 minutes for a proper dive.

In my experience, if a Dive Centre or a new guide insists on 'checking you out', you should (1) ask once if you really have to (based in your level of experience) and (2) if they still insist, you are better off smiling politely and then quietly proceeding to demonstrate your skills quickly and safely to get the whole procedure over with than you ever are arguing the point with them.

At the end of the day, it's the Dive Centre's call and the staff are only doing their job and, ultimately, if you don't like it, you can always take your business elsewhere.

Otherwise, thanks very much to sonar for the update.

I think the pionts about the dive centre operation are very valid and appreciate that you have taken the time to give a detailed review of what to expect rather than a simple thumbs up or down. I've been watching the ongoing 'issues' in Cairo with keen insterest but it still doesn't really seem to be causing any problems in Dahab. So, if the area stays stable and the flights keep going from Bristol to Sharm then, on the basis of your review, I will seriously consider the BM (and maybe Reef 2000) for a 6 day trip in the Spring.

 

[dazle]

yeah, red sea relax sounds like the place that you will like. swimming pool, clean rooms, buffet breakfast that's well nice, free tea and coffee and the cheapest bar in dahab i just got back last week, you'll have a ball! i'd sort your dads ow course out when you arrive tbh, there's loads of dive centres with offers on, you want to see how much it is at red sea relax too, they have a very reputable dive centre