Dahab or Sharm El Sheikh

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Is your 0-24 dive number correct? That's generally less than you'd want for Egypt - it has some great diving, but it's a lot riskier than e.g. Southeast Asia, with currents, bottomless walls, shadier ops, general culture of risk acceptance.

By all means go, but take any extra chance to prepare that comes your way.

Going as a family, dive diversity won't be the limiting factor. Dahab is easily worth three weeks of diving, Sharm el Sheikh about two months. That's what it will take you to see the sites. Your stay-in-one-town duration will likely be more limited by your family's tolerance for Egypt, which isn't all that welcoming outside of the big tourist traps.
 
Best Red Sea diving with chance of bigger life? That would be a liveaboard to Brothers, Daedalus and some further southern reefs....


Thank you... the dive shops in Sharm and Dahab both agree with you. I've heard Hughadada sometimes gets sharks and dolphins. I kind of botched the planning of this trip, but it was supposed to be a "quick" 7 day trip to see how great diving in the Red Sea is. I should've bit the bullet, taken 10 days off and done a liveaboard. As it is, I will have only 4 days of diving, (18 hours of travel time to Egypt, 5 more hours to Sharm airport, 4 days of diving, head to Sharm airport and 28 hours of travel time home. Cheapest flights aren't always the best way to go :( On the plus side: 4 days of diving in the Red Sea, not to mention the ice is clearing on the Great Lakes, so I'll be able to dive until the end of October when I get home.
 
Thank you... the dive shops in Sharm and Dahab both agree with you. I've heard Hughadada sometimes gets sharks and dolphins. I kind of botched the planning of this trip, but it was supposed to be a "quick" 7 day trip to see how great diving in the Red Sea is. I should've bit the bullet, taken 10 days off and done a liveaboard. As it is, I will have only 4 days of diving, (18 hours of travel time to Egypt, 5 more hours to Sharm airport, 4 days of diving, head to Sharm airport and 28 hours of travel time home. Cheapest flights aren't always the best way to go :( On the plus side: 4 days of diving in the Red Sea, not to mention the ice is clearing on the Great Lakes, so I'll be able to dive until the end of October when I get home.

I saw once a grey shark at 5m from the shore of Ras Um Sid (Sharm).... and I saw once a tiger shark nearby Shedwan (island in front of Hurghada) .... there is no rule, anything can happen, just open your eyes and you'll always find something nice.
 
I'm looking at the same areas for late 2019 (already!), and debating between liveaboard and shore resort. I like wrecks and pelagics, but am primarily looking for a mix that includes reefs, too. Because I may well travel alone the price of land accommodations appeals; single berths on boats are hard to find at a decent price. Not sure about sharing (older diver )...
So, this thread indicated sites are more accessible from Dahab from resorts, which is ok by me. What stellar Red Sea experiences would I be trading for this? Are there other towns that offer even better close access to sites - I'm open to North, South, as long as I can get there from the US without spending too many days in transit! Thanks!
 
hi
is in dahab theirs also nice macro? i heared about lighthouse at night but what is recommend? shore or boat dives?
 
I'm looking at the same areas for late 2019 (already!), and debating between liveaboard and shore resort. I like wrecks and pelagics, but am primarily looking for a mix that includes reefs, too. Because I may well travel alone the price of land accommodations appeals; single berths on boats are hard to find at a decent price. Not sure about sharing (older diver )...
So, this thread indicated sites are more accessible from Dahab from resorts, which is ok by me. What stellar Red Sea experiences would I be trading for this? Are there other towns that offer even better close access to sites - I'm open to North, South, as long as I can get there from the US without spending too many days in transit! Thanks!

Sharm (as Sinai in general) is difficult these days. Used to be a lot of flights to Sharm before the russian charter plane was shot down. The industry as a general is picking up along the coast. But still far from pre 2015. Which has its upsides for visiting divers. Sites that used to be bubble parties are now desolete and wild. Like in the 1970’s.

Dahab is cosier, but does not give access to sites of the same caliber as Sharm/Naama. Chanses to see bigger pelagics in Dahab are slim.

Liveaboards in Egypt are inme pretty much the best bang for the buck you can get, compared to anywhere else in the world. Very decent prices. Will give a better diving experience if that is your main objective.
Liveaboards generally depart Hurghada or Port Ghaleb. For a mix of reefs and wreck I would suggest a classic northern itinerary taking in Abu Nuhas, Thistlegorm wreck, Marine Park Ras Mohamed and the reefs in the Strait of Tiran. Best season for this is summer. Do NOT go in fall/winter/spring if you want to see big schools of fish swarming of the walls off Shark/Yolanda in Ras Mohamed. It’s comparatively dead other times of year.

For sharks, the off shore reefs Brother Islands and Deadalus Reef is the best, followed by Elphinstone and Rocky Island. These are all fortresses jutting up from the abyss. Inmo Brothers is the best as it has the best variation with a couple of wrecks and the best soft coral (comparable to Sinai). A normal one week Brothers-Deadalus-Elpinstone will spend two days at Brothers, one day each at the other sites and then som transfer time with dives closer to the shore.

I’ve had good experience with the Red Sea Diving Safaris ”camps” as well. The Marsa Shagra camp sits right inside Elphinstone reef and they offer trips there every morning. Summer months usually give a good chance of seeing hammerheads of the northern point and then the oceanic white tip sharks also start to congregate, peaking in October/November.

good luck
 
For variety and abundance of marine life and wrecks, the number of amazing dive sites, quality of hotels and shops, Sharm is definitely the best option.
 
I just got back from Marsa Alam; first time there, first liveaboard ever: the whole trip was about getting out to brother islands (hence the liveaboard), with a week of local diving. I've also done Dahab, but on a daily trip from Sharm. In all Sharm so far 9 times, I actually did both my OW and AOW courses there.
So my comparison based on personal preferences:
-Brother islands was awesome, but the diving there is definitely not beginner level. And the only way to get out there is a liveaboard, with no swimming/snorkeling in the area, so definitely not a family trip where not everyone is diving (there was one poor non-diver on the boat...) Sharks sharks and more sharks (note that we did not do Daedelus reef as we were on a shark itinerary, and according to the guides, that used to be THE spot for hammerheads, but has been dead for 2 years).
-Elphinstone reef; meh, can we go back to brothers? sorry
-Marsa Alam local was nice, but shallow dives (hence the name marsa), mainly 18-30 meters with sandy bottoms (salad bar! - I spent way too much time in 5 meters of water looking at sea grass and wondering if I would have to mow the lawn when I got home...). Overall I'm happy to have been, I saw lots of stuff I had never seen before (Dugong, seahorse, lots of gigantic green turtles..) But I missed the drop offs from sharm. You just won't turn around and see a manta in 30 meters of water. But we did see dolphins!
-Dahab; very pretty, but more of a camping vibe, with shore diving etc. Not sure about that area as a family trip. I guess the question is is everyone diving?
-Sharm, my 2nd home! Ras Mohammed and Tiran (and local sites) have plenty of beautiful walls with drop offs that allow you to look at the pretty wall, and turn around to see something big coming out of the blue. I learned there in 2003-2004, but stopped going in 2011 because there were just too many divers. I've been going back since 2015, and it's amazing!
So for someone looking to book a family trip and get access to fantastic diving, my vote would be Sharm all the way. The hotels are nice with lots to do for non-divers. You get access to some amazing sites just from the daily boats, and you can take special 1-day trips out to Dahab (1.5 hour drive on the dive center bus), Thistlegorm wreck (very early wake-up, but worth it at least once).
 
I have a question about Dahab... many people die in the Blue Hole. Still I heard that the dive itself is actually safe. The reason why they die is that they take unnecessary risks. I am AOW and certified to go down to -30 meters. I will probably take soon the "deep" certification to reach -40 meters. Is it safe to dive in the Blue Hole if I will strictly respect my certification limits and all the procedures?
 

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