Warmwaterpls
Registered
The title may seem to say it all, but really, I feel that I'd be cheating other divers of some information, if I didn't write the following.
My wife and I flew in to Hurghada, through Istanbul, with Turkish Airways. Turkish has a deal where they don't charge you for scuba equipment if you're heading to Hurghada. This was convenient. It was also nice to not have to worry about the unrest in Cairo - though I heard from other travellers that there's absolutely no issues if you're only in on a layover at the airport.
We stayed at the Marriott in Hurghada and dove the entire 9 days with Aquarius. Very good, professional, run by a number of expats (German, Dutch, etc.), and very decent prices.
Every day, we'd walk into the town of Hurghada. 70 meters away from the McDonald's, there's a store called 'Dive Store'. What the name may seem to be lacking in inventivity, the staff and the owner's honesty and consideration make up for in spades.
I wasn't really looking to buy anything, but the sale tactics seemed so transparent, so different from EVERYONE else in Hurghada, I was fascinated to see if it was all just a ploy.
The owner, Mr. Ali Aref, was in the store, every time we went in. Due to his modesty, I didn't even know he was the owner for the first couple of days.
We were told, as are told most potential clients who walk in, that their policy is to please the customer and to make of the customer a friend. This way, they know the customer will come back, and they believe that 'the money will come'...
In order to be able to offer items at a more reasonable price, the store has made its own brand called DivePro. Whether it be fins, wet suits, dry bags, torches, even regs, they're all made in the same places that other, more well known brands are made, using the same (and in many cases, better) materials.
I was skeptical, and I think that it's fair to be, especially when we're talking of a hobby/lifestyle in which you take your life into your own hands.
I bought a pair of DivePro fins (exactly the same as Jet Fins), an 800Lumens Torch and a huge Dry bag. Now, I have NO benefit from saying this and I'm not associated in any way with the store or the brand.
I paid less than half of what the name brand items cost. I used everything on a daily basis and I can assure that they're quality stuff.
There wasn't a question that Ali didn't do his best to answer, or that he didn't help in finding the perfect solution.
Our flight out of Hurghada was at 4am. He wouldn't let me refuse a ride to the airport. He came to our hotel and drove us to the airport, paying for parking, etc.
Throughout the week, he helped us change money at the best rate in town, bought us supper, and fresh fruit juices. At times, my wife and I were speechless, not understanding how, amidst the fierceness of the salesmen, the constant attempts at taking advantage of tourists, the fake "where are you from?" and caring, how there could be a store, a man, who genuinely just cares about helping divers have the best possible time.
As you can clearly see, I rarely post anything - I'm more of a read only kinda guy, as I'm quite busy and somewhat too lazy as well as not wanting to get too involved in forum politics and opinions. I also believe in the 'two ears and one mouth - so one can listen more than one speaks'.
Bottom line: if you're in Hurghada and you see 'Dive Store' between McDonald's and the Marina, do go in and see Ali and his staff. You will NOT regret you did so. I too am a person that goes on holidays to get away from too much interaction with people, so I wouldn't tell anyone to go to a place where they'd feel accosted and overwhelmed. This Dive Store haven may be the only place we found in Hurghada where nobody was pushy.
In our case, Ali single handedly made our dive vacation exceptional.
Apparently, a web site for his DivePro brand is under way, so for now, Dive Store Hurghada can only be found on Facebook.
This is NOT an attempt at doing marketing, it's a 'thank you' to Ali and the staff of Dive Store Hurghada, and it's also my way of sharing the treasure we found in Egypt with the diving community.
PS: I just had my wife read this before I post it. She insisted on my mentioning two other things:
1. The store was spotless. Very true. As occidentals, we so value cleanliness.
2. Regardless of making a sale or not, the kindness doesn't change. We witnessed it throughout the week with other potential clients also.
My wife and I flew in to Hurghada, through Istanbul, with Turkish Airways. Turkish has a deal where they don't charge you for scuba equipment if you're heading to Hurghada. This was convenient. It was also nice to not have to worry about the unrest in Cairo - though I heard from other travellers that there's absolutely no issues if you're only in on a layover at the airport.
We stayed at the Marriott in Hurghada and dove the entire 9 days with Aquarius. Very good, professional, run by a number of expats (German, Dutch, etc.), and very decent prices.
Every day, we'd walk into the town of Hurghada. 70 meters away from the McDonald's, there's a store called 'Dive Store'. What the name may seem to be lacking in inventivity, the staff and the owner's honesty and consideration make up for in spades.
I wasn't really looking to buy anything, but the sale tactics seemed so transparent, so different from EVERYONE else in Hurghada, I was fascinated to see if it was all just a ploy.
The owner, Mr. Ali Aref, was in the store, every time we went in. Due to his modesty, I didn't even know he was the owner for the first couple of days.
We were told, as are told most potential clients who walk in, that their policy is to please the customer and to make of the customer a friend. This way, they know the customer will come back, and they believe that 'the money will come'...
In order to be able to offer items at a more reasonable price, the store has made its own brand called DivePro. Whether it be fins, wet suits, dry bags, torches, even regs, they're all made in the same places that other, more well known brands are made, using the same (and in many cases, better) materials.
I was skeptical, and I think that it's fair to be, especially when we're talking of a hobby/lifestyle in which you take your life into your own hands.
I bought a pair of DivePro fins (exactly the same as Jet Fins), an 800Lumens Torch and a huge Dry bag. Now, I have NO benefit from saying this and I'm not associated in any way with the store or the brand.
I paid less than half of what the name brand items cost. I used everything on a daily basis and I can assure that they're quality stuff.
There wasn't a question that Ali didn't do his best to answer, or that he didn't help in finding the perfect solution.
Our flight out of Hurghada was at 4am. He wouldn't let me refuse a ride to the airport. He came to our hotel and drove us to the airport, paying for parking, etc.
Throughout the week, he helped us change money at the best rate in town, bought us supper, and fresh fruit juices. At times, my wife and I were speechless, not understanding how, amidst the fierceness of the salesmen, the constant attempts at taking advantage of tourists, the fake "where are you from?" and caring, how there could be a store, a man, who genuinely just cares about helping divers have the best possible time.
As you can clearly see, I rarely post anything - I'm more of a read only kinda guy, as I'm quite busy and somewhat too lazy as well as not wanting to get too involved in forum politics and opinions. I also believe in the 'two ears and one mouth - so one can listen more than one speaks'.
Bottom line: if you're in Hurghada and you see 'Dive Store' between McDonald's and the Marina, do go in and see Ali and his staff. You will NOT regret you did so. I too am a person that goes on holidays to get away from too much interaction with people, so I wouldn't tell anyone to go to a place where they'd feel accosted and overwhelmed. This Dive Store haven may be the only place we found in Hurghada where nobody was pushy.
In our case, Ali single handedly made our dive vacation exceptional.
Apparently, a web site for his DivePro brand is under way, so for now, Dive Store Hurghada can only be found on Facebook.
This is NOT an attempt at doing marketing, it's a 'thank you' to Ali and the staff of Dive Store Hurghada, and it's also my way of sharing the treasure we found in Egypt with the diving community.
PS: I just had my wife read this before I post it. She insisted on my mentioning two other things:
1. The store was spotless. Very true. As occidentals, we so value cleanliness.
2. Regardless of making a sale or not, the kindness doesn't change. We witnessed it throughout the week with other potential clients also.
