Going to Sharm... need advice.

[rhyme]

This will be my first trip to the area. I'm going with my fiance, we both have something around 100 to 150 dives under our belt, maybe 200 by now, I stopped counting...

Our criteria:
(1) Something at least semi-romantic and good diving as this will likely be our only trip for a year.
(2) A good house reef if we dont feel like taking a one hour boat ride to Ras.
(3) No liveaboards - my fiance doesn't like em (I know people are going to suggest them, so I'll get that of the way now).

Things I need help with:

(1) European charter/ flight companies ???

Can anyone give me urls to european charter/flight companies that fly out of Rome? I found eurofly.it and egyptair.com.eg, are there others? Long story short ... I'm stuck with two non-refundable business class tickets to Rome, so I have to connect out of there. Not living in Italy, I dont know the european carriers well - and 98% seem to come from the UK (i.e. ryanair)

(2) A place to stay!

I found this website -http://www.diversintl.com/travelinformation/accommodation.html
Which has amazing prices... but they tell me the Sofitel gets booked up by tour operators and recommended the Crowne Plaza. Reading recent reviews, it sounds like the crowne plaza sucks - horrible food, not near anything else, higher prices than anything in Naama Bay, and apparently there's a ton of construction going on at the resort (or next to it) which makes for an unpleasant outdoor experience. Apparently there's so much dust from the construction it's even affecting visibility on the house reef. The diversintel group also said: "When diving by boat we can offer you 2 days Ras Mohamed and 2 days Tiran in a 5 days package, where most other diving centers offer only 1 day in each location for a 5 day package, so we offer the best diving locations in our schedule". No idea if this is marketing, or this is truth...
The biggest attraction here is the price... $501 each (399 euro), diving included.

The CONCORDE EL SALAM on the other hand, seems to have pretty darn good reviews on tripadvisor.... but... I have no idea about their dive operation, nor about actual cost. http://www.concorde-hotels.com/Fiche_Hotel.aspx?ID_Hotel=109
The price of the hotel is $138 a night, $966 total + diving, so it sounds a bit more expensive than the above option, but the hotel has much better reviews. There is little about the dive operation I can find online, so any information anyone could give would be appreciated. The only comment I found was that the op is cash only which created a huge pain, and the diving prices sound insane if this woman is telling the truth in her review: "Unfortunately with two of us diving every day for a week with some specialty excursions to Dahab at the Thistlegorm, we ended up with a dive bill of almost 1300 Euros." (That's 650 euros each just for the diving? Thats $80 per dive!?!). The reviews on tripadvisor are all very good, but if the diving is going to cost 1300 euro for two people (!)...

One other option I found was the Sheraton (mixed reviews on tripadvisor) with Aquarius divers, http://dev.sinainet.com.eg/content/view/31/440/ ... Their dive prices are reasonable 192 euro for 5 days pp, sheraton hotel comes up as low as $90 a night, $630 total, plus 400 euro for diving... ~ $1,200 or so for the week. Nice prices - especially if the woman above actually paid 1300 euros just for her diving at the Concorde... but the reviews of the Sheraton are mixed as well.

In short...

Diversintl seems to have a pretty good overall package deal, but not one that would be significantly cheaper than staying at (for example) the Sheraton and diving there. The Concorde sounds like the nicest choice, but lacking any information about the dive operation or it's associated cost.... I'm reluctant to book. Hence, I need help..

Last few odds and ends:

(1) http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=133136
I don't understand this thread at all. What's all this talk about jetties? There's only 3? I'm CONFUSED... is this saying that even if your dive operator is "on site" you need to go somewhere else to get on your dive boat? Huh?

(2) Dive gear
Should I bring my own dive gear? It's obviously a long haul from Chicago to Rome and Rome to Sharm... concerned about lost luggage / etc.

Please help me!

New Requirement
Based on teh response by ArthurGerla, it sounds like I where I stay and who I dive with are not one and the same. Dive operator recommendations welcomed.


Regards,
Too many options!

 

[ArthurGerla]

(1) http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=133136
I don't understand this thread at all. What's all this talk about jetties? There's only 3? I'm CONFUSED... is this saying that even if your dive operator is "on site" you need to go somewhere else to get on your dive boat? Huh?

That's right. Check out the map at http://www.goredsea.com/en_streetmap+1-sharmelsheikh-destinationstreetmap.aspx. The little anchors indicate the three places where you can board a boat because there is a jetty. The southernmost one ('Travco') at Sharm el Maya is a bona fide harbour, the others less so.
Normally a dive op, even a big one, will have a minibus pick you up from the hotel and get you to either jetty, but usually the big one. An 'on-site dive operator' at the hotel can just mean there's a small shop that takes bookings for try dives.

(2) Dive gear
Should I bring my own dive gear? It's obviously a long haul from Chicago to Rome and Rome to Sharm... concerned about lost luggage / etc.

I bring my own gear because I know it intimately and trust it. Like you though, I would worry about the airline misdirecting it to Murmansk , especially with stops along the way. Rental gear is usually ok.

Art

 

[rhyme]

That's right. Check out the map at http://www.goredsea.com/en_streetmap+1-sharmelsheikh-destinationstreetmap.aspx. The little anchors indicate the three places where you can board a boat because there is a jetty. The southernmost one ('Travco') at Sharm el Maya is a bona fide harbour, the others less so.
Normally a dive op, even a big one, will have a minibus pick you up from the hotel and get you to either jetty, but usually the big one. An 'on-site dive operator' at the hotel can just mean there's a small shop that takes bookings for try dives.
Art

Wow, what a great great great site. So, basically, if im understanding you correctly...
This means two things:

(1) I can pretty much stay at any hotel I want, because, no matter what, I'm going to have to "go somewhere" in the mornings anyway....

(2) I can pick pretty much any dive operator of my choice.

I wonder if I can find a good one that uses steel tanks. So much nicer than alu's you ask me. I got used to them in Honduras and never ever want to go back to alu's. Short and fat, no risk of hitting your head if you didn't place it well ... and because they weigh more, you need less actual weight on your BC.


Looking at the site...Let me flip this whole situation on its head a bit...

I'm not seeing any dive op near sharks bay... Does this mean I should be staying in Naama? Is it therefore a pain to stay in sharks bay and dive? It seems like I'd have to get to Naama, which looks like its a good distance away, not walking distance by any means (unless the map distorts this)... If I should just stay in Naama, where should I stay? Also, doesn't this mean that whatever "house reef" a hotel has, is pointless? If I have to go somewhere else to get a tank, who cares what house reef exists... its faaar too much of a hassle, no? Am I missing something?

More generally, any dive operator recommendations? Quality, Safety and comfy boats are more important to me than price.

One option: I've dove with TGI before, and was happy with them (Honduras)... They offer steel tanks - even 15L ones.

http://www.tgidiving.com/cgi-bin-tg...15589&refid=&cadjust=euro&shipping_country=LU

Looks like they say there is a curtesy shuttle from your hotel (but it doesnt say which)... and does this mean I'm going to spend an hour on a shuttle every morning stopping at every hotel on the way down to Naama?

edit:

Any opinion on any of the following? (I'm seeing if its worth using points, but probably not)

Hilton Sharm Dreams Resort - 87,000 points (ranked #17)
Hilton Sharm Waterfalls Resort - 43,750 points (ranked #15)
Hilton Sharm El Sheikh Fayrouz Resort - 43,750 points (ranked #6 on trip advisor)
Conrad Sharm El Sheikh Resort - 153,125 points (room prices reasonable tho - $130/night with breakfast but reviews are mixed)
Sheraton - 23,000 points (wow, thats nothing, but mixed reviews on trip advisor)
Sofitel - N/A on points
Concorde - N/A on points (ranked #5 on trip advisor)

 

[ArthurGerla]

Rhyme,

Goredsea is a great site, but nowhere near complete.

I haven't seen a lot of steel tanks in Sharm, but it can't hurt to ask. Because of the 30 meter depth limit 15 liter tanks are useless unless you're a worse air hog than I would expect with 150 dives under your belt.

Re Dive ops I suggest you contact Emperor, Camel, Red Sea College or Oonas, these are considered quality operators.
Camel might be to your liking: It's a combination of dive op and small divers hotel in the busy center of Naama bay, and within walking distance of the jetty there. There's good food to be had in the adjoining indian and italian restaurants. Also it is home to the famous Camel rooftop café.

Re hotels: Sorry, can't help you there. I always stay and dive low budget. No point paying big bucks if you're going to be out on/in the water all day and hitting the town in the evening.

Art

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Rhyme,
In Sharm, we use AL80 (12 Liters AL tanks). You can find also AL100 (15 Liters AL tanks). No HP Steel tanks. Most of the tanks' valves are INT (yoke) with the ability to remove the adapter and use it with DIN regulators.

Hotels depend on your budget. You can go starting from 50 $ till 250$ per night. However, I recommend finding something in Naama bay (the center of action).

Dive ops depend on your preference. Do you prefer large ops or small ops? Large ops are professional enough but it's hard to have a personalized service with them. Small ops offer more personalized service. Both use high quality boats and are up to the standards.

 

[rhyme]

Ok, so I've made some $$$ hotel choices it seems.

What are good non-expensive hotel choices?

 

[bubblemonkey]

hello
I have just returned from 7 nights in sharm staying at coral tiran in sharks bay, the food at the resort (1/2 board) was amazing.
We dived with Sinai dive club, in just shy of 100 dives we have done in the past the guide we had for the 13 dives we did in sharm was amazing he knew all the sites intimatly, the collected you from the hotel in the morning and dropped you off after the dives, the boats were all of a high quality and the help on the boats was also very good, everything from helping you on with your gear to helping you out back on to the boat to the food they cooked.
I seriously cannot praise this company enough, nothing was to much trouble.
in total we did 26 dives including Thistlegorm (extra 80 euros each) had 2 t-shirts and a new high pressure hose and our bill for all the diving was about $700 us.

 

[Marek K]

Also, doesn't this mean that whatever "house reef" a hotel has, is pointless? If I have to go somewhere else to get a tank, who cares what house reef exists... its faaar too much of a hassle, no? Am I missing something?

Other folks with more (any) experience along the Sinai Aqaba coast would probably be able to address this better (we're heading there for the first time this summer)... but...

As far as I know, if there's an "on-site" dive operation at a hotel, they've got their infrastructure right there... shop, tanks, compressor, etc etc. They load everything into the minibusses to take you out to boats (or, in the case of Dahab, 4x4s to the shore dives).

If they advertise a house reef, then it's right there in front of their shop too... which means you can take a tank and walk down for a quick dive whenever you want... and cheap.

Downside is, the house reefs can't compare with the further-out dive sites. They may be no more than a sandy bottom with sea grass and maybe a few coral "boulders." But I don't mind that for a cheap, spur-of-the-moment dive.

--Marek