Hurghada or Sharm for Day Dives?

[Gavin Ramsey]

I'm going to Egypt in late October & will have 2 days to dive. I will be with my wife, who is not a diver, so will need to do day trips and would prefer to have a portion of the afternoon back on land with her.

I've narrowed my search down to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheik & was hoping for some recommendations & feedback. I'm not sure when, or if, I'll ever get back to the Red Sea so I'm focused on which has the best dive sites for day dives, with my priority being coral/sea life vs. wreck diving. Thank you!

 

[Deco David]

Just came back from a 7 day live-aboard Red Sea adventure out of Hurghada. We chose Hurghada as Sharm is still effectively blocked (from the UK). Ours was a Scuba Travel / Thomas Cook package on one of the Emperor boats.
WWW: Good boat (old but ok), great crew, good dive guides and detailed briefings, 1st dive is a shakedown (as per usual), crew very helpful on deck assistence, good food at the right times, good site choices, convenient moves between sites, a 'dayroom' at a local hotel after disembarkation to fly home.
EBI: The traffic in town wasn't so "wacky races", air con was loud, avoid the burgers in the airport... (don't ask!)

 

[CommanderKeen]

Since I am going to Egypt in September I’ve done some research myself and tlked to some people who visit Egypt on regular basis.

I’m not an expert however. From what I learned Sharm El Sheik offers wreck diving sites including the SS Thistlegorm. The dive site is approximately 40 KM off coast, so it’s probably a whole day trip. There are some more wreck diving sites, but i don’t lnow if they are suitable for a half day trip.

Sharm el Sheik offer some good diving spots right on the coast. I’ve been told that some hotels in the Ras Um el Sid area have exceptional house reefs with a lot of sea life.

Depending from your starting location traveling to Sharm el Sheik might be inconvenient, due to the limited direct flight options (from Europe). There are much more flights to Hurghada.

In the Hurghada area there is a lot of boat diving, since most hotels don’t have a house reef. There are some wreck diving options as well but these are probably full day trips. If you travel a little bit down south, Makadi (30 KM) bay, Soma bay (50KM), Safaga. There are some popular diving resorts with house reefs and boat trips.

If you want to go on a boat dive I would recommend contacting a dive base in each area and specifically ask about half day trips.

 

[CamC]

If you can actually get to Sharm it shouldn't disappoint you. Coral and sea life is doing really well there, a silver lining from the reduced traffic over the last couple of years. It's very much geared for day boats doing two or three dives, so expect to be on board from 08:00 - 16:00. The marina is very strict about boats being back on time, so you won't run late. Most shops will prefer you do a "local day" on the nearby sites first, and there's nothing wrong with those, but if you can get out to Ras Mohamed and/or Tiran then go for that - the timetable is the same.

If those timings are not partner-friendly enough, there's shore diving at Sharks Bay which will see you back home sooner. (Especially if you stay in one of the hotels there.)

I've always found Emperor Divers quite excellent for all of the above.

 

[Deco David]

Let me just flick through my dive log....where is it now.... oh, here we go - dives included:
The SS. Dunraven (wreck), three reefs, (1st) night dive (mega lion fish), The Yolanda (handy if you need a pee...), reef dive, The Kingston (wreck). Two early morning dives on SS Thistlegorm (before the day-boaters arrive), Ghianis D (wreck), night dive, The Chrisoula K (wreck) (nice workshop), Carnatic (wreck), two reefs, ElMina. All from Hurghada!

 

[Christian]

To be honest, the good diving out of Sharm as well as Hurghada on dayboats will be an all day affair starting early. Sharm isn’t as accesible these days — very few direct charters from Europe — as Hurghada. But if I were you, given your preferences, I’d try to get to Sharm (flying from Cairo?) and get one day in Ras Mohamed Park and then one day diving the reefs in the Strait of Tiran (RasMo should really be dived in July/August ... not nearly as fishy in October but still nice).
If too complicated — there are pretty nice dives off Abu Ramada/Hurghada too.

 

[diverLux]

I'm going to Egypt in late October & will have 2 days to dive.

Hi,

Assuming you'll be in Cairo, your best bet would be take a flight to Sharm and stay in the Ras Um Sid area, my favoured hotel here is Jaz Club Fanara right on the cliff, dive with Diving & Discovery their base is next door and you go in at Temple dive site from the pontoon, your Mrs can stay at the beach and swim in the shallows or come along and enter the sea from the pontoon if she is a good swimmer.

 

[Sunn]

Like Christian said, daily diving will be +/- 8:00 - 16:00 onboard (your wife is welcome) and my advice should be also Ras Mohamed or strait of Tiran from Sharm el Cheik.