Jordan trip - stick with Aqaba or make the trek to Sharm/Egypt?

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nappington

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Hey all,

We're fairly new divers and planning a trip to Jordan next October. We'll be doing the standard Jordan sights, but we'd like to fit a few good days of diving in our trip. We then go to Dubai for a few days and go back home.

I'd like some guidance to see whether we should try and make the trek down to Sharm El Sheikh (or another Egypt destination) for 3-4 days of diving (or a 3-4 night liveaboard) but it seems that getting there is a bit of a PITA, just because there doesn't seem to be any flights between Aqaba and Sharm and the land route requires two border crossings (plus a visa for Israel, since I don't have the right passport).

So the question is - is Egypt diving from a resort/liveaboard sufficiently better enough to lose a day transiting, or should we just stick to Aqaba boat dives?

One other potential option would be to dive Oman instead (so Jordan -> Oman -> Dubai), but I have no idea about the quality of the diving there.

Many thanks!
 
Hey all,

We're fairly new divers and planning a trip to Jordan next October. We'll be doing the standard Jordan sights, but we'd like to fit a few good days of diving in our trip. We then go to Dubai for a few days and go back home.

I'd like some guidance to see whether we should try and make the trek down to Sharm El Sheikh (or another Egypt destination) for 3-4 days of diving (or a 3-4 night liveaboard) but it seems that getting there is a bit of a PITA, just because there doesn't seem to be any flights between Aqaba and Sharm and the land route requires two border crossings (plus a visa for Israel, since I don't have the right passport).

So the question is - is Egypt diving from a resort/liveaboard sufficiently better enough to lose a day transiting, or should we just stick to Aqaba boat dives?

One other potential option would be to dive Oman instead (so Jordan -> Oman -> Dubai), but I have no idea about the quality of the diving there.

Many thanks!

You've said that you're fairly new divers. Use the time to dive vs traveling to Egypt for diving.

Just my humble opinion, but I think diving Aqaba will just add to the enjoyment of Jordan over all.
 
I’ve never dived in Aqaba, but hear from friends it’s good.

Red Sea is good as well, but a hassle to get to. Have you thought about diving in the UAE? If you’re going there anyway get over to the area around Dibba, Fujairah and do 2 days of diving there.

Dibba Rock is very nice for beginners and there are plenty of other dive sites as well. I would recommend stay at Miramar hotel in al Aqah and dive with Divers Down (based in the hotel) or stay at Le Meridien, Rotana or Intercontinental and walk along the beach to Miramar (avoid diving with Al Boom)

Freestyle divers at Royal Beach hotel is also a very good dive center, but the resort is (very) overpriced for what you get.
 
Sounds like the trip is about two weeks or less.

I’d minimize the number of border crossings you have to make to achieve an individual activity.

If there are bureaucratic discrepancies, your vacation timeline could get frittered away and compressed at the same time.
 
Thanks for the advice! We're generally fine with losing a day to transit if the diving is *significantly* better. Specifically, we'd probably be doing a 3-4 day liveaboard on one of the King Snefro boats if we went to Sharm vs land diving in Aqaba. (Not too interested in Wreck diving, we're all for the marine life and colorful coral, for which I head the red sea is famous for - well, that *and* wreck diving)

UEA is interesting, but I have no context on how "good" the diving is over there in comparison to Sinai/Aqaba. What would the comparison be?
 
Since I’ve never dived Aqaba I can’t compare, but UAE diving can not compete with Egypt Red Sea.

Red Sea has (at least on our 2 trips there) much better viz and more colourful corals. It’s also more “blue water vs green in UAE and a little bit more dense in fish life, but I find UAE better for variety of fish and you have a chance of big rays, seahorses (deep - from 24 m) and even sharks - don’t expect to see any sharks in Red Sea. In October, if you go speedboat from “Dibba north” you could dive Lima Rock with a chance of Whale shark - we even saw Mola Mola there once.

I only mentioned UAE, since you were talking about going to Oman and UAE vs Oman is more or less same same. Might be a little bit better in Oman, but since you’re going to be in Dubai anyway, Fujairah would be easier.

We’ve done the 4 day King Snefro LOB back in 2008, and had a fantastic time. If you’re advanced Thislegorm is a must! I’m not usually a wreck diver, but this one is amazing and well worth gettting the certificate to be able to dive there (lots of fish life as well). The only wreck I like as much (or even more) is “Umbria” in Sudan.

Not sure how newish divers you are, but if you’re advanced and have minimum 50 dives you could also consider Maldives? Only 4 h flight from Dubai and awesome diving (we’re here right now and having a fantastic time)
 
Awesome, thanks so much for the UAE assessment! We actually went to the Maldives to get certified for Open Water so definitely lots of fond memories (at a resort). That being said, we're looking to explore as many different places before heading back again at some later point, especially since we'll be in Jordan.
 
Stay in Aqaba, get in a couple of easy dives (depending on where you stay, some are even shore dives) and do enjoy the time. The diving in Aquaba is different from the "main" Rea Sea, but quite interessting. We did a week earlier this week qnd quite enjoyed it. The Mövenpick in Tala Bay is very nice e.g.
 
Hello. For convenience stay in Aqaba - can recommend some dive operators there. However, the diving really is not quite as colorful and lively, sadly, as the sharm side of the red sea. Not to say it is completely dead, there is life there. To go to Egypt side there is a ferry that you can take to Taba then dive from maybe Dahab (which I like better than Sharm, to be honest) or you will fly from Amman via a private operator. However you do lose time transiting which is super stressful - and the ferry is not quite always on time :).

Oman has very good diving, I had a chance to dive off of Muscat before. However, again, you are adding in transit time.

All in all - make the most of your time here in Jordan and dive Aqaba. Or stay an extra day in wadi rum, too! staying all in JO will offer you the most flexibility in activities and give you a chance to enjoy where you are. Happy to say, welcome to Jordan :)
 
Personally i would definitely take the time and travel to Sharm, its completely different from what you'll get in Aqaba.
 
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