Land Based Diving In Egypt

[jasonallen825]

I will be traveling to Egypt with my wife on a work trip and would like to get in some diving, we will not have time to do a liveaboard. We will be flying into Cairo and can either drive or fly from there. We will be there end of July, yep we are crazy and decided to why not go the hottest possible time . What area would be the best area to hit if we can only visit one on this trip? We are into about anything...micro/macro/love soft coral. Any advice and what dive shops & resorts you would recommend...we are ok with fancy resorts too. Was looking at Sharm & Dahab in the north, Hurghada or as far south as Marsa Alam. Any thoughts on who has the best diving? Is diving further north almost guaranteed to be crowded resorts and dive spots?

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Well.. i see the first regular contributors here smiling...
Forget Hurghada, unless you include Soma Bay. Here my favourite ist The Breakers.
Otherwise, go south: fly to Marsa Alam (RMF) and there Thre Corners Equinox or Marsa Shagra. Marsa Shagra may be a quite hard contrast to the time in Cairo but perhaps ideal to wind off after some business.
I don't want to come across as pretentious or arrogant, but have a look at what I posted earlier
>>> here <<<<
Happy to take any further questions.

 

[BoltSnap]

Well.. i see the first regular contributors here smiling...
Forget Hurghada, unless you include Soma Bay. Here my favourite ist The Breakers.
Otherwise, go south: fly to Marsa Alam (RMF) and there Thre Corners Equinox or Marsa Shagra. Marsa Shagra may be a quite hard contrast to the time in Cairo but perhaps ideal to wind off after some business.
I don't want to come across as pretentious or arrogant, but have a look at what I posted earlier
>>> here <<<<
Happy to take any further questions.

What he said ^^^^^^^^

@JustSurfaceInterval is the top expert in this subject

 

[jasonallen825]

Well.. i see the first regular contributors here smiling...
Forget Hurghada, unless you include Soma Bay. Here my favourite ist The Breakers.
Otherwise, go south: fly to Marsa Alam (RMF) and there Thre Corners Equinox or Marsa Shagra. Marsa Shagra may be a quite hard contrast to the time in Cairo but perhaps ideal to wind off after some business.
I don't want to come across as pretentious or arrogant, but have a look at what I posted earlier
>>> here <<<<
Happy to take any further questions.

appreciate the reply...are the best dive spots in Marsa Alam or Marsa Shagra? we have never done much shore diving and prefer boat with a guide...are most the sites in Marsa done from a boat?

 

[BoltSnap]

appreciate the reply...are the best dive spots in Marsa Alam or Marsa Shagra? we have never done much shore diving and prefer boat with a guide...are most the sites in Marsa done from a boat?

Marsa shagra you can dive from shore and/or zodiac or in combination. Both are awesome and easy. It can't get easier than that.

 

[jasonallen825]

Marsa shagra you can dive from shore and/or zodiac or in combination. Both are awesome and easy. It can't get easier than that.

thank you...how does the diving there compare to places like Philippines, Hawaii, Maldives.

 

[pisauron]

Well my vote goes to Dahab. The shore dives there are so good, it's rarely even interesting to go for the 3 boat dives the city has.
6 times I've been to Dahab and still new sites and routes. And also the big names like the BlueHole, Canyon, Island, Caves...
If you seek adventure and some of the healthiest and amazing reef on the planet then from Dahab to Ras abu Galum, by camels with scuba gear is something only few people did.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

@JustSurfaceInterval is the top expert in this subject

Too much praise, highly exagerated...

[...] are the best dive spots in Marsa Alam or Marsa Shagra?

"Marsa Alam" is usually used to name an area of about +200km coast line, served by Marsa Alam International Airport (RMF). "Marsa Alam" therefore has so much dive spots that a life time won't be enough.
Marsa Shagra is one of the sites (in fact the first and the home base) of the Red Sea Diving Safari company.
It's the perfect resort for Dive - Eat - Sleep - Repeat. Not luxurious but well run, clean, and very good food (beware of the dessert buffet...)
You can dive from shore or from Zodiac with a total of 6 profiles on the north and south part of the reef (2 x S-S / Z-S / Z-Z).
The Red sea may not be that colourful or that plenty as Philippines or Indonisia but definitely worth a try when so closed to.
BTW: RSDS also offers Zodiac trip to Elphinstone if you want to tick off Longimani from your bucket list....
...

Well my vote goes to Dahab. The shore dives there are so good, it's rarely even interesting to go for the 3 boat dives the city has.
6 times I've been to Dahab and still new sites and routes. And also the big names like the BlueHole, Canyon, Island, Caves...
If you seek adventure and some of the healthiest and amazing reef on the planet then from Dahab to Ras abu Galum, by camels with scuba gear is something only few people did.

Agree! this would be my number 2.
I remember diving The Lighthouse after gearing up in the midlle of the main street on a carpet and the scary last meters to The Bell / Blue Hole, passing the commemorative plaques of all who left their lives their.
Very special experience.
But a little bit more logistic needed. Not only the approach on camels back....

 

[BoltSnap]

Does Dahab have a variety of marine life to make it interesting for a UW photographer? If there is a choice, which place should one dive first, Marsa Shagra or Dahab (from a recreational UW photographer, not a technical diver)?

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Tricky one...
I would go Marsa Shagra first, also having some trips from there to the Abu Dabbabs in mind.
But Dahab is certainly also worth, see @pisauron's post.