Marlin Dive Center in Egypt

[RatherBDivin]

Salem Aleykum, Hassan. Shokran for your reply. How's that? Mania provided us with a list of words. I saw the webpage for your hotel. It looks nice. What would be the cost for one person in a room with bath? I might be traveling alone.

Have not made up my mind whether to vist your place or Sharm el Shiek, or even if I want to go to that area at all. As you can imagine, good diving is not my only concern .I hear that diving is better in Sharm?

Maybe I will vist your area this year, in shallah.

Well it looks like we're about 6 months late for this thread, but if anyone's still interested, we dove at Marlin Inn Dive Center in Hurghada, Egypt last May (2004), with Hassan (owner) and his brother Ahmed, and it was fabulous. Granted, we were new to diving at the time and so didn't have a reference point, but they were great instructors for us as new divers, and while we were there Ahmed took advanced divers out for dives that they came back raving about. The diving in the Red Sea was simply stunning, the food was excellent, and we really can't say enough good things about Hassan and Ahmed, or the experience as a whole. It was inexpensive, we felt completely safe in Hurghada, and enjoyed the whole trip immensely.

Even though the resort town is more commonly used by Germans and Russians (we came with a German tour group while living in Europe), we were recommended to it by other Americans and as Americans were quite comfortable there. English was widely spoken in all areas we visited (Hassan and Ahmed are multi-lingual and fluent in several different languages). And they do not seem to get many Americans in Hurghada or at Marlin Inn Dive Center, which meant that they were exceptional about being flexible and catering to us versus the more typical European mindset of structured times and activities. We would head out for a leisurely late-morning dive, a relaxed and excellent lunch on board the dive boat, and then a leisurely afternoon dive. We also went on a night dive and they were very good about offering other possibilities and opportunities as well. Once again, we really can't say enough good things about the trip, which had very few drawbacks, if any. We would highly recommend Hurghada as a destination, and the Marlin Inn Dive Center, in particular, to other Americans or for anyone looking for a great site on the Red Sea for some excellent diving.

Oh, to go diving again for $160/week!

 

[scubalil]

Just wondering, do you know what their website is and if they offer any specials? My husband and I are looking to take a trip to the Red Sea in September and are trying to find a nice resort to relax and do some diving. You gave the Marlin Inn rave reviews and I was just wondering if anyone had any other suggestions on where to go. We are looking to pay about £800 for the holiday (seven or ten days) and will be flying from Manchester.

Would you reccommend Hurghada or are there other places you would reccommend?

 

[RatherBDivin]

Just wondering, do you know what their website is and if they offer any specials? My husband and I are looking to take a trip to the Red Sea in September and are trying to find a nice resort to relax and do some diving. You gave the Marlin Inn rave reviews and I was just wondering if anyone had any other suggestions on where to go. We are looking to pay about £800 for the holiday (seven or ten days) and will be flying from Manchester.

Would you reccommend Hurghada or are there other places you would reccommend?

Hi, Scubalil. The Marlin Inn Diving Center website is www.divingredsea.com, and there is a contact link on it that will get you in touch with Ahmed or Hassan. I don't know what the current prices are, and honestly don't remember for sure what we paid individually, but as I said it was with a tour group from Germany. We paid for 3 adults' roundtrip flights from Frankfurt, 2 weeks hotel, food, and 2 of us to become PADI certified as Basic and then Advanced divers, which included 6 days of diving, and then another 5-6 days of diving on top of that, at least 2 dives every day, I'd guess... and total for all of that was under $5000, but it's hard to estimate which cost what. It's been a little over a year since we were there. But if you contact the hotel they will give you current rates; they are very helpful, though not always the fastest email responses I've ever had! We did our diving at Marlin Inn but actually stayed at Grand Resort and took a minibus down to the dive center each day. The resort we stayed in was also very nice but did not offer the diving, so if you go to Hurghada you may want to actually stay at Marlin Inn, though I can't vouch for the resort rooms, etc. The website www.hurghada.com gives some more info that may be helpful to you. I personally cannot recommend another place on the Red Sea, as Hurghada is the only one we have visited, but I can say that it was beautiful and well worth every penny spent. Happy diving to you, wherever you may end up!

 

[scubalil]

Thanks for the information. We've booked to stay at the Domina Coral Bay Resort Oasis about 4 km from Naama Bay. Sounds like you got a great deal! For half board, the flights, and hotel for two, we've paid around £850 including taxes. Hopefully taxis are resonably priced as we'd like to see Sharm el Sheikh and some of Egypt. We're also trying to figure out what we should set aside for diving. Do prices vary a great deal or are they pretty standard from place to place?? Thanks

-Curious Lilli anxious to explore the Sea

Hi, Scubalil. The Marlin Inn Diving Center website is www.divingredsea.com, and there is a contact link on it that will get you in touch with Ahmed or Hassan. I don't know what the current prices are, and honestly don't remember for sure what we paid individually, but as I said it was with a tour group from Germany. We paid for 3 adults' roundtrip flights from Frankfurt, 2 weeks hotel, food, and 2 of us to become PADI certified as Basic and then Advanced divers, which included 6 days of diving, and then another 5-6 days of diving on top of that, at least 2 dives every day, I'd guess... and total for all of that was under $5000, but it's hard to estimate which cost what. It's been a little over a year since we were there. But if you contact the hotel they will give you current rates; they are very helpful, though not always the fastest email responses I've ever had! We did our diving at Marlin Inn but actually stayed at Grand Resort and took a minibus down to the dive center each day. The resort we stayed in was also very nice but did not offer the diving, so if you go to Hurghada you may want to actually stay at Marlin Inn, though I can't vouch for the resort rooms, etc. The website www.hurghada.com gives some more info that may be helpful to you. I personally cannot recommend another place on the Red Sea, as Hurghada is the only one we have visited, but I can say that it was beautiful and well worth every penny spent. Happy diving to you, wherever you may end up!

 

[RatherBDivin]

Scubalil,

I can't offer you any information on pricing for diving, really. Marlin Inn Dive Center was competetive and on the lower end for dive shops, but that's not the reason we went there. Many of the dive shops are European- (especially German) run (i.e. you must be on the boat at 8am or they leave without you, etc). Marlin was extremely laid-back and extremely personal - we weren't forced to meet their schedule; they worked with ours. You can do price research online and you can email the various dive shops and they should respond to you (and if they don't, you probably don't want to dive there, anyway!).

As for taxis, it's dirt cheap - for six of us to go a mile it was less than $1. I can't see you spending more than 5GBP per day for normal running around within Hurghada. Sharm el Sheikh is on the Sinai, not on the mainland of Egypt, so your best bet to get there is probably either a flight or a boat. Your local hotel can most likely set up all your tours (i.e. there should be daily plane trips to Cairo and bus trips to Valley of the Kings - ours were approx. $160/$75, respectively, for one day trips to those places including English-speaking tour guides).

Hope this is helpful to you. When are you heading to the Red Sea?

Thanks for the information. We've booked to stay at the Domina Coral Bay Resort Oasis about 4 km from Naama Bay. Sounds like you got a great deal! For half board, the flights, and hotel for two, we've paid around £850 including taxes. Hopefully taxis are resonably priced as we'd like to see Sharm el Sheikh and some of Egypt. We're also trying to figure out what we should set aside for diving. Do prices vary a great deal or are they pretty standard from place to place?? Thanks

-Curious Lilli anxious to explore the Sea

 

[RatherBDivin]

Scubalil,

Now that I look at where you're staying, I realized you're not staying in Hurghada after all, but in Sharm el Sheikh! All the info I passed on to you was for Hurghada, where we stayed. You may be able to use some of it yet, but for the most part, please disregard. Sorry for the misunderstanding! Enjoy your diving adventure, anyway!

 

[ArthurGerla]

Hopefully taxis are resonably priced as we'd like to see Sharm el Sheikh and some of Egypt.

I wouldn't pay more than 15 egyptian pounds (2 euro) for a taxi ride that short. Check out this link for a general idea for taxi fares in Sharm. And don't forget to negotiate the price BEFORE getting in the car.

Day trips from Sharm include visits to Mount Sinai and the St Catherine monastery, the Coloured Canyon, snorkeling trips to Ras Mohammed National park or Dahab (but I suppose you'd rather dive there), and 'an evening in the desert' with a visit to an 'authentic bedouin camp' and a camel ride.

If you can spend some more you might take a loooong bus ride to Cairo, or fly there. Flights to Luxor are also offered.

Here's a scan of the excursion program and price list handed out when I arrived in Sharm a few weeks ago. A much cheaper deal can be had if you book the trips yourself at one of the booking shops in Naama bay and like to haggle a bit.

We're also trying to figure out what we should set aside for diving. Do prices vary a great deal or are they pretty standard from place to place??

I believe the bottom price for a ten dive package is around 135 euro. This would buy you five days on a boat, doing local dives (i.e. along the Sharm coastline in front of the resorts or going north to the Straits of Tiran). Ras Mohammed is 5 bucks per day extra, lunch and soft drinks on board LE 40 or so, deco chamber fund contribution 1 dollar per day, etc. Transport to and from your hotel is always included, but everything extra will cost you extra. Shop around and book your dives in advance to get the best deal.

[plug]I have made many good trips with Dive Africa. Spacious boats and relaxed dives. Good Egyptian cuisine on board, too.[/plug]

Enjoy,

Art

 

[Tams]

I believe the bottom price for a ten dive package is around 135 euro. This would buy you five days on a boat, doing local dives (i.e. along the Sharm coastline in front of the resorts or going north to the Straits of Tiran). Ras Mohammed is 5 bucks per day extra, lunch and soft drinks on board LE 40 or so, deco chamber fund contribution 1 dollar per day, etc. Transport to and from your hotel is always included, but everything extra will cost you extra. Shop around and book your dives in advance to get the best deal.

[plug]I have made many good trips with Dive Africa. Spacious boats and relaxed dives. Good Egyptian cuisine on board, too.[/plug]

Enjoy,

Art

I dived with Camel Dive in Naama Bay back in February and had such a great time that I'm going back next week.

 

[rachelscott51]

Oooh. You guys are making me jealous. I really want to dive the Red Sea, but gotta save up the cash first!