Great pics, thanks for sharing!!!
What software did you use that included the ExIf information please?
---------- Post added July 2nd, 2013 at 03:04 AM ----------
Questions about the resort(s) where you dove, Shagra and Wadi Lahami, what did you think of the resort, dive operation and diving? I was thinking of going there but want to make sure that it is worth it. (I would only stay at the air conditioned rooms NOT tents). Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated.
I exported the raw files to jpg using Lightroom 4.
I'm happy to share my experiences with Red Sea Diving Safari. In the last 15 months my girlfriend and I have been diving with them at all 3 of their camps: Marsa Shagra, Marsa Nakari and Wadi Lahami. We always stay in the chalets with our own bathroom and the rooms are nice, comfortable and very clean (it's not a 5 star hotel by any means but it has everything you need). Shagra and Nakari have chalets with AC whereas Lahami has the newest/nicest Chalets but no AC (you still get your own bathroom with shower). With a big fan in each room and the temperature dropping a lot at night we never minded the lack of AC in Lahami though (not even in the middle of summer).
The diving at all 3 camps is
superb.
Marsa Shagra and Marsa Nakari are very similar. You have your gear in a dive shade right next to the water and whenever you feel like diving you are free to do so. You can either do a shore/shore, speedboat/shore or speedboat/speedboat dive on the house reefs, both camps have two beautiful house reefs. Going by speedboat further out on the reefs has the best diving and often superb visibility but note that you need an SMB to signal to the boats when you want to be picked up again. The boat captains sit around waiting in the shade and you just grab them and say you want to go, it's free of charge.
Shagra is the main camp and has the best diving of the two with fantastic house reefs and a short boat ride to the amazing Elphinestone reef (at an extra cost). Note that the house reefs in Nakari are still very good, they beat all other house reefs I've visited by far but they are a little bit less exciting than Shagras reefs. Shagras downside is that if you are unlucky it can get very busy at times. At Nakari, which is a much smaller camp, everything is very relaxed and you often feel that you have the reefs to yourself whereas in Shagra (sometimes) there are big groups of divers in the water and the shade can get very busy with many people gearing up at the same time etc. We've been at Shagra 3 times and this last trip was extremely busy whereas the trips before was very relaxed with almost no people there instead so it varies a lot. Apart from the house reefs you can also pay to do dives at many other destinations. You usually get 2 of these dives for free and then they start charging you. The cost starts at €17 for "Zone A" sites and range up to €50 for full day excursions including several dives and food/drink etc. These other sites are reached either by speedboat or if it is a shore dive you go in air conditioned mini buses. One negative thing is that the prices for these dives keep going up which is a shame as it means you don't do as many excursions to these fantastic places and also more people stay on the house reefs which gets more crowded. Still it is a very nice option to have and there are many trips leaving each day.
My personal favorite of the three camps is Lahami but the system there is different from Shagra and Nakari as all dives have to be done by speedboat. This means that you have breakfast at a set time, go out on two guided dives in the morning, have lunch and then go for an unguided boat dive in the afternoon, and if you wish an unguided night dive (very short 1 min boat ride for the night dive). The diving here is excellent and you visit different spots every day, but there is a lot of speedboat riding involved and you lose the freedom of diving or not diving whenever it pleases you as the two best dives are in the morning and they are always on set times.
Food, water, soft drinks, tea and coffee is all inclusive and there is beer, wine, snacks and ice cream for sale at somewhat reasonable prices. The food is buffet style and even though they will never win a Michelin star it is quite ok. Usually you have salad, rice, pasta, chicken and different kinds of meat to choose from for lunch and dinner and the breakfast has bread, cheese, orange juice and a guy making omelettes/fried eggs. There is also some non-diving activities such as quad rides in the desert etc if you like that sort of stuff.
I have heard stories from other divers that you can get unlucky with your stay but I think it is rare. Sometimes there are strong currents at the house reefs (we've never witnessed them) which means the visibility gets really bad and they even have closed down the diving at times. Again we have never witnessed this during our 5 or so weeks we've spent with them in the past year.
Safety seems really good for being Egypt, the staff is well trained and knows what they are doing and there is a decompression chamber right next to the Shagra camp (mandatory €7 insurance covers your whole stay). Everyone is very friendly as well and you really feel welcome. All in all I can warmly recommend Red Sea Diving Safari just cross your fingers that there aren't too many people if you go to Shagra (which I would recommend if you go for the first time).
Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any further questions.
Oh one tip is to bring Mack's Dry-n-Clear Ear Drying Aid (or similar product) as the water is very warm and full of nutrients the risk of ear infection is pretty high. I had a bad one previously but never get them when I use an ear drying product.
