COLONA DIVES REVIEW:
We were a group of 6 divers and we went diving with COLONA DIVERS from August 25th until September 5th 2009. I have to recognize we had some great time and great dives but unfortunatelly there are also some things we didnt like at all, which I would like to point out to you, in order for you to better evaluate in the future if diving with COLONA. I must say that I previously sent my review to COLONA but as of today they didnt comment or answered me at all.
Our first main problem was that no one speak Italian, and it was told to us in the previous emails that there was a guide that spoke Italian.
First time we ever got in the boat to go diving we notice a rush of some other divers to take NITROX tanks onboard we later notice there was no nitrox for everybody onboard, this is NOT FAIR either there is NITROX for everybody that can use it or for NO ONE ! after we complained next day and for all 1st week there was no nitrox at all ! The official reason was that there was a problem with the compressor ! Well sincerelly we dont care what the reaon was but one of the reasons we came diving with you was NITOX FREE so I guess if you have problems with your compressor you either get nitrox tanks from other places or at least recognize it and give some kind of discount but no one at all did this ! NOT FAIR !
There was one day we did full day to SALEM EXPRESS, a wonderfull day by the way SINCERELY THANKS to COLONA for this wonderfull day, UNFORGETABLE NICE DAY, maybe the best day we had with COLONA, we did have NITROX onboard only during this day and not for all the dives, but we never ever had NITROX 32 during all our 12 days stay, it was always at most NITROX 30, this is also not fair because in COLONA website they specify it is NITROX 32.
We also found very disorganized to have Aluminum tanks ( thinner diameter, lighter weight ) and Steel tanks ( bigger diameter and weight ) this caused everytime to change weights and change measure of BC belts ! no need to do all this just keep with one type of tanks !
IT was VERY VERY BAD that specially the first days we did some easy non interesting at all DIVES ! this was not fair at all ! this was really a big waste of money ! specially after we had done the home wreck jetty dive just to check our weights, I can understand the 1st dive as a check dive to look at us and make the buddies and groups, but no more than the 1st dive, we had several dives and several days in which we did really very simple, easy NON INTERESTING AT ALL DIVES ! There are some dives we did that not even appear in any dive guides or not even are commented at all in the web as Hurghada dive sites, they are really insignificant ! For example Shaab Talaata, Eyssa reef, El desha sahl hashish, not to mention during our 2 weeks stay which is not little,in 2 weeks we didnt do important dive sites such as:
Hamda
Small Giftun
ABU RAMADA
Careless Reef ( I will never forget that in 2 weeks they didnt take us to this dive site  after we had requested it so much )
Some times we noticed that we did this insignificant dives when there were snorkelers onboard  I dont know if this was a coincidence.
I know is the usual problem with many dive centers trying to get the most out of a trip in which the boat fuel costs ! they always try to take as many people as possible, to the closest possible dive sites. Problem is that we divers pay a lot of money for these dives. Each of us paid in average 400 Euros to COLONA ( average 22 euros per dive ) and we were 6 divers, its a lot of money I guess?
A HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT I HAD: was that we wanted so much to go CARELESS REEF and to me seams incredible that in 2 weeks we didnt had chance to go there  I know it depends a lot on sea conditions but I am so sorry to say I spoke to an instructor in Hurghada Marina and in 2 weeks they went twice to CARELESS REEF. The day ( Sept. 4th 2009 ) we tried to go Careless Reef, again many strange things happened:
The sea and wind didnt look so bad, Instructors: Bassem and Ali said we will try to go Careless Reef today, I was sooooooo happy  they said was a long trip 2 hrs and we will see as we got closer how was the sea. I always thought Careless reef was for experienced divers so there was a thing I didnt understand on the boat there were two couples on board that will do their discover scuba diving or first time dive, it seamed strange too me. Anyways just little before arriving Bassem calls us for the briefing and he says unfortunatelly we cant go CARELESS REFF because sea conditions and we will go UMM QAMMAR. I have to recognize it was a very nice dive, but off course it isnt as famous as CARELESS REEF ( we wanted so much to do Careless Reef also because an Italian dive magazine wrote and excellent article on this dive site ) but what surprissed me is that looking into the map UMM QAMMAR its very very close to CARELESS REEF so to me seamed strange that UMM QAMMAR sea conditions were ok and CARELESS REEF not ok? I asked this to Baseem he answered me in a non friendly way: have you ever being careless reef? I said NO, so he told well you dont know then ! I said to him isnt because we have couples that need to try diving first time? Well since then Bassem and Ali attitued towards us changed complettely, the rest of our day was ruinned  and more not nice things were coming !
Anyways next day I went Hurghada Marina to ask the Instructor I knew and asked him is it possible Umm Qammar sea conditions are ok and Careless Reef are not ok same day ? He told me if you went so far to Umm Qammar for sure you could have dive also in Careless Reef, he told me most probably reason was experience of diveres aboard ! If this is the reason it was not fair !!!! for 2 weeks I wanted to go there ! We 6 divers spent so much money with COLONA that I think could have being nice to make us happy in our request of many many months in advance !
Anyways 4th of September 2009 was not over but something also BAD happened: my girlfriend she is an OW diver and did the ADV course with Bassem, both Bassem and Ali took wonderfull care of her all days before Sept. 4th . I have to recognize Bassem did also a nice Advance Course to her, she was very happy with them and I THANK them very much for these.
The 2nd dive of Sept. 4th we went SHAABRUR UMM GAMMAR, Ali tells me this time your gf comes with me so you can enjoy this nice dive with BASSEM, ok fine no problem I said, The dive was very nice, we entered the water as a group before my gf, when I returned to boat I notice my gf was already suntanning, I asked her: what happened you didnt feel ok? You didnt dive? She said no I just came back,oh ok, it seamed strange she returned to boat before me while I entered before her in the water, I said how long did you dive? She said 35min ! hmmm strage, I said where is Ali ? she said he is underwater with discover scuba diving couple ! this upsetted me a lot ! THIS IS REALLY NOT FAIR, I PAY FULL PRICE FOR A DIVE AND I DESERVE FULL SERVICE, NOT USE THE TIME OF OUR DIVE for others training, My gf did that dive staying close under the boat so Ali could exit water before time to take care of another couple of discover divers? This to me seams very unfair ! At COLONA they are very strict and make sure dives last exactly 45min !
I pointed this out to Bassem and Ali, their reaction was very bad and surprissing ! Instead of saying sorry for what happened they started to look for excusses blaming my gf as the reason of the problem: they said because your gf is not so experienced diver she needed a special personal guide ! and I said look if this was true you had to tell me this from 1st day and then I will decide what to do ! you can not tell me this last day ! and anyways I said this has nothing to do exiting the water before time just because Ali needed to do discover scuba diving to other people ! I also told him at this point is not fair you took us many times to do insignificant dives ! he said I always explain dive before briefing and if you didnt like it is up to you not to do it? Well to me this is stupid answer because you have to tell me the dive site characteristic ( at least type of dive and average/max depth ) day before we go diving so I can decide if to go or not next day, not you just say it to me few minutes before we enter the water ! its too late ! The result of all this discussion was: that my gf got very sad and dissapointed because they pointed out she is not good diver and this is bad now for her confidence ! all of these thanks to Ali and Bassem. The next day Sept. 5th we went to do our last dives, Bassem didnt come in the boat and I saw him later that day when we returned doing the open water course to the couple that the day before tried scuba diving, it means they recognized the error they did the previous day by bringing them in a boat of divers.
Another thing that surprises me so much is that I sent an email COLONA DIVERS to let all what happened and until today neither KIMMO and no one else has repplied to me.
Nevertheless, there are also few more things I must say:
COLONA DIVERS applies an Exchange rate of L.E. 8.2 instead of the rate of 7.71 applied by credit cards. I withdrew Egyptian pounds from ATM at 7.71 rate bought back Euros at 7.9 this way I saved money respect to COLONA DIVERS exchange rate. In addition to this COLONA DIVERS also charges 2% more if credit card is used. This is at the end a lot of money !
I was also told by email before coming that we could use the wifi access of the dive center well in 2 weeks I was always told that it was not working 
We were also told that there was one guide that speak Italian well no one at all spoke Italian in the dive center, considering that an Italian Tour Operator Turchese works with MAGAWIS SWISS INN it will be nice to have an Italian speaking guide,but I guess either because the MAGAWISH is not for Italian customers then its not important for COLONA to have an Italian speking guide, but if you dont have an Italian speaking guide I guess as most probably happened Italian go to other dive centers because it was strange that in 2 weeks we didnt see any Italian divers in this dive center. But at least could have being more fair to say it in the emails that no one spoke Italian.
Was not so nice for the person who did the OW course and the other person who did the ADV course to do it in English with translation by us. COLONA didnt even have the Open Water video in Italian.
Another thing we didnt like much that sometimes surface intervals were extremelly short between 1st and 2nd dive ! specially when there was no NITROX available !
On some of the boats at the end of the day we were given some refreshing pieces of fruit instead some other days nothing was given. This is something highly appreciated when done.
I dont know if Bassem was serious or joking but after the two Salem Express dives he said he will take us to a secret location wreck called EL ARISH that he had discovered, well it seams strange because I read on the web this wreck is no secret and was discovered by: Peter Collings
Sorry if I have written too much to explain what happened during our stay. I just hope all of this helps in the future decide if going to dive with COLONA DIVERS.
We were a group of 6 divers and we went diving with COLONA DIVERS from August 25th until September 5th 2009. I have to recognize we had some great time and great dives but unfortunatelly there are also some things we didnt like at all, which I would like to point out to you, in order for you to better evaluate in the future if diving with COLONA. I must say that I previously sent my review to COLONA but as of today they didnt comment or answered me at all.
Our first main problem was that no one speak Italian, and it was told to us in the previous emails that there was a guide that spoke Italian.
First time we ever got in the boat to go diving we notice a rush of some other divers to take NITROX tanks onboard we later notice there was no nitrox for everybody onboard, this is NOT FAIR either there is NITROX for everybody that can use it or for NO ONE ! after we complained next day and for all 1st week there was no nitrox at all ! The official reason was that there was a problem with the compressor ! Well sincerelly we dont care what the reaon was but one of the reasons we came diving with you was NITOX FREE so I guess if you have problems with your compressor you either get nitrox tanks from other places or at least recognize it and give some kind of discount but no one at all did this ! NOT FAIR !
There was one day we did full day to SALEM EXPRESS, a wonderfull day by the way SINCERELY THANKS to COLONA for this wonderfull day, UNFORGETABLE NICE DAY, maybe the best day we had with COLONA, we did have NITROX onboard only during this day and not for all the dives, but we never ever had NITROX 32 during all our 12 days stay, it was always at most NITROX 30, this is also not fair because in COLONA website they specify it is NITROX 32.
We also found very disorganized to have Aluminum tanks ( thinner diameter, lighter weight ) and Steel tanks ( bigger diameter and weight ) this caused everytime to change weights and change measure of BC belts ! no need to do all this just keep with one type of tanks !
IT was VERY VERY BAD that specially the first days we did some easy non interesting at all DIVES ! this was not fair at all ! this was really a big waste of money ! specially after we had done the home wreck jetty dive just to check our weights, I can understand the 1st dive as a check dive to look at us and make the buddies and groups, but no more than the 1st dive, we had several dives and several days in which we did really very simple, easy NON INTERESTING AT ALL DIVES ! There are some dives we did that not even appear in any dive guides or not even are commented at all in the web as Hurghada dive sites, they are really insignificant ! For example Shaab Talaata, Eyssa reef, El desha sahl hashish, not to mention during our 2 weeks stay which is not little,in 2 weeks we didnt do important dive sites such as:
Hamda
Small Giftun
ABU RAMADA
Careless Reef ( I will never forget that in 2 weeks they didnt take us to this dive site  after we had requested it so much )
Some times we noticed that we did this insignificant dives when there were snorkelers onboard  I dont know if this was a coincidence.
I know is the usual problem with many dive centers trying to get the most out of a trip in which the boat fuel costs ! they always try to take as many people as possible, to the closest possible dive sites. Problem is that we divers pay a lot of money for these dives. Each of us paid in average 400 Euros to COLONA ( average 22 euros per dive ) and we were 6 divers, its a lot of money I guess?
A HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT I HAD: was that we wanted so much to go CARELESS REEF and to me seams incredible that in 2 weeks we didnt had chance to go there  I know it depends a lot on sea conditions but I am so sorry to say I spoke to an instructor in Hurghada Marina and in 2 weeks they went twice to CARELESS REEF. The day ( Sept. 4th 2009 ) we tried to go Careless Reef, again many strange things happened:
The sea and wind didnt look so bad, Instructors: Bassem and Ali said we will try to go Careless Reef today, I was sooooooo happy  they said was a long trip 2 hrs and we will see as we got closer how was the sea. I always thought Careless reef was for experienced divers so there was a thing I didnt understand on the boat there were two couples on board that will do their discover scuba diving or first time dive, it seamed strange too me. Anyways just little before arriving Bassem calls us for the briefing and he says unfortunatelly we cant go CARELESS REFF because sea conditions and we will go UMM QAMMAR. I have to recognize it was a very nice dive, but off course it isnt as famous as CARELESS REEF ( we wanted so much to do Careless Reef also because an Italian dive magazine wrote and excellent article on this dive site ) but what surprissed me is that looking into the map UMM QAMMAR its very very close to CARELESS REEF so to me seamed strange that UMM QAMMAR sea conditions were ok and CARELESS REEF not ok? I asked this to Baseem he answered me in a non friendly way: have you ever being careless reef? I said NO, so he told well you dont know then ! I said to him isnt because we have couples that need to try diving first time? Well since then Bassem and Ali attitued towards us changed complettely, the rest of our day was ruinned  and more not nice things were coming !
Anyways next day I went Hurghada Marina to ask the Instructor I knew and asked him is it possible Umm Qammar sea conditions are ok and Careless Reef are not ok same day ? He told me if you went so far to Umm Qammar for sure you could have dive also in Careless Reef, he told me most probably reason was experience of diveres aboard ! If this is the reason it was not fair !!!! for 2 weeks I wanted to go there ! We 6 divers spent so much money with COLONA that I think could have being nice to make us happy in our request of many many months in advance !
Anyways 4th of September 2009 was not over but something also BAD happened: my girlfriend she is an OW diver and did the ADV course with Bassem, both Bassem and Ali took wonderfull care of her all days before Sept. 4th . I have to recognize Bassem did also a nice Advance Course to her, she was very happy with them and I THANK them very much for these.
The 2nd dive of Sept. 4th we went SHAABRUR UMM GAMMAR, Ali tells me this time your gf comes with me so you can enjoy this nice dive with BASSEM, ok fine no problem I said, The dive was very nice, we entered the water as a group before my gf, when I returned to boat I notice my gf was already suntanning, I asked her: what happened you didnt feel ok? You didnt dive? She said no I just came back,oh ok, it seamed strange she returned to boat before me while I entered before her in the water, I said how long did you dive? She said 35min ! hmmm strage, I said where is Ali ? she said he is underwater with discover scuba diving couple ! this upsetted me a lot ! THIS IS REALLY NOT FAIR, I PAY FULL PRICE FOR A DIVE AND I DESERVE FULL SERVICE, NOT USE THE TIME OF OUR DIVE for others training, My gf did that dive staying close under the boat so Ali could exit water before time to take care of another couple of discover divers? This to me seams very unfair ! At COLONA they are very strict and make sure dives last exactly 45min !
I pointed this out to Bassem and Ali, their reaction was very bad and surprissing ! Instead of saying sorry for what happened they started to look for excusses blaming my gf as the reason of the problem: they said because your gf is not so experienced diver she needed a special personal guide ! and I said look if this was true you had to tell me this from 1st day and then I will decide what to do ! you can not tell me this last day ! and anyways I said this has nothing to do exiting the water before time just because Ali needed to do discover scuba diving to other people ! I also told him at this point is not fair you took us many times to do insignificant dives ! he said I always explain dive before briefing and if you didnt like it is up to you not to do it? Well to me this is stupid answer because you have to tell me the dive site characteristic ( at least type of dive and average/max depth ) day before we go diving so I can decide if to go or not next day, not you just say it to me few minutes before we enter the water ! its too late ! The result of all this discussion was: that my gf got very sad and dissapointed because they pointed out she is not good diver and this is bad now for her confidence ! all of these thanks to Ali and Bassem. The next day Sept. 5th we went to do our last dives, Bassem didnt come in the boat and I saw him later that day when we returned doing the open water course to the couple that the day before tried scuba diving, it means they recognized the error they did the previous day by bringing them in a boat of divers.
Another thing that surprises me so much is that I sent an email COLONA DIVERS to let all what happened and until today neither KIMMO and no one else has repplied to me.
Nevertheless, there are also few more things I must say:
COLONA DIVERS applies an Exchange rate of L.E. 8.2 instead of the rate of 7.71 applied by credit cards. I withdrew Egyptian pounds from ATM at 7.71 rate bought back Euros at 7.9 this way I saved money respect to COLONA DIVERS exchange rate. In addition to this COLONA DIVERS also charges 2% more if credit card is used. This is at the end a lot of money !
I was also told by email before coming that we could use the wifi access of the dive center well in 2 weeks I was always told that it was not working 
We were also told that there was one guide that speak Italian well no one at all spoke Italian in the dive center, considering that an Italian Tour Operator Turchese works with MAGAWIS SWISS INN it will be nice to have an Italian speaking guide,but I guess either because the MAGAWISH is not for Italian customers then its not important for COLONA to have an Italian speking guide, but if you dont have an Italian speaking guide I guess as most probably happened Italian go to other dive centers because it was strange that in 2 weeks we didnt see any Italian divers in this dive center. But at least could have being more fair to say it in the emails that no one spoke Italian.
Was not so nice for the person who did the OW course and the other person who did the ADV course to do it in English with translation by us. COLONA didnt even have the Open Water video in Italian.
Another thing we didnt like much that sometimes surface intervals were extremelly short between 1st and 2nd dive ! specially when there was no NITROX available !
On some of the boats at the end of the day we were given some refreshing pieces of fruit instead some other days nothing was given. This is something highly appreciated when done.
I dont know if Bassem was serious or joking but after the two Salem Express dives he said he will take us to a secret location wreck called EL ARISH that he had discovered, well it seams strange because I read on the web this wreck is no secret and was discovered by: Peter Collings
Sorry if I have written too much to explain what happened during our stay. I just hope all of this helps in the future decide if going to dive with COLONA DIVERS.
Sorry to hear all this 
