Just came back diving May 31- June 7.
Quick review
Deep Divers Dive Center
I dived with Deep Divers Hurghada. Highly recommended. The owner is a professional deep diver (hardhat, saturation, etc), hence the name, runs a tight ship, and their prices are very competetive while keeping out the bargain hunters.
They went out of their way to accomodate me and answered all my emails in the most detail. Top service. Staff is pleasant and not pushy, chill atmosphere yet attention to detail.
They have the 5 star PADI rating, and for me the best about that is the pleasant sight of a tank with air at 5 meters under the boat for emergency deco. No other boats sported that, by the way.
They change their equipment every year- all was in order and no shortcuts were made.
The boat, Bassant, was in great order and ran well and fast, you should have seen some of the other rust buckets.
Sea Life
The sea life is abundant but does not match the quality at, say, similan Islands Thailand. There were at least 4 large boats everywhere we went. They were not full, I shudder to think what happens during busy season.
spotted: stingrays, porcupine fish, triggerfishes, octopuses, including 2 octopuses mating,box fishes of all kinds, sea horses, lion fish, stone fish, morays, scorpion, tuna, princes, angels, tridacna, cone etc. Saw many species specific to the RedSea. No nudies.
Deep Divers have a house reef at the Triton Empire Inn, and there you see the sea horses, also cheap shore dives and your significant other can do a free trial dive.
Instruction.
Best price, getting instruction in Hurghada or the Red Sea beats many other places, would have cost me 2 times more in Sweden, and no reefs where I live
My Instructor Mido with Deep Divers was knowledgeable, friendly, and answered all my questions in detail. He has more than 5000 logged dives, but like he himself said, it is not the quantity but the quality of the dives.
Very knowledgeable about sea life, pointed out 70 percent of what was there to see that I missed, including stonefish and scorpion.
He did not pressure me into any purchases and was very safety minded. He insisted on several check dives before I took my Nitrox cert. Rated 5 stars out of 5.
This is a local dive instructor, and unlike some of the 2 months here, 2 months there expats employed by other dive centers, he has a lot to loose if his reputation suffers.
I had met a German divemaster (yeah, I saw the card) on the street that was trying to get money from me for alcohol, he got fired 4 months ago for drinking on the job and had been drinking and hustling ever since.
Much better to use the professional locals or expats that live there for the long run.
Must have gear
You will be diving in open water. Though the sea was very friendly, I did see another dive center's divers carried away by roll-back current that suddenly changed direction. They had an SMB, so the zodiac guy picked them up easy. 10 minutes more and they would have been invisible. Carry signaling devices!
These are must have in my opinion.
Strobe
Scissors (knives are not allowed, but I have seen fishing line on the bottom. best be prepared)
Air Horn
Buoy/SMB
Loud whistle
Radio signaling device if you can afford one.
Dive computer or at least an accurate depth gauge on your wrist- in strong current, I saw my dive buddy take on depth as he became disoriented. I stayed level thanks to the ease of orientation with a depth gauge.
The locals
I have only met people of 2 kinds in Egypt- those i wanted to be friends with and invited to dinner and my home, and those I wanted to stab. The taxi cab drivers suck. The street merchants suck.
They lie. They lie they are interested in you. When they ask where you are from, they are sizing you up for money. The more western you are, the more they expect. Assholes of the worst kind.
Come in, just look, then pressure you to buy.
I am from Brooklyn, so that does not work on me, but many nicer europeans complan that they have been pressured into purchases they did not want.
Diving equipment over 20 percent more expensive than in Europe.
Food sucks unless you pay european prices. Bad service. Everyone new to the city gets diarrhea, as the idea of hygeine is underrated in Egypt. Hurghada is a fake city in the middle of the desert with no locals, everyone is from somewhere else. Its sole purpose is to pump tourists through and get money out of them.
On the other hand, the Egyptian divemaster we hanged out with after the dive said that he feels free in Hurghada, that everyone helps him and he feels at home. He is originally from Luxor.
Taxi cabs- get in, say where you are going, say nothing else. Get out, give 5 egyptian pounds under 5 minute ride. Give 10-15egyptian pounds for a long ride. This is 40 percent more than what the locals pay. Give no more. Do not talk. Pay only when out of the car. If they argue with you, say TOURIST POLICE. They are very afraid of hurting a tourist physically, this is serious crime after the Luxor terrorist tourist massacre 10 years ago. You are safe.
I saw a fight break out on the street and it was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen with loud screams and no fighting. Someone would have been dead by then in Brooklyn. They just got dragged apart by the whole street, who all felt like manly men, I am sure.
But like i said, the nice people in Egypt are the nicest people I have ever met.
I stayed at the Three corners hotel Empire, check out their website, less than 20 euros a night, ok 2 star as 3 star hotel, Belgian owned. Off season Egypt cannot be beat, ticket and hotel under 300 euros with charter travel.
Conclusion:
Recommended.
Will be back to Deep Divers Hurghada for my training needs.
For naturalist diving, it is best to do a liveaboard or go to Marsa Alam, where there are no tourists, just dedicated divers.
Egyptian streets are not the most pleasant for a foreigner as the sellers are too pushy in a nasty way and taxi drivers are the worst I have ever met, but Egypt is a magical place.
Get a local to guide you around, do not give a taxi driver more than 15 pounds from one side of town ot the other (meter shows 10 pounds from Old town to airport, plus 5 for ground entry- so pay 25 to airport and 10-15 everywhere else).
The best in Egypt is under water!
Quick review
Deep Divers Dive Center
I dived with Deep Divers Hurghada. Highly recommended. The owner is a professional deep diver (hardhat, saturation, etc), hence the name, runs a tight ship, and their prices are very competetive while keeping out the bargain hunters.
They went out of their way to accomodate me and answered all my emails in the most detail. Top service. Staff is pleasant and not pushy, chill atmosphere yet attention to detail.
They have the 5 star PADI rating, and for me the best about that is the pleasant sight of a tank with air at 5 meters under the boat for emergency deco. No other boats sported that, by the way.
They change their equipment every year- all was in order and no shortcuts were made.
The boat, Bassant, was in great order and ran well and fast, you should have seen some of the other rust buckets.
Sea Life
The sea life is abundant but does not match the quality at, say, similan Islands Thailand. There were at least 4 large boats everywhere we went. They were not full, I shudder to think what happens during busy season.
spotted: stingrays, porcupine fish, triggerfishes, octopuses, including 2 octopuses mating,box fishes of all kinds, sea horses, lion fish, stone fish, morays, scorpion, tuna, princes, angels, tridacna, cone etc. Saw many species specific to the RedSea. No nudies.
Deep Divers have a house reef at the Triton Empire Inn, and there you see the sea horses, also cheap shore dives and your significant other can do a free trial dive.
Instruction.
Best price, getting instruction in Hurghada or the Red Sea beats many other places, would have cost me 2 times more in Sweden, and no reefs where I live
My Instructor Mido with Deep Divers was knowledgeable, friendly, and answered all my questions in detail. He has more than 5000 logged dives, but like he himself said, it is not the quantity but the quality of the dives.
Very knowledgeable about sea life, pointed out 70 percent of what was there to see that I missed, including stonefish and scorpion.
He did not pressure me into any purchases and was very safety minded. He insisted on several check dives before I took my Nitrox cert. Rated 5 stars out of 5.
This is a local dive instructor, and unlike some of the 2 months here, 2 months there expats employed by other dive centers, he has a lot to loose if his reputation suffers.
I had met a German divemaster (yeah, I saw the card) on the street that was trying to get money from me for alcohol, he got fired 4 months ago for drinking on the job and had been drinking and hustling ever since.
Much better to use the professional locals or expats that live there for the long run.
Must have gear
You will be diving in open water. Though the sea was very friendly, I did see another dive center's divers carried away by roll-back current that suddenly changed direction. They had an SMB, so the zodiac guy picked them up easy. 10 minutes more and they would have been invisible. Carry signaling devices!
These are must have in my opinion.
Strobe
Scissors (knives are not allowed, but I have seen fishing line on the bottom. best be prepared)
Air Horn
Buoy/SMB
Loud whistle
Radio signaling device if you can afford one.
Dive computer or at least an accurate depth gauge on your wrist- in strong current, I saw my dive buddy take on depth as he became disoriented. I stayed level thanks to the ease of orientation with a depth gauge.
The locals
I have only met people of 2 kinds in Egypt- those i wanted to be friends with and invited to dinner and my home, and those I wanted to stab. The taxi cab drivers suck. The street merchants suck.
They lie. They lie they are interested in you. When they ask where you are from, they are sizing you up for money. The more western you are, the more they expect. Assholes of the worst kind.
Come in, just look, then pressure you to buy.
I am from Brooklyn, so that does not work on me, but many nicer europeans complan that they have been pressured into purchases they did not want.
Diving equipment over 20 percent more expensive than in Europe.
Food sucks unless you pay european prices. Bad service. Everyone new to the city gets diarrhea, as the idea of hygeine is underrated in Egypt. Hurghada is a fake city in the middle of the desert with no locals, everyone is from somewhere else. Its sole purpose is to pump tourists through and get money out of them.
On the other hand, the Egyptian divemaster we hanged out with after the dive said that he feels free in Hurghada, that everyone helps him and he feels at home. He is originally from Luxor.
Taxi cabs- get in, say where you are going, say nothing else. Get out, give 5 egyptian pounds under 5 minute ride. Give 10-15egyptian pounds for a long ride. This is 40 percent more than what the locals pay. Give no more. Do not talk. Pay only when out of the car. If they argue with you, say TOURIST POLICE. They are very afraid of hurting a tourist physically, this is serious crime after the Luxor terrorist tourist massacre 10 years ago. You are safe.
I saw a fight break out on the street and it was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen with loud screams and no fighting. Someone would have been dead by then in Brooklyn. They just got dragged apart by the whole street, who all felt like manly men, I am sure.
But like i said, the nice people in Egypt are the nicest people I have ever met.
I stayed at the Three corners hotel Empire, check out their website, less than 20 euros a night, ok 2 star as 3 star hotel, Belgian owned. Off season Egypt cannot be beat, ticket and hotel under 300 euros with charter travel.
Conclusion:
Recommended.
Will be back to Deep Divers Hurghada for my training needs.
For naturalist diving, it is best to do a liveaboard or go to Marsa Alam, where there are no tourists, just dedicated divers.
Egyptian streets are not the most pleasant for a foreigner as the sellers are too pushy in a nasty way and taxi drivers are the worst I have ever met, but Egypt is a magical place.
Get a local to guide you around, do not give a taxi driver more than 15 pounds from one side of town ot the other (meter shows 10 pounds from Old town to airport, plus 5 for ground entry- so pay 25 to airport and 10-15 everywhere else).
The best in Egypt is under water!
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