Sharm el Sheikh First Time Hol

[jkevens]

Returned last week from 1st time dive holiday to Sharm.
Did Open Water course with Ocean College at the Ocean Club hotel - fantastic - great instruction and a particularly entertaining instructor called Wallid who we were assigned to - he is mad !
Ocean Club an equally pleasant hotel near the old town - extremely laid back and friendly staff and great food - very cheap too. Shame their new dive pool wasn'y yet finished as we had to dive in the very small hotel pool for our confined training dives - very cold and a bit cramped / shallow. Great when we got out on the boats though - very comfortable and great food too.
Spent first boat day at Ras Katy - totally dead and long since forgotten but ideal for trainees to practise their buoyancy skills without crashing into everything in sight. Next day at Middle Garden with very pretty reef and many more fish too look at - amazing now you actually get to look around and stop worrying you are going to shoot to the surface like an Exocet missile . 3rd day went back to do a Deep + Drift Dive towards advanced dive course . Deep dive was a bit 'confusing' - felt a bit weird down there - also a bit pointless as there wasn't much too see but I guess if you ever want to see all the wrecks you need to go down this deep . Drift dive from Fiddle to Middle garden was great too - very very pretty coral formations and fish ( no I don't know there names yet ) - except there was no current so it was a drift dive minus the drift.
Fortunately the weather was great by the time we got out on the boats - at the start of the week when we were confined to the pool it was VERY windy and apparently not good for being on the boat...
I expect those more experienced will say I have seen nothing at all of what the Red Sea has to offer but it was a fantasitc week and I am already falling in love with wacky Sharm and the fantastic desert climate ( I didn't break into a sweat once all week ). Am now looking forward eagerly to my return, whenever that may be + wondering whether it is worth investing in my own equipment at this stage - any suggestions ??

 

[donacheson]

Originally posted by jkevens
Returned last week from 1st time dive holiday to Sharm.
.
I expect those more experienced will say I have seen nothing at all of what the Red Sea has to offer but it was a fantasitc week and I am already falling in love with wacky Sharm and the fantastic desert climate ( I didn't break into a sweat once all week ). Am now looking forward eagerly to my return, whenever that may be + wondering whether it is worth investing in my own equipment at this stage - any suggestions ??

Shortly after having been certified 24 years ago, I found having my own equipment a major step in becoming comfortable in the water. On the other hand, my daughter, certified at the same time, could dive with anything and be happy. She's still that way; although preferring her own gear, a few years ago the airlines lost her stuff and she dived for a month in the South Pacific with borrowed/rental gear.

 

[neilstewart]

Congratulations on your open water certificate. I would certainly go out and get the fins, mask, snorkel. Although it's a bit of a hike from Leeds the London International Dive Show is next weekend 2nd/3rd March at Excel Arena, Docklands. You would be able to try many different products amd maybe get a bargain or two.

Neil

 

[Jonathan]

Hey - congrats! What about UK diving - some of the best there is.....

LIDS is really good and a great venue apart from the difficulty getting to it but last year there were bargains everywhere as well as other destinations to tempt you.

Have fun
Jonathan

 

[UKPhil]

congrats on the O/W- yes, I remember Wallid too, quite entertaining! I'm going back fot the third time next month; definitely a fun place and amazing value.

Phil