Sharm in February?

[Tigerman]

If you DO decide to try skiing, remember to do the skiing first and the Glühwein second, not the other way around.
You might not feel the fall as much if you do it in the opposite order, but I can promise you that youll feel it all that much later the day after

 

[divebunnie]

Aahh String a person of my own heart... Crowley, I am in my drysuit for guiding already... and I was not the first. Having said that I don't have a huge amount of body volume so get cold really quickly. I actually end up wearing the drysuit for nearly half the year! Yes... I am a wuss! Enjoy Switzerland by the way... likewise we are heading for bizarrely much colder climes for our holidays too... New York!

As you said, we are definitely in for a cold one by all accounts... 25ºC even off the beach this week, which is usually at least a degree warmer than elsewhere. Last year it only dropped to about 24ºC and that was in February, so I reckon it is going to drop to about 21ºC this year. That is the temperature it hit in my first winter here... brrrrr.

 

[Crowley]

good grief you wusses - what are they feeding you up there!?

So far nobody here's gone dry, but I have recently been offered the possibility of a second hand dry suit for very little money... and I'm sorry to say, and a little bit ashamed to admit, that if it fits, it's mine!

My computer hit 22 in the dead of winter last year, and 23 the year before. Allowing for computer error, all indications are that it's going down again this year - and if Divebunnie gets 21 on her computer, that means 19 on mine - ouch!!!!

I think I will enjoy the glogg, and not worry too much about the skiing. I think snowboarding would be more in the Crowley stylee anyway, but I have this strange reservation about breaking my legs and not being able to dive! Also looking forward to eating real food and having a long soak in a hot bath, the availability of which has been limited during my travels!

I'm counter-chicking again at the moment which has its advantages in the cold weather!

Cheers

C.

 

[Tigerman]

Not a problem Crowley. On the ganja-board the number one injurty is broken wrists (from breaking the fall with your arms) rather than broken legs, and you dont need your ARMS to swim with anyways, do you?

Infact my both my sisters has experienced that number one injury and my youngest sister actually did one a bit more creative and landed the edge of her board onto her hand - she held the grab a bit too long


Personally Ive never broken anything other than the equipment while either skiing or snowboarding. Some might call that skill, I call it plain outright luck

 

[Topper1972]

What is the selection like for 5mm, 7mm and semi-drys in Sharm?

At various times I have been to 5 diveshops in Sharm...but at that time I wasn't paying much attention to their selection in wetsuits, semidrys and drysuits...but I don't remember to have been blown away by a huge selection and low prices.

Am I better off buying a warm suit here in Denmark or via some webshop before I leave for Sharm?
Crowley...that SeacSub semi-dry you mention I have seen for 197 Euros...but I don't know about the fit.

 

[ArthurGerla]

Practically all dive gear is imported from outside Egypt. Figure it out. How can it be cheaper than buying at home, especially from an online shop that doesn't need to maintain a bricks & mortar presence?

 

[Tigerman]

Its WAY more expensive to keep a shop up, even online one, in Norway than it is in Egypt wich means they need a higher markup to pay expenses here than they do in Egypt. For one I doubt they pay their staff a minimum of 24 USD an hour in Egypt..

 

[Crowley]

Practically all dive gear is imported from outside Egypt. Figure it out. How can it be cheaper than buying at home, especially from an online shop that doesn't need to maintain a bricks & mortar presence?

Because we get a staff discount here

You will find in Sharm that prices are about the same as they are in Europe, with a little bit of variation either way.

But - staff get a 15 - 20% discount in the dive shops here, which is worth a lot, actually. Also - they stock equipment that is relevant to the environment and the season. In the winter, you need thick wetsuits, semis or dry, if you can afford it - and you can find some quality equipment here at shops that are well stocked and managed by knowledgeable people. Also you don't have to pay a lot of money to transport it here.

There is not so much variety but the shops also recognise that dive staff provide a significant part of their income. Not all manufacturers are present here, and so therefore it makes sense to buy here because then at least you know the service kits for your regulator are available locally...

Pretty much all of us who live here buy locally, so don't worry about what you can buy here.

Cheers

C.