short trip to Egypt, need suggestions

[bnajdrovsky]

Hello folks, I'm a newbie here, so please take it easy on me. ;-) Anyway, I will be going to Egypt for 11 days at the beginning of December, and I would like to get some diving in while I'm there. I am looking for some advice on what would be the best way to utilize the short amount of time I will be there. I will be flying to Cairo, and besides diving, I'm really wanting to visit some of the antiquities such as Giza and Luxor. I'm guessing that I will probably have about 4 days to spend at the Red Sea, so I'm wondering if any of you could recommend some short live-aboard trips for like 3 days or so. (something along the lines of the Texas Flower Gardens trips if you've been on one of those). If I can't do a short boat trip, I'm interested in which resort location you'd recommend for some quality diving. I've heard good things about Sharm el Sheikh but also about Dahab and Hurghada.

What is the water temperature in the Red Sea in December? Do I need to bring a full wetsuit, or would a shortie be sufficient?

Finally, I'm pretty certain I already know the answer to this, but I'm wondering about 1st stage regulator connectors in that part of the world. Since I live in the US, my Mares Ti Planet regulator has the yoke mount, but I'm guessing that most operations over there use the din? Is there an easy way to deal with this incompatibility?

Anyway, any info you can pass my way would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Bo

 

[nickjb]

I'll start with the easy one... Most dive centres in Egypt use A-clamp (yoke) regs and aluminium cylinders to match. Most will have DIN cylinders available too although you need to check before the boat leaves

Mini live-aboard trips are available, I've met a few people who have done them but I don't have any details, sorry. A lot of them go from Hurghada so it would be a good option if you can find one.

The simplest trip to cover everything yo want to do would be a circular route; Cairo - Luxor - Hurghada - Cairo (or the other way). Sharm and Dahab are on the Sinai peninsula and it would mean a bit more travelling to fit it all in. That said, Dahab and Sharm are nicer resorts so it might be worth it. There is good diving to be had throughout the Red Sea.

I think you'd want a full suit in December.

HTH, anymore info required just fire away

Nick

 

[Red Sea Relax]

Dear bnajdrovsky!

We read your enquiry and could offer you free dormatory accomodation for stay with any guided diving or dive course.We are centrally located in dahab just off the reef near the new bridge.For any other details you can check our web site at www.red-sea-relax.com or email us at : info@red-sea-relax.com
Best Regards
Jordan Topkoski

 

[stefo2]

I agree with Nick, while Dahab and Sharm definetely are the nicer places, Hurghda is more convenient to Luxor and Cairo (only about 4 hours from Luxor by bus), and if you'll be doing a live-aboard anyway, it doesn't really matter that much what the place is like.
Sorry, don't have any recommendations as to dive shops, have never dived from Hurghada.
The water temperature is December will be around 22° (centigrade, sorry, too lazy to convert), so especially doing several dives a day you'll probably get cold in a shorty.

 

[bnajdrovsky]

nickjb once bubbled...
I'll start with the easy one... Most dive centres in Egypt use A-clamp (yoke) regs and aluminium cylinders to match. Most will have DIN cylinders available too although you need to check before the boat leaves

That's great! That means I don't need to get an adapter for my yoke regulator. I would have thought that dive centers in that part of the world, which cater to more european divers would be using mostly din regs.

The simplest trip to cover everything yo want to do would be a circular route; Cairo - Luxor - Hurghada - Cairo (or the other way). Sharm and Dahab are on the Sinai peninsula and it would mean a bit more travelling to fit it all in. That said, Dahab and Sharm are nicer resorts so it might be worth it. There is good diving to be had throughout the Red Sea.

My understanding is that there is a ferry service from Hurghada to Sharm, so that would be an option as well. I'm somewhat concerned about dragging my dive gear around all these places, since it's a pretty big/heavy bag, so I haven't quite decided how to go about this. Searching the internet, I have found several short liveaboard (3 day, 2 night) offerings leaving out of Hurghada, so I'm starting to lean toward that option, though I can't decide whom to go with. Space availability may also be an issue; I don't know how busy these boats are in December.

If I do end up going to Sharm, can you recommend any particular dive centers there?

 

[mleong]

Visit www.goredsea.com. PM me if needed. Happy diving.


michael

 

[Belushi]

Things to bear in mind.
It is very windy in The Red Sea in December and you will suffer with wind chill when you get out of the water. Which BTW never drops below 22 deg C (75 deg F (ish)) alll the way down to 1200 metres (3800 feet) So bring with you a warm coat for between the dives.

Me being a wooss, dived from November to February in a drysuit with a thick undersuit, I hated the wind chill.

With this in mind, it is a fairly equal toss-up which is better Sharm or Hurghada.

Hurghada gives you better access to non-dive related stuff (Valley of the Temples of the Kings & Queens, Nasser Dam, cruises up the Nile)
Sharm gives you better dive sites when it is windy (Ras Mohammed), and better night-life ... mainly European-run bars with decent beer and good food. Although a camel safari into the Sinai is a riot ... bring a soft cushion after though.

Mini-liveaboards are fairly scarce as they can be wind-blown.

Check out Emperor Divers (Sharm/Hurghada) Red Sea College (Sharm) Camel Dive Club (Sharm) Sinai Divers (Sharm) and The Royal Diving Fleet (sharm) for mini liveaboards.
All of these have either British management or British owners and all will be happy to help you to sotrt out your trip.
If you want a laugh about life in Egypt then check this little story I wrote whilst living there.
http://www.dsproffitt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/home/Stories/Civilization.htm

 

[stefo2]

The ferry from Hurghada to Sharm only runs 3-4 times a week and it leaves Hurghada very early in the morning (long before the first bus from Luxor comes in), so you would have to spend a night in Hurghda.

 

[DesertEagle]

Skip Dahab, Sharm and Hurghada. Instead go to Marsa Alam in southern Egypt. There are both camps and hotels and the shore diving is pretty good. The best diving is by boat to the offshore reefs such as Elphinstone. It is better than anything in Sinai or Hurghada.

 

[Belushi]

DesertEagle once bubbled...
Skip Dahab, Sharm and Hurghada. Instead go to Marsa Alam in southern Egypt. There are both camps and hotels and the shore diving is pretty good. The best diving is by boat to the offshore reefs such as Elphinstone. It is better than anything in Sinai or Hurghada.

It is very windy at that time of year and there would be no boats making any attempt to go to Elphinstone as there is no wind protection and the guests would be ill. You would only be shore diving, or at best, the local reefs.