Soma Bay!

[kumimonster]

Hello all!
Well this is my first post in this area of the forums. I didn't think I'd end up traveling to this destination any time soon but it looks like I'm heading to Egypt around the end of August/begining of Sept 2019.
I'm happy I'm here and I'm hoping to get some advice and information.

My friend and I are traveling to Egypt after visiting South Africa and Zambia. When I suggested Hurghada, he said sure and said he'd handle the booking for our stay - he has some kind of frequent stay hotel thing. So we are staying at the Kempinski Hotel Soma Bay. Upon further research, I've realized that this is actually a good hour south of Hurghada!
I looked into liveaboards but we also want to do some land-tourist things while in the area and we don't have that much additional time to add to our trip. I am hoping for 2 days of diving, maybe 3!
Since we're doing so much land-based travel, I'm leaving the gear at home! (But I will def bring my camera set up and computer).

I'm wondering, are the dive sites down in this area comparable to the ones further north?
I've read about Thistlegorm being one of those "must-check-out" sites. Is it truly? Wouldn't staying well south of Hurghada make it something I should just put out of my head? Should I just kick myself and tell me to get over the FOMO kind of mentality?

I've heard about Orca Dive Club based in the area. Are they pretty much the main operation in the area that divers go to? Any other suggestions?

So many people say the house reefs are wonderful here. I'm hoping that's the case.
What other dive sites do people suggest? Any idea of difficulty levels?
I do enjoy a more challenging dive sometimes but I know my friend does not. He can always just take a spa day!

Thanks for everything!

 

[diverLux]

Hi,

you have chosen well, great hotel and nice bay, Hurghada is a town nothing there for divers and the Thistlegorm is far away, the further South the better El Quseir and Marsa Alam areas, stick with ORCA and see what they have on offer.

 

[kumimonster]

Thanks a lot!

 

[kumimonster]

Hi all!

I posted in this regional forum some time ago.
Question:
Are orientation dives generally a thing in this part of the world?
Each time I dive with a different company, do they require one?

 

[Christian]

If you have a log of rescent dives with a center in the Red Sea, normally no need for a check dive.

 

[scubaozy]

I must have over 1k dives around soma bay as I worked there for a while. Kempinski is would be the hotel I would choose if I visited there with my partner. There is also club robinson which good but it is club style, which I don't like that much. You will be 40-60 minutes drive away from the Hurghada airport.
To dive Thistlegorm, you need to fly to Sharm el Sheikh or it is accessible via livaboard from Hurghada. Generally Hurghada diving is a bit underrated, this is due to lack off wall diving.
Soma bay has a very decent house reef (I do not know current reef state as I have not been there for a long while). There are inner and outer reefs in area, inner reefs are 5-20mins by boat and outer are 40-80 mins. Among the outer reefs you will have Panorama and Abu Kafan which have decent drop offs.
I do not agree with the statement further south is better. Often, dives on the south are shore dives which is not as convenient as doing a boat dive.
Most of the dive operations are good in the area including Orca. For your location, most convenient will be Orca.
As for the tourist things, there is not that much in the north or south. You might get a day trip to luxor or do a camel ride or desert safary by quad.

 

[kumimonster]

Thank you all!