I highly recommend the Red Sea and Sharm El Sheikh. I have made two trips there while I was living in Athens, Greece. Both trips were with Red Sea Diving College. The first trip was in 2003. On that trip I made Day Trips from the shop. I went again in 2005 and dove on their Live-Aboard, VIP One. Both trips were among the best I have made in over 30 years of diving. The thing that you should enjoy with the diver that wants to stay shallow is that the reefs there start at about 5 feet of water and slope down to at least 100 feet. I made the first trip and some friends followed me a few days later. The dive shop took all my gear and moved it from boat to boat each day, so it was ready for my dives. My friends dove one of the sites I dove a few days earlier, but they wanted to stay shallow. So, I dove the reef at about 80 feet a few days before and then dove it at about 40 feet with my friends.
On each of those dives ( and all the other dives I made over that week), there was so much to see that my neck hurt looking at things. There was coral everywhere and fish everywhere. The vis was 60 to 100 feet on all of the dives. The second time I went, I was on their Live-Aboard, the VIP One. It was an excellent platform and allowed us to dive many sites, pretty much by ourselves. You can't go wrong in Sharm.
I also made a couple of dives in Aqaba, Jordan. There the dives are all beach dives and as you are swimming across the bottom, you pass over some sand and then some rocks and then some coral and fish. At Sharm, the fish and coral is everywhere from 5 feet down to at least 100 feet.
I did not see any sharks on either of these trips. I heard reports of whale sightings and other big fish, but I did not see any of them. I saw several turtles and tons of colorful tropicals. One of the best dives there is on the Thistlegorm. It is a British Supply ship that went down the first weeks of WWII. It has trucks and jeeps and motorcycles in the holds. The main deck is at about 60 feet and it is a little more challenging because of the currents.
I would recommend that you contact Red Sea Diving College and schedule your trip through them. They have a hotel next to the shop that is cheap ( not fancy, like some of the nearby resorts, but clean and convenient). If you want top notch lodging, there are many resorts in the area. The shop is in the Naama Bay area. So, if you are looking for hotels, get one close to Naama Bay. However, the shop will pick you up in the morning and drop you off after the dives. So, if you get a hotel anywhere in Sharm, you will be fine. I ate most meals at the local Hard Rock Cafe. Even though I was living in Athens and ate a lot of that type of food, I appreciated the food at the Hard Rock.
Bottom line is Sharm is an excellent site and I highly recommend it. I hope I have answered most of your questions. I dove there in October and in July. I wore a 3 mm suit, but most people were in a 5 mm suit. Check with them to see what they recommend. Let me know what you decide and write if you want more info. Get back to me at
alanmayfield@yahoo.com
Talk to you later.
Alan
