Trip report Sharm 2 out of 8!

[QatarDiver]

Background, British, 54, recreational diver on and off for years.

12 of us went to Sharm for the first time for a few days over Eid el Fatir, dived with Emporer, some of us enjoyed it, some of us less so!

Emporer, and maybe many other operators insist on the first dive as a try dive, so take you to the local reef, 18m max, then apply the 'dont dive deeper on the second dive rule', you you get 2 more reef dives, which I rudely refer to as underwater bird watching!.

Day two, the big dive day? Oh no! 3 of the group opted to do their Advanced course (good money for Emporer), which meant we coudnt go to Ras Mohammed natinal park as the local rules forbid training there. So, guess what? 3 more boring reef dives! Even though I was more than happy to change boat there was little chance, all dive gear was left on board, so changing boat is a hassle, and the boats that did go to the Thistlegorm had already left. No night dives were available either, some thing about the locals not taking the boats out becuase of the eid.

Day 3, off to Dahab, 90 minute coach ride and finally, on the last day, 2 decent dives, the canyon and the blue hole, and I even hit 30m! Only 2 dives as Emporer insist on 24 hours before you fly as well as a longer surface interval as there is a hill the bus has to go up on the way home....

Then my spare reg set was either stolen off the beach or put on another operators truck! 250 quid gone!

We stayed in the Naama bay area, hotel (Bayview) was OK, Naama itself is like Benidorm mixed with Backpool, frightful! (Yes, I am a home counties snob!)

Would I got back? No.

Would I book with Emporer again, No.

Next time I use an diver operator I will ask for their; group size, planned itinerary, mandatory try dives, the 2nd dive deeper rule and the 24 hour fly rule. Maybe all operators are the same, but I think you should be able to bear your own risk on these issues. I did the last 2 dives on EAN32 and even my ultra conservative Suunto only suggested 17 hours before you fly.

So, the score, 2 out of 8 for Emporer, and probaby the same for Sharm!

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Sorry that you didn't enjoy your trip. I believe what suits you best is a tailored trip with private guide.

 

[Crowley]

Sorry you had such a sucky time in Sharm - I work here (for another dive centre) and would make the following points:

Check dives on arrival are almost mandatory - local regulations insist upon it although some centres add their own guidelines.

Most dive centres go to Ras Mohamed or Tiran daily - Emperor included. Training dives are indeed not allowed there (hey, here's some people trying to make training safer and less destructive - not a bad thing, surely?) you had the opportunity to change boats but didn't - can't really blame anybody for that now.

If you did go to Ras Mohamed you would have had three more "boring" reef dives, the Thistlegorm and Dunraven take some travelling - but daily diving from Sharm is mostly reef diving.

The Eid festival happened this weekend just passed at the end of Ramadan. Perhaps some respect for the national culture, tradition and religion of the extremely hard working boat crews might go a long way.

The local regulatory body, in conjunction with the tour operators and dive centres are trying to make Sharm an enjoyable and safe diving experience for all customers. A diver of your advanced ability should at least acknowledge that. Dive centres are beholden to those legislations. Are you really telling me a dive centre that recommends a minimum pre-flight surface interval of 24 hours in the interests of safety (regardless of the physics) is doing a bad thing?

Sheesh - some people are never satisfied. Sorry your experience in Sharm was so poor - for hundreds of thousands of other divers, every year, it isn't.

You say you will check schedules and itineraries etc next time... you mean you didn't check this time? You say you got bored of reef dives in the Red Sea... I'm not sure, even for those of us who do this every single day - that this is possible.

I'm sorry you had a bad time in Sharm - but I'm sorry to say, this is mostly your own fault.

With best regards

C.

 

[maged_mmh]

Background, British, 54, recreational diver on and off for years.

12 of us went to Sharm for the first time for a few days over Eid el Fatir, dived with Emporer, some of us enjoyed it, some of us less so!

Emporer, and maybe many other operators insist on the first dive as a try dive, so take you to the local reef, 18m max, then apply the 'dont dive deeper on the second dive rule', you you get 2 more reef dives, which I rudely refer to as underwater bird watching!.

Day two, the big dive day? Oh no! 3 of the group opted to do their Advanced course (good money for Emporer), which meant we coudnt go to Ras Mohammed natinal park as the local rules forbid training there. So, guess what? 3 more boring reef dives! Even though I was more than happy to change boat there was little chance, all dive gear was left on board, so changing boat is a hassle, and the boats that did go to the Thistlegorm had already left. No night dives were available either, some thing about the locals not taking the boats out becuase of the eid.

Day 3, off to Dahab, 90 minute coach ride and finally, on the last day, 2 decent dives, the canyon and the blue hole, and I even hit 30m! Only 2 dives as Emporer insist on 24 hours before you fly as well as a longer surface interval as there is a hill the bus has to go up on the way home....

Then my spare reg set was either stolen off the beach or put on another operators truck! 250 quid gone!

We stayed in the Naama bay area, hotel (Bayview) was OK, Naama itself is like Benidorm mixed with Backpool, frightful! (Yes, I am a home counties snob!)

Would I got back? No.

Would I book with Emporer again, No.

Next time I use an diver operator I will ask for their; group size, planned itinerary, mandatory try dives, the 2nd dive deeper rule and the 24 hour fly rule. Maybe all operators are the same, but I think you should be able to bear your own risk on these issues. I did the last 2 dives on EAN32 and even my ultra conservative Suunto only suggested 17 hours before you fly.

So, the score, 2 out of 8 for Emporer, and probaby the same for Sharm!

QD, maybe next time you could stop by the diveshop (inside the Marriott marina) I normally deal with in Qatar & they can help you arrange/plan such future excursions (Egypt, Oman, Maldives, and Mauritius as I reckon), we even dive locally every weekend.

 

[QatarDiver]

Hi Maged, many thanks for the offer, I've PM you, I need to start planing the trip for the next eid...

 

[QatarDiver]

Hi Crowley

I think the root of the problem was that Emperor didnt meet us on the Friday evening when we got to the hotel and never asked us what sort of diving we wanted. They ran their day plans at 8am, which is too late if any people in the group wanted to do something different, when the boat required had already departed.

I did ask to transfer boat, but it was 9:30am by the time the detail of the days plan was discussed, too late!

What I meant when I refered to the Eid was that I thought Emperor were using it as an excuse not to go night diving, not that the locals had actualy said no to the idea, I live here and understand the locals pretty well, and their religion and customs.

And I did ask the travel rep we booked through if I could choose to go wreck diving while the others went reef diving, and of couse she said yes, no problem, give me your money etc!

I guess the lesson learned is this; contact the local dive operator, not the booking agent, before you arrive and set out your ideas, check these with the local dive leader the day before and make sure you keep your kit with you.

 

[Crowley]

good point about the travel reps - most of them don't know a great deal about diving - they just know what there is available and what can be done - so yes it's possible to go wreck diving while others go reef diving - it's just got to be planned in advance.

The dive centres are unlikely to meet you on arrival, however some do turn up at the intro meetings. I have no experience with Emperor other than I know some of their former employees so I won't offer any criticism on their behalf - but it's always worth contacting the dive centres in advance - they do have a pretty good and informative website. Perhaps they could have done more to welcome you to the dive centre (I don't know, I wasn't there) but we've all been pretty busy recently in what are difficult times.

To all divers thinking of heading to Sharm: discuss and arrange things with the counter staff as soon as you check in to the dive centre. The bigger shops will - as an example - have on each day (at least) one boat that goes to Ras Mohamed, one to Tiran, one to the local sites, and Thistlegorm trips are maybe once or twice a week and often dependent on interest amongst the customers and minimum numbers. Planning for these boats is usually done before lunchtime the previous day. As I said, I'm not familiar with Emperor's operation but this is all pretty standard. It must be noted that dive centres have had to tighten their belts a bit this year due to the credit problems - it would not be unusual for a dive company to try to fit two schedules on to one boat whereas last year they would have used two.

Anyway - so, I apologise if I was overly critical of your post - most of the people who've come here this year have had an excellent time and again, I'm sorry you had such a bad time here.

As for Eid - trust me - it's not an excuse for anything!

Safe diving,

C.

 

[maged_mmh]

Hi Maged, many thanks for the offer, I've PM you, I need to start planing the trip for the next eid...

replied to the same

 

[Interceptor121]

I have worked with Emperors and I think they are one of the best operations out there
A check dive is pretty much the rule on day one and Emperor do that locally as they leave from Naama Bay which means the first day you were for sure not going to Ras Mohammed
and as your friend were doing an advanced course for sure another day you would have been on a mooring point because of the deep dive and unfortunately as you were going to Dahab that is shore dive this pretty much closed your program without Ras Mohammed
For your info most operators do only 2 dives in Dahab due to the logistics involved

If there is a fault is one of managing expectations correctly...

 

[Gombessa]

Next time I use an diver operator I will ask for their; group size, planned itinerary, mandatory try dives, the 2nd dive deeper rule and the 24 hour fly rule.

I think these are great questions to ask whenever you travel to dive. Thanks for sharing your experience, sorry it wasn't what you had hoped for!