Wadi Lahmy

[comcomtech]

I just returned from Dahab and am considering a trip to Wadi Lahmy, an all-in dive/kite Red Sea resort, south of Marsa Alam.

Reviews are mixed: shabby toilets, mushy food and expensive WiFi to outstanding diving, OK food and who cares about the rest?

I'd be grateful for any first-person reports, particularly:

1. Quality and cost of WiFi (staying in touch is mission critical to me).
2. Quality of shore dives.
3. Cost and quality of boat dives (Fury Shoals).

Thanks!

 

[tamas970]

#0: Toilets: yeah, not 5*, but OK. works, and haven't got any disease during a 2 week stay.
#1: Get yourself a Vodafone SIM at Marsa Airport (or any civilized stop you are dropping by).
PERFECT 3G in the area (maybe even 4G, I couldn't test that), the tower is nearby.
#2: No real shore dives, all reefs are served by dayboats. Some are a bit boring (dead coral), some really amazing If the sea is calm, they bring you out to see the sharks & dolphins at Sataya.
There are also at least 2 interesting wrecks nearby.
#3: Cost: they charge some extra for Sataya, maybe ~20€, definitely worth sailing out! Better coral, more chance to encounter sharks, dolphins, barracuda.
Night dives are also interesting, one night we counted like 5-6 spanish dancers.

+1: Food is also fine, certainly better than our company canteen...

 

[comcomtech]

Hi Tama970,

Thanks for the info! Would you say the quality of dives at Lahmy is better than you would get at Marsa, Sharm or Dahab?

#0: Toilets: yeah, not 5*, but OK. works, and haven't got any disease during a 2 week stay.
#1: Get yourself a Vodafone SIM at Marsa Airport (or any civilized stop you are dropping by).
PERFECT 3G in the area (maybe even 4G, I couldn't test that), the tower is nearby.
#2: No real shore dives, all reefs are served by dayboats. Some are a bit boring (dead coral), some really amazing If the sea is calm, they bring you out to see the sharks & dolphins at Sataya.
There are also at least 2 interesting wrecks nearby.
#3: Cost: they charge some extra for Sataya, maybe ~20€, definitely worth sailing out! Better coral, more chance to encounter sharks, dolphins, barracuda.
Night dives are also interesting, one night we counted like 5-6 spanish dancers.

+1: Food is also fine, certainly better than our company canteen...

 

[tamas970]

Haven't been to Dahab, I cant compare

 

[Diver0001]

I just returned from Dahab and am considering a trip to Wadi Lahmy, an all-in dive/kite Red Sea resort, south of Marsa Alam.

Reviews are mixed: shabby toilets, mushy food and expensive WiFi to outstanding diving, OK food and who cares about the rest?

I'd be grateful for any first-person reports, particularly:

1. Quality and cost of WiFi (staying in touch is mission critical to me).
2. Quality of shore dives.
3. Cost and quality of boat dives (Fury Shoals).

Thanks!

I won't repeat what tamas970 said, however, if you're looking for shore diving then you're probably better off going to Marsa Shagra.

R..

 

[comcomtech]

Thanks, good tip. Didn't know are Shagra.

 

[uboettger]

Okay, been there, liked it a lot at Hotel Wadi Lahmy Azur Resort. The choice of hotels down there is limited since Marsa Alam is about 180 km away to the North. The hotel itself is more a 3-star than a 4-star location to European standards but it is nice, clean and offers "soft" all-inclusive options so you just have to pay for alcoholic beverages. The hotel itself is sitting in the middle of nowhere a little south of the Hamata marina which is privately owned. Internet access was available but slow compared to the price. Next time I will bring a surf stick and buy an Egyptian Vodefone internet access card for the trip. That will save a lot of money.

For diving, the hotel is home to a Orca dive base, part of a German-run chain of diving operations. They offer day boats to all the reefs out to all the well-known dive sites like Sha'ab Claudia, Sha'ab Maksur and Sha'ab Sataya. We have been alone at the dive sites most of the time which makes quite a difference to Hurghada or Marsa Alam itself.

The hotel has a jetty now and offers shore dives at it's house reef. The same is true for the next hotel up north. The base can organize minibus trips to other shoreline diving spots along the road fraom Marsa Alam to Sudan.

There are kite clubs and places in Hamata. You could go there as well - those clubs run pickups from the local hotels.

Have fun!