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I'm booked to go to Sharm over Xmas.
I'm not particularly concerned.
I'm not particularly concerned.
Your thoughts about visiting the Egyptian Red Sea
- Thread starter Crowley
- Start date
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Ashantiashanti
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Just got back from our holiday with my girlfriend. She's blonde, so I was a bit concerned but we had no problems what so ever.
We were in Sharm for a total of four days - full of Russians.
A day trip in Cairo before the recent riots - no problems either.
Local bus from Cairo down to Marsa Alam, no problems.
Nine nights in Marsa Alam, driving around diving. No problems.
Hitched a cheap ride on a pick-up to Luxor and back: my girlfriend did cover her hair but that was mostly due to the desert winds and sand. In Luxor people even told her to take it off.
We had booked our trip some two or three weeks in advanced, but would have gone nevertheless despite the problems, as we knew that we were not within the danger zones (Recently Tahir Square and towards the Sinai - Dahab?) and not the target group (Not Americans or Jewish ?)
My quick two cents, can of course elaborate on certain things.
We were in Sharm for a total of four days - full of Russians.
A day trip in Cairo before the recent riots - no problems either.
Local bus from Cairo down to Marsa Alam, no problems.
Nine nights in Marsa Alam, driving around diving. No problems.
Hitched a cheap ride on a pick-up to Luxor and back: my girlfriend did cover her hair but that was mostly due to the desert winds and sand. In Luxor people even told her to take it off.
We had booked our trip some two or three weeks in advanced, but would have gone nevertheless despite the problems, as we knew that we were not within the danger zones (Recently Tahir Square and towards the Sinai - Dahab?) and not the target group (Not Americans or Jewish ?)
My quick two cents, can of course elaborate on certain things.
macrobubble
Contributor
I am not concerned about immediate security problems - travelling to Egypt is (in the moment) quite safe. What bothers me are the long term issues looming on the horizon!
With the dictatorial decree issued by Mursi and the intensifying clashes in Cairo and other cities, I fear for an escalation of violence. The non-MB majority will not just sit back
and watch the islamists take over the country. Don´t forget: Mursi got only 52% - and those only with the support of most of the liberal and secular forces. Shafiq was seen
as the bigger evil and still he got around 48% of the popular vote! Mursi would have lost against any other candidate since the MB-followers, as shown in the first round of the presidential elections, amount to about 25% max. He simply does not have a majority in the populace! Only because the MB has the resources and is very organized can they ferry around thousands of people to rallies and demonstrations. The opposition seems to get organized and unified for the first time in light of the developing MB dictatorship and will not give up resisting. And they have the backing of the majority of the people as shown in the election results (if you discount their votes from Mursi´s result).
Egyptians have learned how to dsipose of a dictator! Unfortunately the MB will not go quietly - unlike Mubarak who could not activate masses to support him. There will be continuing, escalating clashes on the streets between the revolutionaries and the MB-supporters.
Finally it will (again) boil down to the army! If puplic unrest continues and threatens the economy (which belongs to about 30% to the army!) even more than it does right now, they will feel obliged to step in again. The big question is: on whos side...?
All of this is to be seen in the next couple of weeks.
With the dictatorial decree issued by Mursi and the intensifying clashes in Cairo and other cities, I fear for an escalation of violence. The non-MB majority will not just sit back
and watch the islamists take over the country. Don´t forget: Mursi got only 52% - and those only with the support of most of the liberal and secular forces. Shafiq was seen
as the bigger evil and still he got around 48% of the popular vote! Mursi would have lost against any other candidate since the MB-followers, as shown in the first round of the presidential elections, amount to about 25% max. He simply does not have a majority in the populace! Only because the MB has the resources and is very organized can they ferry around thousands of people to rallies and demonstrations. The opposition seems to get organized and unified for the first time in light of the developing MB dictatorship and will not give up resisting. And they have the backing of the majority of the people as shown in the election results (if you discount their votes from Mursi´s result).
Egyptians have learned how to dsipose of a dictator! Unfortunately the MB will not go quietly - unlike Mubarak who could not activate masses to support him. There will be continuing, escalating clashes on the streets between the revolutionaries and the MB-supporters.
Finally it will (again) boil down to the army! If puplic unrest continues and threatens the economy (which belongs to about 30% to the army!) even more than it does right now, they will feel obliged to step in again. The big question is: on whos side...?
All of this is to be seen in the next couple of weeks.
Pedroinspain
Contributor
Just returned from 2 weeks at Royal Brayka (Marsa Alam). The sister Brayka Bay hotel was filled to the gills; Royal Brayka less so. Many dives were oversubscribed and a second boat was arranged. Clientèle were from all walks of Europe - plenty of Brits and Dutch, as usual a very strong German and Italian contingent (the latter less keen on diving and more on beach life) and a still-growing Russian percentage (almost no divers). The manager of Extra Divers (Brayka Bay) reports little meaningful decrease in diver numbers).
Not a single American in sight. It seems that the US media reports are putting them off (even given that they were never a dominant nationality in the Red Sea). A point made by a knowledgeable Egyptian is that the Red Sea tourism is drastically different from the Nile sector, the latter being where the Americans focus their Egyptian experience. 'Antiquities' (Nile) tourism has taken a massive knock; numbers are down to below 25%. The recent dictatorial powers assumed by President Morsi are likely to make matters worse.
I saw absolutely no effect of the revolution and the new government on the Red Sea Coast. On a (looooongggg) day-trip to Luxor no sign of discontent was seen, other than for the pleasantly small number of visitors. However, I can imagine that the effect in the Cairo area could well be different.
Over the years I have had a shedload of travel opportunities to compare US and European news media styles, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the US media is far more alarmist and applies much more 'spin' to breaking international events. Combine that with the fact that the Red Sea is not a 'natural' dive destination for Joe the Plumber, and the absence of Americans at Marsa Alam is soon explained.
I judge my dive experience with Extra Divers at Brayka Bay to have been great value-for-money. Would I go again? Like a shot.
Not a single American in sight. It seems that the US media reports are putting them off (even given that they were never a dominant nationality in the Red Sea). A point made by a knowledgeable Egyptian is that the Red Sea tourism is drastically different from the Nile sector, the latter being where the Americans focus their Egyptian experience. 'Antiquities' (Nile) tourism has taken a massive knock; numbers are down to below 25%. The recent dictatorial powers assumed by President Morsi are likely to make matters worse.
I saw absolutely no effect of the revolution and the new government on the Red Sea Coast. On a (looooongggg) day-trip to Luxor no sign of discontent was seen, other than for the pleasantly small number of visitors. However, I can imagine that the effect in the Cairo area could well be different.
Over the years I have had a shedload of travel opportunities to compare US and European news media styles, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the US media is far more alarmist and applies much more 'spin' to breaking international events. Combine that with the fact that the Red Sea is not a 'natural' dive destination for Joe the Plumber, and the absence of Americans at Marsa Alam is soon explained.
I judge my dive experience with Extra Divers at Brayka Bay to have been great value-for-money. Would I go again? Like a shot.
Interesting to me that American divers do not seem to be much of a presence in the Red Sea. Of course the Red Sea is like "our" Caribbean, easy to get to for Europeans. I am still waiting to make a final decision as to whether I will be heading there in the not-too-distant future.
yes, to highlight that point, US divers are not a common sighting in the redsea whether in normal situations or unrest situations as the media might suggest 
MUFC
Registered
I just returned from a liveaboard out of Port Ghalib and had no problems whatsoever.
I imagine a sizeable amount of Egypts GDP comes from tourism.It really isnt in their interedt to mess this up.
I imagine a sizeable amount of Egypts GDP comes from tourism.It really isnt in their interedt to mess this up.
Red Sea Leonfish
Contributor
Terry Waite (Terry Waite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) was featured on the UK's BBC1's "Breakfast" morning news/current affairs show this morning and included Egypt in a list of countries which, in his view, had been destabilised by the 'Arab Spring' and are on the brink of societal collapse. With the greatest of respect to him as an academic, commentator of Middle-Eastern affairs and a selfless humanitarian, I'm not aware that he has actually been to Egypt recently to have conclusively formed such views except via hearsay and conjecture.
In fact, he was giving his statement just up the road from my Apartment in Bristol. I doubt that he's spent more time in Egypt than I have in the last six months (although I might be wrong). Maybe the BBC should have interviewed me instead?
What is clear, however, is that it is now deemed wholly acceptable for commentators to describe Egypt in terms similar to a describing it as a "failed state" and for that now to be an accepted 'norm' which goes completely unquestioned and unchallenged by any interviewer or presenter. In my view, it is that 'normalisation' of any given perception (ill-conceived or otherwise) which, ultimately, has the potential to be most damaging to the dive industry in Egypt.
In fact, he was giving his statement just up the road from my Apartment in Bristol. I doubt that he's spent more time in Egypt than I have in the last six months (although I might be wrong). Maybe the BBC should have interviewed me instead?
What is clear, however, is that it is now deemed wholly acceptable for commentators to describe Egypt in terms similar to a describing it as a "failed state" and for that now to be an accepted 'norm' which goes completely unquestioned and unchallenged by any interviewer or presenter. In my view, it is that 'normalisation' of any given perception (ill-conceived or otherwise) which, ultimately, has the potential to be most damaging to the dive industry in Egypt.
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Maybe he got that false impression the way we in America are--by watching video of 100,000 people in the streets throwing rocks at each other and setting buildings on fire. We could also get that impression by watching the leader grant himself dictatorial powers (I know he just rescinded them under tremendous pressure) and putting forth a very controversial draft constitution. Those sorts of things in the media are indeed fueling the false impression we have that things aren't 100% rosy there.
LiquidDivingAdventure
Contributor
The last couple I booked to the Red Sea were from Colorado and like many I speak with from the US were reluctant to go to Egypt, for various reasons. Simple solution for us...we booked their flights thru Turkey, got great flights out of Denver. They had a fantastic trip and are glad they went.
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