Diving

Diving is extremely popular in Dahab with the beautiful coral reefs being in immaculate condition. Famous dive sites include Abu Helal, Blue Hole, The Bells, Canyon, Coral Garden, Eel Garden, Lighthouse, Moray Garden, Islands, Three Pools, Gabr El Bint (boat dive), Ras Abu Gallum (boat dive).

Diving in Dahab is mainly shore based with easy entry points from the shoreline. This means there is no mad rush to the crowded jetty at the crack of dawn; the journey from the divecentre to divesite is made in the back of a 4-wheel-drive jeeps. We will always leave on time, and we will ensure you are treated as guests, and not as a tour group. You can choose which of the dive sites you want to dive.

Some General Information regarding diving in Dahab:

• Air temperatures: reach 40°C (104°F) in August and fall to 20°C (68°F) in the winter
• Water temperature: 20°C (68°F) in February to 27°C (81°F) from July to October
• Suit: 3 mm or 5 mm wetsuit (November - April), shortie for rest of the year
• Visibility: 20–40 metres (65–130 feet) on average
• Type of diving: Reefs, walls, wrecks
• Marine life: turtles, blue spotted rays, jacks, snappers, barracudas, lionfish, reef fish, colourful corals, octopus, many different kinds of fish
• When to go: Any time of year, although if you prefer really warm water it is best to visit the Red Sea between June and September.

PADI COURSES: 

Course Type: Introductory Dive Discover Scuba Diving Open Water Course Advanced Course Emergency First Response Rescue Course Dive Master Course

Duration: 1:30 hour half day 3–5 days 2 days 1 day 3–4 days 10–21 days

Includes: 1 Dive 2 Dives 5 Confined + 4 Dives 5 Dives 1 Day Classroom 10 Water Skills Training + Several Dives

Price: 40 Euro 70 Euro 250 Euro 210 Euro 100 Euro 265 Euro 500 Euro

Prices include license, full equipment (except Dive Master course), manuals, transportation and logbook for open water. 

Guided Dives :

Refresher Diver One Dive Night Dive Three Day Package (6 Dives) Five Day Package (10 Dives)

35 Euro 30 Euro 35 Euro 140 Euro 200 Euro

Prices includes equipment, transportation and guide.

http://www.dahabplazahotel.com/diving.html

Shark Sighting Expert Dives In Sharm El Sheikh

Shark Sighting Expert Dives In Sharm El Sheikh

Andreas Efthymiou has recently completed his open water and advanced with Elite Diving, in Sharm El Sheikh. His main ambition is to dive with Great White Sharks outside a cage!!!

Andreas Efthymiou originates from Liverpool but with a rich tapestry of foreign ancestry.
Like many budding divers he has a great passion for sharks.
His passion was so great that before he learnt to dive with Elite Diving, he volunteered for the Great White Shark project in South Africa.

It wasn’t long before the project managers offered Andreas a full time position. His duties were to take scientific and environmental data such as air and sea temperature, GPS co-ordinates of Shark sightings along with photographing of the Great White Shark sightings. He also ran the same volunteer programme that he started on, providing detailed lectures to volunteers from around the world.

The sightings were fairly regular as he was stationed in one of the most popular areas for Great White’s and an area where we at Elite visit on a regular basis. Dyer Island, Shark Alley in South Africa.

Above are some photos that Andreas took in South Africa and also some of him diving with Elite Diving in Sharm El Sheikh where he had his first ever encounter with a shark while in the water. This was a white tip reef shark. Not on in the same league as the Great White but a shark never the less. You can see Andreas’s pleasure in spotting the shark in the photo below.


www.elite-diving.com

Labels: in Sharm El Sheikh, Shark Diving

Photos Marsa Alam

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Best Dive Review

Marsa Alam offers the best scuba diving of the Red Sea and In Egypt. The marine life is amazing and most of the dive sites are still unspoiled with pristine reefs and excellent coral. If you are tired of the crowded dive sites of Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada, this is a good spot for you.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2007828/2232052889/

You have excellent chances of meeting some Bottle Nose Dolphins or the Spinner Dolphins as well as Sea Turtles and the very rare and endangered Dugongs! If you dive the famous Elphinstone Reef, you might spot the rare and curious Oceanic White Tip Shark or even schooling Hammerhead Sharks!

Other types of Sharks like the impressive Silvertip Shark or the Grey Reef Sharks can also be spotted. This area is perfect to encounter pelagic fishes such as Tuna and Barracuda too.

During the right season, it is even possible to spot the gentle giant Whale Shark (May and June) and the majestic Manta Rays (May to August)!

Marsa Alam is mainly a destination for experienced divers with challenging dive sites but the local dive sites are also very easy and perfect for learning to Scuba Dive.

The best scuba diving sites in Marsa Alam (and probably in Egypt!) are:

• Elphinstone Reef: One of the best dive sites in the World. It is an offshore Reef offering spectacular wall drift diving with wonderful Coral and amazing Marine Life. This place is famous for regular encounters of schooling Hammerhead Sharks and the potentiall dangerous Oceanic Whitetip Shark! This site is reserved to experienced divers only!

• Dolphin House (Sha’ab Samadai): This wonderful reef creates a lagoon where the visibility is usually very good. It offers wonderful scuba diving or snorkelling but the highlight here is the resident spinner dolphins pod. It is often possible to swim or to dive with these intelligent and fascinating creatures, making it a truly unforgettable experience!

• Abu Dabbab: The most popular dive site of the area. It is one of the few places in the world where you can dive with the very rare and endangered Dugongs! This shallow bay is also home to many big Green Sea Turtles. The rare guitar shark can also be found in Abu Dabbab. This is an excellent spot for underwater photography (but don’t put your macro lense )! This is a popular snorkelling spot too.

• Fury Shoals: The most pristine reef of the area with amazing hard and soft coral!

• Wreck of the Hamada: Marsa Alam doesn’t have many interesting wrecks to dive. However, the Hamada wreck, a former 65m long ship that sunk in 1993 is an easy and spectacular shore dive. It is a great place for underwater photography, so don’t forget your camera!

Scuba Diving in Marsa Alam is really great for underwater photography because of the excellent visibility and the amazing marine life you can encounter. However, it is not really the best place for Macro and Critter lovers. If you are looking for excellent Macro and Muck Diving, try the Lembeh Strait or Wakatobi in Indonesia and Mabul Island in Malaysia!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amanda63/4321805965/

How to dive Marsa Alam?

Liveaboard trip or Marsa Alam Dive Centers?

Stunning world class dive sites can be reached on day trips from Marsa Alam and will keep you busy for your whole trip! However, if you do want to explore the excellent and more remote dive sites of the Brothers Islands, Daedelus Reef, Geziret Zabargad, Rocky Islands and St. John’s Reef you will need to take a liveaboard trip for a few days. These cruises are reserved for experienced divers.

Enquire Now! South Red Sea Liveaboard

Best time to dive in Marsa Alam

It is possible to dive in Marsa Alam all year round. There are different seasons:

• Around April and May, the visibility is sometimes reduced by the plankton bloom but that is what attracts Manta Rays and Whale Sharks!
• Coldest water occurs in January and is about 24°C
• Whale Sharks can be spotted between May and June
• From November to February, the wind can be strong and the sea quite choppy. It can sometimes prevent offshore dives from happening such as at Elphinstone Reef.
• Best scuba diving conditions are during Summer with water temperature of about 30°C!
• Hammerhead Sharks and Manta rays season in Elphinstone Reef runs from May to August
• The famous Oceanic Whitetip Shark season runs from October to December in Elphinstone Reef

Credit

Scuba Diving conditions

The south or Red Seas usually offers very good conditions.

Visibility: Great, it ranges from 20m to 60m.

Current: Varies greatly depending on the location and there are easy dive sites with no current for beginner divers as well as spots with very strong current for more experienced divers.

Water temperature: Ranges from 24°C around January and a nice 30°C during the Summer Months.

Marsa Alam is a windy destination and the sea can be choppy especially from November to February. It can sometimes forbid diving on the more exposed dive sites.

Snorkelling in Marsa Alam

There are several very good snorkelling locations around Marsa Alam. The dive operators usually offer Snorkelling day tours allowing you to explore the best spots of the area. You can also go snorkelling off the shore from one of the Marsa Alam beaches.

The best places for snorkelling are Abu Dabab Bay featuring a beautiful coral and marine life, Kahramana Beach and the Dolphin House Reef where you can swim with Dolphins!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlo_be/4714491412/

Diving Safety

If you are planning an upcoming dive trip or travelling to Marsa Alam, it is a really good idea to invest in travel insurance, because you never know what could happen and when you might need it (because accidents do happen!). I recommend this travel insurance as they offer worldwide coverage as they offer worldwide coverage and cover scuba diving up to 50 metres deep, as well as snorkelling and many more water activities.

Where to stay?

I usually use this website to book in advance my hotels in Marsa Alam as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because it's free to cancel and change the dates.

Travel Guide

Now that you know all about the underwater world, you might want to start planning your scuba holiday! Check out our Marsa Alam Travel Review for information about how to get there, activities and excursions, where to stay, and more.

Best Diving sites in Sharm El Sheikh

 

If you have dived in Sharm El Sheikh before, please share your experiences: Dive spots you would recommend, which Dive Center you used, Fishes & Diving, Visibility, Currents, etc. Please post your comments in the section below, by doing so you will help fellow divers to plan their next trip

Sharm el-Sheikh is the most popular scuba diving and tourist destination in Egypt and Red Sea.

You will encounter there very good marine life and coral with a superb visibility and maybe the best ship wreck in the world, the SS Thistlegorm. The surroundings are very scenic with a magnificent combination of Desert and Sea.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/undervannsfotografen/4443408869/

However, the dive sites in Egypt and especially around Sharm are often crowded and don’t expect to be alone underwater!

If you want to dive further and less crowded dives sites, you should take a Liveaboard to explore remote areas.

In this page you will find more detailed information about scuba diving in Sharm El Sheikh.

Family PADI diving Course in Sharm El Sheikh

Family PADI diving Course in Sharm El Sheikh

The Gething family from left to right. Lisa. Steve, Nia age 12, Bryony age 10.

Steve is the tough guy with out a wet suit. A prop forward in his younger days so nobody's going to argue!!!!!!

All the family recently completed their PADI Open Water course with elite diving's dive operation Divers United in Sharm El Sheikh Red Sea.

They are now enjoying diving the reefs of Sharm El Sheikh as a family.

Look at PADI courses on http://www.elite-diving.com/padi_courses.htm

or contact info@elite-diving.com

Labels: Family diving, PADI Course in Sharm El Sheikh

Egypt Explores Tourism Beyond The Package Tour

Egypt Eco tourism

In Egypt, tourism is big business. Nearly 13 million people visited the land of the pharaohs in 2008, and officials say the global economic crisis caused only a temporary slippage in the numbers in 2009. A budding eco-travel movement is emerging, almost unnoticed amid the bulging tour buses and packed cruise ships. Its leaders are trying to tap into the skills and knowledge of Egypt’s Bedouins and other tribal peoples, who have been all but ignored by the mainstream tourism industry. The tourism experience in Egypt is best known for the hordes of tour groups circling the Great Pyramids of Giza or wilting under the desert sun at Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.

Egypt’s annual tourism revenues of nearly $7 billion in 2005 soared to more than $10.5 billion in 2008. The government has razed shantytowns and swept aside poor villagers in efforts to make the experiences more pleasant for tourists.

 Integrating Traditional Communities

But in late October, activists and businesspersons gathered with members of various Egyptian tribes in the remote southeastern desert to celebrate their heritage and traditions, and to explore ways of responsibly bringing people to the Egypt that package tour visitors never see. The second annual Characters of Egypt festival featured Sinai Bedouins from the eastern hills, Nubian tribes from the south, and the tribes of the western desert from as far as the Siwa Oasis near the Libyan border. It was a rare opportunity for the tribes to swap songs, stories, food and art, and to debate whether this new eco-travel movement could provide desperately needed jobs without forever changing their lives. The head of Egypt’s national parks, Mustafa Foudy, said that last concern is part of his job — to see that eco-tourism doesn’t turn into a smaller version of mass tourism. “When you talk about eco-tourism, we are talking about responsible tourism, people that they come and gain experience by sitting with these local people. We trained them to work as guides, to take these tourists to safari, for example, to act as bird-watchers, to help the tourists,” he said.

Overcoming ‘The Handicrafts Plateau

‘ So far, eco-tourism is a term that can have many definitions in Egypt, from expensive “luxury eco-lodges” to primitive Bedouin-led desert treks. One of the founders of the tribal festival is Lynn Freiji, director of the Wadi Environmental Science Center.

Freiji says well-intentioned efforts these days focus too much on what she calls “the handicrafts plateau” — creating and marketing jewelry and carpets to tourists. She says the next step should be a sustainable travel sector that values the environment and relies on the knowledge and skills of those who live there. “The tribes are those that have protected the territories. Somehow we tend to forget about them. These people need to be banked on. These men need to get to work, these fishermen need to be better integrated. These tribes who have the knowledge of the desert should be working hand in hand with tour operators,” she says. Better Lives For Bedouins? Freiji says there are obstacles, including the deep mistrust between the government and tribal people, some of whom thrive on smuggling. Clashes, especially in the northern Sinai, are a regular occurrence. Each year when she tries to organize the tribal festival, Freiji says she must provide a list of all those attending to Egyptian security forces five months in advance, and inevitably security officials strike a number of names from the list. Mohammed Darwish Hamdan, a Sinai Bedouin, said that without tourism, living conditions in the Sinai would be even worse than their current dismal state. But he said the heavy-handed tactics of the security forces make development impossible. He said the common procedure of rounding up relatives of a wanted man to force him to come forward is not only wrong but disrespectful — a major sin in tribal culture. “They have to respect the dignity of the Bedouin when they deal with us. And they have to offer us a chance to make a living. If someone does something wrong, OK, arrest that person. But don’t seize innocent people for someone else’s deed,” he says.

by Peter Kenyon

Ancient Egypt history

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians believed that man will be resurrected again after his death to live a life of immortality and so were keen to keep the bodies of the dead through the process of mummification. And mummification process intended to keeping the body healthy and known by the ancient Egyptians also were keen to bury the dead bodies away from water infiltration and placed the bodies in graves vulnerable in dry places in the desert and within the pyramids. These operations are under the medical science advanced and competent doctors are able to use all the largesse of the nature of the chemical and pharmaceutical substances.

Posted by Ahmed Salah