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

Ancient Egypt history

Before the birth of Christ was born three thousand years Imhotep Dean of Medicine and a leading global medical historians and the testimony of the first name means in hieroglyphics (which comes in peace) that the doctor and the chief architect Minister priests singers. And above all, is the first established the first, said stone in history, the pyramid of King Djoser (Step Pyramid at Saqqara) says about James Henry Breasted and Kurt olive oil that he is the inventor, the first art of medicine without a competitor. The ancient Egyptians worshiped Him in the City of Memphis agency to heal and in which he said Awsly: it is the first picture of a doctor and realistic. He became a popular god loved.

Posted by Ahmed Salah

Tourism ancient Egyptian oasis

Valley of the Golden Mummies

The most important archaeological sites in Egypt oasis family graves 26. The cemetery sacred bird. Arc de Triomphe and the remains of Roman ruins and the Temple of Isis and Temple due to the age of Alexander the Great. It also contains the tombs of the Valley Golden Mummies, which shed light on a very important period in the history of Egypt at the beginning of the Roman era. Where he discovered a huge number of mummies gold numbering 10000. He was the author of this great discovery, the famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

Posted by Ahmed Salah

Egypt's Islamists try to calm fears over tourism

Egypt's main Islamist parties on Sunday launched separate conferences aimed at promoting tourism as they scrambled to allay fears that the lucrative industry is under threat from religious conservatism.

A tourist looks out onto the Red Sea from a beach in Egypt Photo: ALAMY

2:48PM GMT 11 Dec 2011

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – the political arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood – announced a conference in Cairo entitled "Let's encourage tourism" that brought together industry leaders and party members.

Meanwhile, Al-Nur, the ultraconservative party representing followers of the fundamentalist Salafi brand of Islam, said it was launching a conference to promote the industry in the Egyptian southern city of Aswan.

About 15 million holidaymakers visited the country last year, attracted by its Pharaonic sites and Red Sea beach resorts. The industry is a key money earner and source of foreign currency.

Islamist parties won a crushing victory in the first stage of parliamentary elections which wrapped up last week, leading to fears they might impose strict Islamic law that could scare off Western holidaymakers.

Some Islamist candidates or religious scholars have advocated destroying ancient monuments – seen as a form of idol worshipping – and bans on alcohol, mixed-sex beaches, gambling and even bikinis.

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On the Facebook page of the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie was shown shaking hands with foreign visitors as he toured the historic city of Luxor.

Members of the FJP also visited the ancient Pyramids of Giza on Sunday to show the "Brotherhood's support for tourism," said the Facebook page.

Al-Nur, which has come second in the polls with more than 20 per cent of votes so far, said their conference would bring together representatives from tourism chambers, hotels and tour operators "in a bid to support the industry."

"We do not want to ban tourism. On the contrary, we want revenue from tourism to multiply," spokesman Nader Bakkar told the Egyptian satellite channel CBC on Saturday.

But he also spoke in favour of segregation of the sexes on beaches.

"The Al-Nur party does not want to ban beach tourism. But we do want to see a type of Halal tourism ... such as segregation of beaches," Bakkar said.

The tourism sector was virtually paralysed during 18 days of protests that toppled Mubarak in January and February, and has been struggling to recover since.

Following years of crackdowns under Mubarak, Islamists have since the revolt become increasingly open about their ambitions for an Islamic state, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of hotels and beaches.

About a thousand employees in the sector demonstrated last Friday to draw attention to their difficulties and the anti-tourist declarations of some Islamists.

The industry is estimated to support about a tenth of the active population.

Tourism in Egypt

Although Egypt has been a tourist destination significant for several centuries earlier hailed the visit at the time philosophers, scientists, merchants, travelers, adventurers and was one of the reasons for a boom of tourism in the modern era attention to infrastructure and increase tourism investments in addition to providing security and stability in Egypt start when the first operation to enrich and diversity of the product Egyptian tourist to include, along with tourism archeological and tourism and historical tourism and Recreational tourism in these resorts, which are available with the elements of life very freely beauty as well as a temperate climate throughout the world and the hotel services and tourism at the global level have continued the process of diversity and enrich the tourism product Egyptian also includes eco-tourism, religious shrines and Tourism safari and desert adventure tourism in Egypt, golf and incentive travel and tourism conferences and exhibitions and tourism events, which amounted to the Egyptian tourism agenda in approximately 34 sports event, culturally and technically over the year and in most of the governorates of Egypt.

Posted by Ahmed Salah 

Egypt tailor-made tours

Above: Feluccas on the Nile, Aswan, Egypt

The Egypt, Jordan and Syria tour itineraries detailed on this website can be done by joining a small-group, or if you prefer, by yourselves on a private departure. We do offer some flexibility on both of these, and you can add extra nights or extensions to either end of the tour as well as various options during the main itinerary itself.

However, if you are unable to find the perfect tour for you on our website, or if our group tours don’t leave on a convenient date, then we would be delighted to customise a tailor-made itinerary for you. You can pick and choose the bits you like best from our set tours, let us know what level or style of accommodation you prefer, select any particular hotels you'd like to stay in, and let us know about any special interests you may have.

Our travel consultants will then build an itinerary for you, perhaps adding in some of their own suggestions, and taking into account practicalities on the ground with regard to driving times, cruise boat start dates etc. We'll also send you some international flight suggestions and quotes. You'll have the opportunity to make as many or as few changes as you like, as we want the final result to be a really special and memorable holiday for you.

Tailor-made groups

We often work with large groups, including schools, dive clubs and societies, so if you are an organisation, business or society looking for a tailor-made tour, please contact us and our staff will be happy to help.

What to do next...

If you are interested in tailor-made tours please use our tour enquiry form to give us some ideas about when you'd like to travel and what you'd like to include. We may come back with some more simple questions to help us, and will then send you an initial itinerary for your comments and suggestions for any amendments. We'll then send you prices and start checking availability.
You are also very welcome to telephone, fax or email us directly, or visit us here in our offices in Leeds.

Dahab 10-Dive Package

 

Tour description

As one of the natural wonders of the world, the Red Sea is unparalleled in its diversity of marine life, including some of the most beautiful coral reefs and dizzying drop offs in the world. This tour features ten pre-booked dives, with all your equipment hire included, and accommodation in a comfortable hotel close to the dive-centre in Dahab. Most of the dives are accessible from the shore, and are only a short drive away. Extension options are available to start and finish the tour in Cairo if required.
We begin this tour in Sharm el Sheikh, where you are met at the airport, and then transferred to Dahab (we can also extend the tour to start & finish in Cairo if you wish, giving you the chance to see the pyramids & sphinx while you are in Egypt, or to fit in with your scheduled flights or another tour). Once in Dahab, we’ll introduce you to the staff at the Dive Centre where you'll spend the next 5 days diving.
Our all-inclusive dive package covers all your diving (including equipment) and transfers to the diving sites. The diving in Dahab is relaxed and you will have a guide to take you to some of the most exciting dive sites Dahab has to offer. Sites visited may include the Blue Hole, the Cavern and the Lighthouse, along with many other of Dahab fantastic dive sites. The tour is based on two dives a day, though you may have the option of night diving as well. Extra dives (i.e. night dives) can be paid for locally at the dive centre.
If you haven't dived for over 6 months, then you will be required to do a Refresher Dive before starting the main dive package.

Egypt cruises

Above: Oberoi Philae cruiseboat on the Nile, Egypt

Nile cruiseboats, dahabiyas & feluccas

Travelling by boat on the Nile is a very popular and enjoyable way of seeing Egypt. You see more of rural Egyptian life than if you were travelling by coach or flying, and the relaxed pace gives you a welcome break from the busy sightseeing you may be doing during the rest of your tour. There are three different types of boats to choose from when you travel on the Nile, and which you prefer will depend both on your budget, and on whether you want a more luxurious or adventurous holiday.
The most popular way to travel down the Nile is on a luxury Nile cruise boat. These floating hotels have up to around 100 en-suite, air-conditioned cabins on board, with restaurants, bars, and spacious sun decks and plunge pools.
Those looking for a cheaper and more adventurous trip on the Nile will love sailing on a felucca. These traditional Nile sail boats make for a very relaxing and fun way to travel, and you sleep on board the boat with your guide and Nubian crew.
The third option, Dahabiyas, combine the best of the experiences you get on a Nile Cruise boat and a felucca. These are larger sailing craft than feluccas and have been around for thousands of years; wall paintings of similar craft can be seen in ancient Pharaohs' tombs. Today, they provide a luxurious way to travel the Nile in style with just a few other lucky travellers.

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Egypt small group tours

Above: Small group at the Pyramids, Cairo, Egypt

Nearly all of our Egypt, Jordan and Syria tours on this website have regular small-group departures starting on set dates throughout the year. In order to provide the most personal service, and to make sure that you get as much out of our tours as possible, we like to keep our groups small. We therefore set the maximum number at 12-18 and the minimum at 2-4 people. We also provide fully trained, English-speaking Egyptologists to act as your tour guide and leader.

Tour leaders/guides

Our policy at Egypt Uncovered is to use only local guides and tour leaders, as we feel that this not only contributes to the local economy but also provides you with the best local knowledge available. Local guides can almost invariably give more information and bring a country, its history, culture and nature alive much more than non-native guides. All our guides are fully trained Egyptologists, have a high level of English, and are experienced in dealing with western clients. We select our guides carefully, and many have been working with us for several years. Our clients often describe their tour guide as being one of the highlights of their holiday.

Encounters Travel

Egypt Uncovered specialises in offering all kinds of small-group, tailor-made and family holidays in Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

We also have a sister company, Encounters Travel, which operates small-group tours in a wide range of other countries around the world. In Egypt and Jordan some of our group tour departures run together on the same itinerary. On these departures you still receive exactly the same service levels, Egyptologist guides and vehicles etc. as all the rest of our tours, but may just be joined by people booking through Encounters Travel.

Private Tours

Many of our set group tour itineraries are also available to be run as private departures. These are most suited to couples, groups of friends, and families who do not want to travel with larger groups, or for those who cannot find a convenient group departure date.

Our private departures can also be tailor-made to better suit your needs, please see below. The added expense of this more personal service usually incurs a small extra charge, the amount extra depending on the season in which you wish to travel.

Egyptian Family Adventure

Tour description

This tour has been specially designed for families who want to combine visits to some of Egypt's most famous and important ancient sites with some more adventurous activities for the children. Group sizes are kept small, with carefully selected guides who will do much more than just explain the history to you. With a camel ride, felucca sailboat cruise, fabulous sightseeing, and snorkelling in the Red Sea, this is a tour the whole family will remember.

We start the tour in Cairo with a visit to the unmissable pyramids and sphinx at Gisa, with a fun camel ride included here. We also tour the famous Egyptian Museum with its mummy room and Tutankhamun exhibition, and explore part of Coptic Cairo with its narrow streets and historic churches.

A journey on the overnight sleeper train brings us to Aswan, Egypt's southernmost city, which lies on the edge of the Nubian desert and on probably the most beautiful stretch of the Nile in Egypt.

Here we visit the beautiful Philae Temple by boat and visit a local school where we include an English/Arabic language lesson for the children in the group with a local class (term times only). We also enjoy a traditional Nubian meal.

An extra option is available to visit Abu Simbel to tour the Sun Temple of Ramses II, which was painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt when the Aswan Dam was built and the lake created.

Next we leave Aswan on board a traditional felucca sailboat and sail north, downriver towards Luxor. Sailing on the Nile on a felucca is a beautifully relaxing way to travel through the country and watch typical Egyptian life on the banks as you drift past. We spend the evening round a campfire with our Nubian crew who prepare all our meals, and we may sing songs and tell stories before drifting to sleep on board. We spend one night on the boat, and sail on the next morning before driving to Luxor and a comfortable hotel next to the river.

A luxury cruise upgrade option is available for those who would like some more comfort instead of the felucca. You sail all the way to Luxor and see all the same sites as well as Edfu temple.

We have selected two half-day tours in Luxor that will be of most interest to the children in the group without being too tiring. First we visit the West Bank of the Nile to see the Pharaohs' tombs in the Valleys of the Kings, and Queen Hatchepsut's temple, while on the East Bank we travel by horse carriage to the huge temple complex at Karnak. You have free time to visit more sites if you wish.

Our sightseeing finished, we head through the desert to the Red Sea and Hurghada, where we enjoy 3 full days relaxing in a 4-star beach resort with its own swimming pools & leisure facilities, private beach, and scuba-diving centre. We include a full day boat trip to some of the nearby islands where you can swim, do some snorkelling, try a scuba-dive, or just relax on the boat.

The tour then finishes with a short flight back to Cairo where we visit the Citadel for great views over Cairo and explore the chaotic Khan-el-Khalili bazaar before enjoying a final taste of Egypt on a Nile dinner cruise with a sufi & belly dancing display.

Options are available to do a luxury cruise instead of the felucca sailboat trip, or to extend the tour with extra days by the Red Sea or in Cairo. We run regular small-group departures during the school holidays and can also run the tour privately for your family on any other dates.

Note: Our Nile Family Adventure is a shorter 9 or 10-day version of this tour, ideal for half-term holidays, and runs alongside this itinerary but returns to Cairo instead of visiting the Red Sea.

Egypt family tours

Above: Children having fun at the Pyramids, Gisa, Egypt

Egypt family tours

If you would like to take your children for a holiday that will be interesting, fun and rewarding for the whole family, then these tours have been designed especially for you. We have adjusted some of our most popular Egyptian tours through the Nile Valley and to the Red Sea, to ensure they are both educational and rewarding for both children and adults. Among other changes, we have missed out some of the more obscure temple sightseeing, added in a camel ride at the pyramids, and chosen some more family-friendly hotels, as well as selecting guides we know work well with children.
Small group departures are available during the school holidays, and we can also run the tours privately for your family at any time .

Egypt classic journeys

Above: The Pyramids & Sphinx, Gisa, Egypt

Egypt classic journeys

These Egyptian tours concentrate on exploring the country visiting fascinating and important ancient sites, learning about Egypt's Pharaonic history and present day culture, without featuring any strenous or really adventurous activites. Nile cruises and Dahabiya cruises are included, together with tours that combine time in Cairo and the Nile Valley with some relaxation by the Red Sea or a trip into Jordan. Varying levels of accommodation are offered to suit different budgets and preferences.

Egypt cultural adventures

Above: Felucca cruising on the Nile, Aswan, Egypt

Egypt cultural adventures

These are some of our most popular Egypt tours, and combine sightseeing around Egypt's most important and historic ancient sites, with some more adventurous activities such as overnight felucca sailboat trips on the Nile. We generally start and finish in Cairo, home of the pyramids, sphinx and Egyptian Museum, and then head into the Nile Valley to explore the ancient Pharaonic sites such as the Valley of the Kings and Karnak temple around Luxor, and the temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. A felucca trip sailing down the Nile is one of the highlights of many of these tours, and provides a relaxing and fun way to balance out your sightseeing visits.

After Cairo and the Nile Valley, you can head into the western deserts, to the Red Sea, or cross into Jordan to extend your adventure.

Egypt desert safaris

Above: Jeep in the Western Desert, Egypt

Egypt desert safaris

These Egyptian tours are ideal if you want to get off the main tourist trail and see a little more of what Egypt and the surrounding region has to offer. They spend time travelling through the beautiful scenery of Egypt's deserts and oases, and include jeep safaris and overnight Bedouin camps. We also add some time in Cairo & Luxor to see the main historic sites, and you can finish the tour with some time relaxing by the Red Sea, or by heading into Jordan.

Egypt fishing holidays

Above: Monster Nile Perch on Lake Nasser, Aswan, Egypt

Fishing Holidays in Egypt

In Egypt in the 1960's a dam was built on the Nile at Aswan. The resulting lake flooded over 360 miles of Egypt's Nile valley creating one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. This lake has turned into a magical wilderness of stunning desert scenery, bordered by crystal clear water dotted with rocky islands and over 100 species of birds, numerous crocodiles, monitor lizards, golden jackals, and desert fox. More importantly for the keen fisherman, Lake Nasser is the greatest venue in the world for wild Nile perch; while your lure is in the water you literally don't know if the next fish is going to be a 50 pounder or one over 200 pounds. Nile Perch are spectacular fighters; their aggression as they hit flies or lures is just mind blowing. One minute you are working your fly/lure and the next the take can be enough to whip you off your feet. Like many sport fish, Nile Perch are also great jumpers, launching themselves clear of the water, gills flared open, shaking their big head and the enormous mouth, all in a desperate attempt to shake the hook. Although Lake Nasser is famous for the Nile Perch, there are other species that if fished with balanced tackle, can and do provide great sport. These include Tiger fish, Vundu catfish and on light fly tackle, the bread and butter fish of the lake, Tilapia. Our fishing tours to Lake Nasser can concentrate purely on the fishing, or you can add a Nile cruise, sightseeing, or a Red Sea stay. While on the lake itself, we have a mother boat with basic beds and cooking facilities, and smaller boats which allow more flexibility to explore and search out that big one.

Tour description

Throughout history Egypt’s vast array of breathtaking monuments has proved an irresistible draw to travellers from all over the world. Combined with stunning beaches and a warm and friendly people, Egypt is a country you cannot afford to miss. Therefore, let us take you on a journey back in time to some of the most amazing sites of the ancient world, and leave you with memories you will treasure for a lifetime.

Note: This tour is currently being adjusted to visit the Red Sea resort of Hurghada instead of travelling through the Sinai Peninsular to Dahab. 

We begin in Cairo where we take time to visit possibly the most famous of ancient monuments, the Pyramids and Sphinx at Gisa, as well as the Tutankhamum and many other exhibits in the Egyptian Museum. 

Next we head for Aswan and the peaceful beauty of the Nile. Here you will find lush green islands and traditional felucca sailboats set amid cascading rapids. We visit the tranquil island Temple of Philae and the immense High Dam, as well an option to tour the amazing temples of Ramses II at Abu Simbel before boarding feluccas to drift lazily down the Nile. An option is available to upgrade to a luxury Dahabiya or Nile Cruise in place of the felucca if you wish. We stop at the Temples of Komombo and Edfu en-route to Luxor where we have plenty of time to investigate the wealth of monumental architecture on offer.

On the east bank we take time to see the remarkable Temples of Karnak and Luxor, a tribute to the greatness of King Ramses II. On the west bank, we visit the Valley of the Kings, where the ancient Pharaohs built elaborate burial complexes and temples to aid them on their journey to the afterlife. Other stops include the colourful Medinat Habu temple, Queen Hatchepsut's temple, and the Colossi of Memnon.

From here we head back to Cairo where you have time to explore the city and its many interesting sites like the Citadel of Saladin, Coptic Cairo, and the mazy alleyways of the Khan al Khalili bazaar before saying farewell to the Nile Valley and heading for the coast and the wonderfully laidback beach resort of Dahab. With golden sandy beaches, stunning coral reefs and crystal blue waters, this small Bedouin village makes an ideal base for the next few days. Between sunbathing and eating at Dahab’s many excellent restaurants you have time to snorkel the Blue Hole, try some scuba-diving, take a sunset camel ride or enjoy quad bike safaris in the desert. You also have the chance to climb up  Mt. Sinai and visit St. Catherine's monastery, or cross into Jordan to visit the hidden city of Petra.

Finally we return to Cairo to finish the tour and fly home.

Note - our Egypt & Jordan Adventure tour shortens the time in Dahab on this tour and extends it into Jordan giving a full tour through the country before finishing in Amman.