Dahab Dive shop + dives advice

[Lingfield]

Dahabeya is a really nice hotel. Nice beach in a sheltered bay. They have a dive centre attached but its most assuredly German in persuasion. Might be OK for some guided dives but dont offer PADI courses or any such thing if thats what you're looking for.
What you will find is all the major centres in town will pick you up from and drop you back at your hotel with no extra charge if you decide to dive with them.

Having not dived for 2 years most reputable centres will make you do a scuba review before diving (going through the basic skills, shallow practice etc) and some of the lesser ones a "check dive" where you basically clear a mask before being dragged across lighthouse reef!

Poseidon at the Meridien mentioned above isn't allowed to take divers not staying there as part of its contract (but they do have a main branch in town who can collect you etc).

As for sites, you'll do lighthouse, maybe eel garden, a day down in the newly bulldozed southern oasis and so on.

Gabr El Bint by boat is probably the best diving you'll get here. You can if you enjoy personal suffering go to Ras Abu Galum by camel. This is basically an early morning start followed by 90 mins of excruciating agony as you lose feeling in your legs, get skin rubbed raw and noxious fumes from the fly covered, flea infesting beast each way for 2 dives then the same to come back coupled with no shade and hot afternoon sun.

Most centres are going to enforce the 18m rule for open water divers (as far as im aware CDWS says its mandatory) and most will try to sell you an advanced course to go deeper, especially if you want to see the Blue Hole and Canyon sites.

Pretty good advice in this post.

I wouldn't recommend the camel trip either.

Just to update that Poseidon have pulled out of Le Meridien as the poor occupancy rates and low number of divers didn't justify the rent. The dive centre is lying empty and Poseidon's dive boats that used to operate out of there are mothballed out of the water at their centre in Mashraba town. They used to taxi divers from Mashraba to Le Meriden to do boat dives on the southern sites along with Le Meridien guests. However like the other centres Poseidon now dive the southern sites via 4 WD taxi only then from the shore. They still sell excursions at extra cost on a day boat for 3 dive triops to Gabr el Bint. This is a nice site with the coral untrashed by divers (unlike town sites like Lighthouse) although I have yet to see much interesting acquatic life other than one turtle.