Beginner Diving in Red Sea - Need Help

I did an instructor-led beginner dive in Cancun about a year ago, but did not get certified. Three of my friends and I plan on going to Egypt in mid April. We only have about a week. We want to hike to the top of Mount Sinai to see the sun rise. We also want to do some diving and get certified. I have a few questions.

1) I have heard that the diving is better in the south than it is in the north. However, because we only have about a week and want to do Mt. Sinai and get certified, we may have to stay someplace north. Any recommendations between Taba, Nuweiba, Dahab and Sham el Sheikh?

2) I heard something about altitude being a problem after you dive. Does that mean that we shout hike Mt. Sinai prior to diving?

3) We want to stay someplace relatively inexpensive. Any recommendations?

4) Any recommendations on dive groups who can provide certification for beginners in this area? We also need to rent equipment, etc.

5) Is April a good time to go? Will the water be OK?

6) Any other tips or recommendations?

Thanks a lot for your help.

One thing for sure you will enjoy your trip. i visit Egypt at least twise a year to dive there both recreational and technical dives.
to answer you:
1 - Sharm is a beter choice (been all over the places you mention) i personaly prefer it. excelent diving and cool night life.
2 - As long as you have a good surface interval you wont have a problem. just mention it to the instructor who will certify you and it can be arranged to have a dive day off, and instead u could have classes during that day. no problem.
3 - I use a 4 star hotel for $35. that ok with you?
4 - There are alot of dive centers. if you wish i can recommend one for you. they will certify and provide you with all the equipment you need.
5 - April will be good, water will be worm by then. just make sure you have the hotel sorted out. the dive center i have in mind can arrange accomodations for you too.

you can message me for further details, or if you send me ur email, i could arrange for someone to contact you.

You might want to get the classes out of the way before going there. The diving there is spectacular and you might want to be diving in the sea instead of spending your first 3-4 days of your holiday in the classroom or in the pool.

Also, make sure when choosing your operator that they either have a flexible program or can do easier dives with you just starting to dive.

I went with a friend of mine and she did the course there; we wanted to dive together but for the first few days we were separated: she went to classes and pool sessions, I went to the dive sites by boat.

Once she finished the course we went diving together by boat, but the dives were a bit above her level (it can be tricky to do drift dives on a wall that goes all the way down to 80+ metres with somebody just out of OWD course).

I'd say you could get at least part of the OW course out of the way before going there.

And one more thing: BOOK IN ADVANCE! (you can get some good discounts by doing this).

I am a divemaster in the Red Sea. If you like desert, hiking, etc and want a really in inexpensive place, I recommend Dahab. Sharm El Sheikh is OK but Dahab is much more cheaper than 35$ (sure not 4 starts!).
Feel free to private message me for more details.

- 1st of all, Sharm El-Sheikh is the best place for both diving and other joy matters.
- April is a good timing for diving, warm water, and sunny days "means further visibility and more aquatic life".
- About hiking it's not a problem if u plan ur dives well, and this is the easiest thing u gonna learn in ur Open Water Course.
- I know a diving school that sends educational materials to its students, so that they do the studying at home, and invest more time having fun in Sharm .. like that u can get certified within 3 days maximum .. and they also can take care of the accomodation matter for their students, in a 2 minutes walk Hotel from the Hard Rock Cafe in the heart of Naama Bay "where the action is".
- One more thing i enjoyed very much "personally" it was riding a camel into the desert for like 40 minutes, in the middle of no where, there a group of bedouins waiting with their fantastic herbal tea, hiking a quite high hill, then have dinner on the fire light. it was a real cool experience.
- If u're interested i can connect u with this Diving School.

Redseadiver - that sounds great. Can you connect me with the diving school? I think we would like to go the educational materials route. Can you send me more details?

Hi Livedog
I'm in Naama bay now, staying/diving with Camel (who I just did my PADI AOW with). Top outfit, but there are other good'uns as you've probably realised by now.
One fun activity you might like to try is the quadbiking, About $50 for 2 hours (slighty cheaper if you go 2up). Lots of places to arrange this along the beachfront.
I'm off to Thistlegorm on Friday to do dives 2 & 3 of my wreck speciality (Woohoo! - can't wait)

Hello Livedog,
u can contact the diving school on ( wael@easydivers.com ) for any further details .. Good Luck Man

You can find some answers to your questions here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=68804
I made this thread a year ago but not much has changes except the exchange rate.
As for the diving centres - a lot of us wrote about them here is you will easily find names of reccomended places.
As it was already written - Sharm is OK. You can find through travel operator hotels with very reasonable price. But you have to go to Mt.Sinai prior to diving - absolutly not right after (besides the altitude this is not an easy trip and you should not exercise after diving).
April is one of my favourite months - it's warm but not too hot. And water should be something like 24 - 26 Centigrades.
Mania

As mentioned above, Dahab is cheaper than Sharm (for accomodation, diving as well as arranging trips to Mt Sinai). IMO it's also a lot nicer, but depends on what you like - big flash resorts, or a bit of a travellers scene, but still with choice of very comfortable hotels. There are tons of diveshops there.
You cannot climb Mt Sinai on the same day after diving (wait 12-24 hours, depending on number of dives and whose recommendations you are following), it goes up to abover 2000 metres, even just driving up to the foot of the climb is well above the recommeded altitude after diving. You will learn all that in your course, but with only one week you need to plan a bit. The course usually takes 4 days, but it may well be five.