It appears that beginning next summer I'll be spending a significant amount of time in Cairo and while I've been doing a lot of research here and elsewhere, there are some questions I just haven't been able to find answers to.
What's the best way to get from the big city to the dive spots? Private car? Bus? puddle-jumper(small airplane)? I was considering buying a vehicle while I'm there and am trying to figure out if it would be worth it to drive to the sites or if alternate methods are better and more reasonable. Where I currently live, regional bus service does exist but outside certain areas, it's slow and unconfortable getting from place to place so am leery of assuming too much.
I wonder about the pricing, availability and usefulness of helium. I'm currently at the beginning tech level (adv. nitrox & deco proc) and have been holding off on doing a trimix course due to the cost of helium locally and the lack of dive sites. Most of the better spots are a bit further out. I'm trying to find out if there are enough sites 120-250' (Sharm/Dahab/Hurghada/etc.) to make it worth my while to get the training.
How's cave/cavern diving, is there much? The few comments here on SB seem very secretive. I had been planning on taking a Cavern/Intro course next summer and when I found out I'd be going to Egypt I wondered if it would be a waste of time.
Would it be safe to assume there are wrecks that can be penetrated (other than ones suitable for PADI wreck divers)?
Since Egypt is primarily a Euro vacation destination, how are the US certification agencies accepted? I don't give a rodent's rear-end about PADI but am more concerned with TDI, IANTD and GUE. Will this be a case of "you don't have the popular UK/French card so we look down our nose at you", despite having US tech certifications?
What's the best way to get from the big city to the dive spots? Private car? Bus? puddle-jumper(small airplane)? I was considering buying a vehicle while I'm there and am trying to figure out if it would be worth it to drive to the sites or if alternate methods are better and more reasonable. Where I currently live, regional bus service does exist but outside certain areas, it's slow and unconfortable getting from place to place so am leery of assuming too much.
I wonder about the pricing, availability and usefulness of helium. I'm currently at the beginning tech level (adv. nitrox & deco proc) and have been holding off on doing a trimix course due to the cost of helium locally and the lack of dive sites. Most of the better spots are a bit further out. I'm trying to find out if there are enough sites 120-250' (Sharm/Dahab/Hurghada/etc.) to make it worth my while to get the training.
How's cave/cavern diving, is there much? The few comments here on SB seem very secretive. I had been planning on taking a Cavern/Intro course next summer and when I found out I'd be going to Egypt I wondered if it would be a waste of time.
Would it be safe to assume there are wrecks that can be penetrated (other than ones suitable for PADI wreck divers)?
Since Egypt is primarily a Euro vacation destination, how are the US certification agencies accepted? I don't give a rodent's rear-end about PADI but am more concerned with TDI, IANTD and GUE. Will this be a case of "you don't have the popular UK/French card so we look down our nose at you", despite having US tech certifications?
