Egypt March 07

Hi
We are looking to book a week in Egypt (March 19th onwards).
We would be very thankful for your advice as we have been many places but not Egypt.
What does a 2 tank boat trip normally cost and procedures etc.
Any advice on location would be gratefully received, is Marsa Alam sea temperature much warmer than Sharm etc, reefs not too far out(I get sea sick after 45 mins or so).
We are looking at Ibertel club fanara at present but are completely open minded.

Thanks
If you need any advice on Caribbean let me know.
Ian

Hi there Ian

The Marsa Alam area is not a whole lot warmer than Sinai or Hurghada - one ore two degrees in the water perhaps on a certain time. Anyway, march will be quite chilly compared to your Caribbean standards no matter where in Egypt, with water temperatures between 22-23 Celcius (sorry, you have to make the Farenheit-calculation yourself). Don't be surprised to see local dive guides wearing dry suites. If possible, wait til may or even june, especially if you go to Sinai, when water will be around 25-26 Celcius. Much nicer. Inmo the diving is also better with more 'alive' reefs.
The Egyptian Red Sea is good news for people who don't like longish boat rides, because in most locations you can find deep water and dramatic wall dives straight from the shore. Around Marsa Alam a lot of the diving is shore diving, but there are also boat dives to reefs off the coast, 25 minutes to one hour away. One of the more famous is Elphinstone reef, which you may have heard of.
In Sharm it is mostly boat diving and some of the better dives require a bit longer boat rides, even though they are fairly close to shore, or even directly from the shore, like Ras Mohamed National Park. Shore diving can probably be arranged, (perhaps Mania or RSS can jump in here). Further to the north of Sharm you can find Dahab, which is shore diving only. But this is not really the Red Sea but the Gulf of Aqaba if one wants to be picky.
Topside, Marsa Alam and Dahab is a lot more quite than Sharm (or Hurghada which is the other BIG tourist destination besides Sharm/Naama). This could be good or bad, depending on your preferences.

Good luck

/christian

Hillmorton Scubie:

What does a 2 tank boat trip normally cost and procedures etc.

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If not shore diving then normal diving day looks like you go on a boat, sail to the location, have the first dive. Then a break, usually with the lunch served on a boat, then moving ot another location and the second dive. After that boats are going back to the shore. As for prices - it really very much depends on the dive centre so it's difficult to say.

Hillmorton Scubie:

Any advice on location would be gratefully received, is Marsa Alam sea temperature much warmer than Sharm etc, reefs not too far out(I get sea sick after 45 mins or so).

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If you get sea sick so easily then Sharm is out of question. As well as Hurghada, because most of the dives are boat ones and sometimes it takes more than 45 minutes to get to the dive site. Marsa Alam has quite a few nice shore places. Second place you may consider - only shore diving (no boats) is Dahab - great place to go.
The temperature at this time of a year is not bad, sea should be something around 22-23 Centigrade (in Dahab, in Marsa Alam may be warmer).

So when making plans - think also about Dahab - there I would recommend Hilton Hotel - it's really a great hotel. Anyway in Dahab all hotels are a bit far from diving sites, so the diving centre takes you there by Jeeps.

Mania

If you get sea sick after 45 minutes, then discard any boat or zodiac diving.

I believe Dahab would be best for you. Normal sea temperatures are as Christian and Mania said. Also if you need a short boat trip in Dahab you can arrange for Gabr El Bint by daily boat.

Thanks for your answers todate. It is much appreciated. I wonder if anyone has any figures for typical diving costs.
We were in Mexico recently and a typical cost for- boat trip to reefs , all gear i.e including Tank, BCD weights reg and a shortie 3 mil. with 2 dives (singles) came out at U.S. $65.
They threw in the 28c (82F) sea temp as part of the deal. (The suit was to keep the jellies away).
Just trying to plan our financial needs for Egypt.
Thanks
Ian

Hi Ian, If you fancy a days beach diving in Sharm el Sheikh, the Sinai Divers housereef is excellent. Pyramid trunkfish, eagle rays, feathertale rays, huge giant moray, baraccuda, porcupine fish, giant puffers, stonefish, on almost every dive. I think two dives is 60 euros or 35 for one. Check out www.sinaidivers.com Also I think it works out cheaper to book in advance through the website. Sinai divers are also based at the hilton in dahab. I believe the hilton there has some excellent rates at certain times of the year. Don

Diving expenses vary from Dahab to Sharm, also accommodation does.

If you get seasick but still want to do some boatdiving go to the lokal Egyptian pharmacy and get some "Emeral" my wife alway's uses them and they do work.
As for diveprices,well they do differ but you can find them in Hurghada as low as 30 euro for a day's boat diving 2 tank+weights up to 100 euro for the same
Have a nice time we'll be overthere in early june.
March is way to cold for me

Ian,
In case you want to plan your trip, you first need to decide which place(s) are you going to visit and what activities are to be conducted. There's a variety of shore diving, boat diving, camel dive safaris, desert dive safaris, along with other non-diving activities.