red sea rules?

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Ifoundnemo

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Messages
35
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Location
Fort William, Scotland
# of dives
100 - 199
Hello all,

I was reading my way through the raft of websites on the redsea and found the following note on rules listed against liveaboards on the red sea.

the url is :
http://www.sinainet.com.eg/Diving/Diving_Rules/Boat_Diving_rules/

the page lists the follwing segment:

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"Guests on such holidays will need to: [/FONT]
  • [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Show evidence of at least 50 logged dives; [/FONT]
  • [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Each carry an SMB and, within buddy pairs, possess at least one torch, even on morning dives; [/FONT]
  • [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Possess medical certification of fitness to dive, issued less than one year before the start of the trip; [/FONT]
  • [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Possess diving accident insurance from a "reputable company"[/FONT]
its only the first comment that bother me in that I will meet the other three anyway.

I do not have nor does my partner 50 logged dives we plan to do our AOW the week before our liveaboard which we are doing with flowers of saini on the orchid in may.

I am concerned about these rules as they will basically scupper my entire second week of my holiday for which I have already paid out a significant sum.

I have sent a mail to the dive company and to flowers of saini to clarify the position but would appreciate if any of you guys know if these are new rules or if these are the rules that were initial brought in in January '05 and then reviewed after the dive ops explained why they weren't realistic?

Any info much appreciated.
 
These rules refer to safaris doing the southern route (Brothers, Elpinstone, if you are doing the northern route (Tiran, Ras Mohammed, Abu Nahas, Shag Rock, Shag Ali, Sha'ab Mahmoud, I think you only need to have 25 logged dives. The fact is that there can be very very strong currents on some dives here. Sometimes the currents are so strong that you really need to be able to look after yourself, as the guide will have no chance to help you. The more experience you have the better your experience will be.
 
I haven't dove on Sinai but I have on the Israeli side. Their rules were to show evidence of diving in the last six months. There was also a depth restriction but you have that covered with the AOW. We had several experienced divers that didn't have evidence of diving in the last 6 months with them. I found sending email didn't do much but by talking directly to them we worked something out. If there is a coarse director there (assuming PADI), call and ask to talk to him.

Good luck.
 
These rules were implemented 2 or 3 years ago after the accident that took place in Southern Egypt. At that time several divers were lost in the sea (they were rescued many hours later) becasue of very strong currents. None of them (including guide) had SMB or any other divecie that would help them being visible.

50 dives is a preliminary condition if you want to go south - dives there are way more difficult.
Mania
 
Thanks so much for your feedback guys thats clarified the position for me was aware of the no. of logged dive restrivction on southern routes but the link I reffered to didn't specify any difference which is why I was worrying.

I will be doing the northern route. both of us are very new divers however we intend to do our dry suit course this weekend followed by 2 - 4 dives per fortnight (in the balmy waters of western scotland) between now and our departure to egypt in mid may plus the aow and the diving we will do in our first week I hope that both my partner and I will have warmed up our skills to be sufficiently safe throughout our trip.

If we dont feel happy we simply wont dive its as simple as that at the end of the day.

Thanks again for your feedback much appreciated guys!! :)
 
I know that with many dive operation who are reputable, they will require a minimum of 20 dives.
The SMB and torch is a great idea for your own safety. In November last year, an instructor and a DMT got taken away by a current, and even the fact they had both didn't help the boat see them due to swell.
Dive safe!
 
Thanks Watch the Bubbles, we're pretty conservative in all things we do so we'll be very switched on about any possible dangers. Although I suppose it could be argued the biggest danger is a lack of experience but there's only one possible cure for that......lots more diving :wink:

Thanks Asser I'm sure your right. Still three weeks to go and cant get the inane grin off our faces that we'll be in Sharm soon!!

Shifting from the original object of the thread slightly but still a fair question....I think.

It occurred to me from reading other threads on scuba board recently that any dive op asking for a set number of dives isn't really making a very clear statement about experience....If a diver has 20 dives in their log book how do they verify they are legitimate dives? i.e. not just written up ten minutes ago with different coloured pens to meet the set limit from the dive op?

Or alternatively:

Diver A has 20 dives from 1982 in his log book.
Diver B has 15 dives but all in the last 6 weeks some deep some drift.
Diver C has 25 dives none deeper than 30 feet.
Who is more likely to make mistakes in the water?

Also I dive in Scotland in cold water - if I have 20 dives how does that compare to someone who say has 20 dives logged in warm tropical waters?

It seems an arbitrary requirement to set a number of required logged dives limit. Surely the onus should be on the diver to decide if they have the skills and are willing to take on the level of risk?

An aside question to anyone who’s willing to answer J J I am trying to calculate how much money to bring with me anyone wanna give me a rough guide to how much a meal for two costs? Also what currency am I best to bring, I have no issue dealing in dollars, euros or Egyptian Pounds but it appears every other site you visit advises you differently

As usual your comments feedback and advice are gratefully received J
 
Dollars seem to be the best bet. I am just back from a week in Wadi Lahami and it appears that operators still consider the dollar and euro equal. Considering the dollar's weakness at the moment, that might be the best choice. As to your questions about diving the north, I suspect that your experiences in Scotland's waters will stand you in good stead. But, as noted, currents can be strong at times. Be careful.

Phil
 
Ifoundnemo:
Shifting from the original object of the thread slightly but still a fair question....I think.

It occurred to me from reading other threads on scuba board recently that any dive op asking for a set number of dives isn't really making a very clear statement about experience....If a diver has 20 dives in their log book how do they verify they are legitimate dives? i.e. not just written up ten minutes ago with different coloured pens to meet the set limit from the dive op?

Or alternatively:

Diver A has 20 dives from 1982 in his log book.
Diver B has 15 dives but all in the last 6 weeks some deep some drift.
Diver C has 25 dives none deeper than 30 feet.
Who is more likely to make mistakes in the water?

Also I dive in Scotland in cold water - if I have 20 dives how does that compare to someone who say has 20 dives logged in warm tropical waters?

It seems an arbitrary requirement to set a number of required logged dives limit. Surely the onus should be on the diver to decide if they have the skills and are willing to take on the level of risk?

An aside question to anyone who’s willing to answer J J I am trying to calculate how much money to bring with me anyone wanna give me a rough guide to how much a meal for two costs? Also what currency am I best to bring, I have no issue dealing in dollars, euros or Egyptian Pounds but it appears every other site you visit advises you differently

As usual your comments feedback and advice are gratefully received J

Re log book entries - you make a ligitimate point. Diving is always based on trust and it is of course easy to falisfy a log book. I back up every logged dive with the operators/Instructors stamp. At the end of the day, it is the individual that is deceiving themselves if they make false entries. It is of course very impractical to verify logs - which is why trust plays a big part in the sport.

RE mistakes based on experience - one cannot answer that question as experieince and skill do not necessarily go together. I have dived with people claiming 50+ logged dives and they still dive like a newly qualified OW divers making fundamental mistakes. On the other hand, I have dived with newly qualified OW divers with around 20 logged dives who display excellent skills. I am Scottish and have both cold and warm water experience. It is a myth that there is a significant difference in skills set required, but you do of course need high levels of fitness for cold water diving. This question of experience/skills can also depend of course on the quality of instruction they have received.

RE 50 dives requirement. The onus is indeed on the diver to assess the risk before undertaking any dive. The risk for Southern Egyptian diving is increased because of the conditions offshore and the authorities/dive industry have to leap into action if anything goes wrong. They have decided on the 50 logged dives based on their past experience with accidents, and the results of post accident investigation. As Mania says, Southern offshore diving is a lot more challenging. I now have 80 logged dives (warm and cold) and only now feel confident enough to do a Southern liveaboard. But as Asser says, you still have the option to do a Northern Red Sea liveaboard and still get the "dive dawn till dusk" experience. At the end of the day, you have to be confident in the water and trust your DM/buddies to enjoy your diving. And you are right - the only cure is more diving! And Egypt is the place to remedy that. The Red Sea it is amazing. And where SCUBA was born of course!

Re money - prices are quoted in Euros mainly but use LE. You can use British ATM cards to draw LE. Budget for around 200LE daily max for food. You can get a decent meal for under 100LE.

Enjoy your holiday.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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