Egypt/Sharm/Dahab a storing of losing divers ?

Hi,

I was wondering what's the story with Sharm/Dahab losing divers?

Its genuine question, I don't want to blame anybody here, I just want to understand, what are the dangers in the Red Sea? I have done some scuba diving in Australia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ontario, and those boring Quebec lakes, and yet I am still alive and was never lost, lucky I am you would say, maybe so.

It's the third story, since I have planned on going to Egypt that I hear regarding a missing diver in Sharm. Should I bring my survival kit (again I don't want to miss any respect with the missing one, or there family)

Is it simply because there are a lot of divers there, and it’s simply a question of numbers? But yet, we don’t here those stories coming from Australia or any other place.

I do understand that we have chosen a sport that as some risk attach to it, like any other sport, but having that many divers lost is a bit scary no?

If anybody has any comments, they are more than welcome.

Again, my intent is simply to understand, not to find a culprit or to start a war.

Regards to All.

As anywhere in the world, also in Egypt people should use the common sense while diving. Considering the fact that Egypt is a 3rd world, some of the dive centers don't really respect the safety conditions. It is important to choose a good and reputable dive center, who will assure a hassle free diving.

I have dived in Asia, Caribbean and was dozens of times in Egypt. Nothing wrong happened to me, except what I already mentioned - at some diving centers there was a lack of safety procedures. You can observe divers finishing the dive with 20 bars left or on the octopus of Divemaster...

Another thing is a lack of common sense by some divers, especially the fresh ones, who simply go too deep in such dive spots like Blue Hole. They often want to try out their possibilities, to face the challenge by going on air below 50metres, which often cause an (death) accident.

Sharm is a fabuluous spot and you shouldn't resign from visiting it. Just choose a proper dive center (my suggestion is: EmperorDivers.com) and nothing wrong will happen to you.

Thank you for your feedback, it’s greatly appreciated. I do agree that the diving shop makes the difference, but also the divers. Even if the shop is good, take a bad diver, and you are doomed. I was also wondering if other reasons would explain all of those lost divers, like the sea, the wrecks, hard conditions, etc.

But from what I understand, it’s simply maybe because of back luck and the numbers of divers. Another mystery of live… I guest

Hmmm.. I dont understand the question. There has been som fatalities in the blue hole at dahab, but this hsa not been mostly novice divers, rather the opposite. Novice divers tend to respect rules and be more cautions than those divers that, regretably, develops less cautioness as their experience grow.

I have only dived the red sea on one trip, about 10 dives, and I didnt find the center I was with to be any more or less concerned with safety procedures than the 3-4 centers I've dived with in Thailand.

Since many of the dive sites are quite far away from land (2-3 hours) I would made sure that the boat had proper oxygen accsess and bought an insurance for use of a chamber if needed. And alwasy carry a sausage and conduct a proper buddycheck/briefing. The briefing is epsecially important if you are diving with a new buddy... hand signal review, abort plan, discuss possible problems and so on.

I'm planning another trip to the red sea, this time I thought about checking out Sharm Last time I was in El Gouna, which was nice..

In the 4 years that I've dived in Egypt, I've found every operation I've dived with to be very professional and extremely unlikely to lose a diver. (Sinai divers, Reef 2000, Camel(twice)).

The dive operation makes the difference.
I work in Dahab and the two operations I have had experience with (one of which I work for now) use high-quality divemasters with conscientious attitudes and are very knowledgeable of the dive sites.

Even diving the blue hole, if the diver stays with the guide (almost impossible to lose them) then no-one gets lost.