Red Sea: where to stay and who to dive with?

In Feb. '09 I hope to go to Red Sea for the first time and although experienced myself my dive companion has only just qualified and has less than 10 open water dives logged. If I list our requirements then perhaps the forum members, with their wealth of experience of the area, can advise where we should head?

Friendly English speaking dive centre
Good hotel / accommodation which is relatively quiet and not near to rowdy night life and loads of bars
Good nearby accessible reef for snorkelling when not off diving.
Good hotel facilities for non diver on trip
Reasonably priced and good catering and service
Restaurants nearby as an alternative to hotel
Advice as to book hotel and flights separately or go through a holiday operator such as advertised in dive mags.

I hope you will be able to come up with some good suggestions and advice for which I thank you in advance.

Jack.

Taba Heights might be a good option for you. I recently took my diving wife, two-year-old son and my non-diving parents to this resort.

Diving-wise, it doesn't offer dramatic walls, strong currents and pelagics, but it does have lovely reefs, some lesser-seen stuff (frogfish, seahorses, etc), so is ideal for photography, and as most of the dives max out at 18-23m or so, it is great for relative novices.

The dive centre for the resort is Red Sea Waterworld, owned by the same guys who have Red Sea Diving College in Sharm, and it is a very well-run centre.
You have a choice of hotels, four five-stars on the beachfront, and a four-star in the 'uptown' area. As you want snorkelling as well, I'd recommend the Hyatt, as it has the best reef for snorkelling, and the hotel itself is clean, spacious and not noisy. There was plenty to keep my non-diving parents occupied, including various surface watersports, golf course, quad biking up a canyon in the mountains, etc, etc.
All the hotels own restaurants in the 'uptown' area, so you can dine there other than in the hotel for a change. There are mini-buses running every 30mins or so in a circuit around the hotels, dive centre and uptown area.
I went with Longwood Holidays and they are one of the few tour ops offering this resort, and they offer reasonable prices for a package deal.

There are other alternatives, but I think this ticks a lot of your boxes.

Mark

I think Dahab is suitable for your needs; quiet with variety of accommodation and food options. Regarding diving, I would have considered a private guide if I were in your place.

Hi Jack, if you want an authentic Egyptian Red Sea experience away from the crowds you should look to the Marsa Alam coast. Best suited to your list of needs would be El Quseir in this area but the only problem would be resturants outside of the hotels. There are 2 quality hotels the Radisson or Movenpick and the rates in Feb are very attreactive. Visit pharaoh dive clubs website for more info on the diving and hotels. The dive club is a British owned and operated 5 Star IDC centre on the beach.

Hurghada is without a doubt the choice for you. It's got ecactly what you need and plenty of good dive centre to dive with.

Check out my Red Sea Info page at WELCOME TO AZIAB and find all information you need. You can email me with questions and I'll do my best to help you out (maybe even buy you a beer when you get here)

...a...

Jack Tripp:

Good hotel facilities for non diver on trip
Reasonably priced and good catering and service
Restaurants nearby as an alternative to hotel

Jack.

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If you have a non diver on the trip, the last place I would be is Hurghada it is dreadful if you go out of the hotel. If the non diver would like to go shopping then I would recommend Sharm. I only do liveaboards so doesn't really matter where I start the trip from but if you are land based then it is obviously a consideration.

Marsa Alam is quite remote unless you choose a hotel at Port Ghalib where the new marina complex is, haven't been for a couple of years but I would think they have more shops and restaurants by now.

I haven't been to Dahab or Taba. But you might also like to have a look at El Gouna which has some good reports.

LOL - so you have the choice - Recommended

Hurghada
Dahab
Marsa
Sharm..

I'd go with Dahab - some wonderful beach based dives.. lots of info here :

PADI Dive Sites, Club Dahab, Egypt | Club Vass

There are quite a few well run dive outfits, and all speak English.

One recommended is Reef2000 - http://www.reef2000.com/ - run by Brits

You can book flights and hotels direct but unless you know where/what/how how maybe best for your 1st trip is below.

A good travel agent with diving skills and great prices is :

www.longwoodholidays.co.uk

Best Place to go. Pharaoh Dive Club in El Quseir.

I've been to Dahab three times, most recently in November. The diving is fantastic and the local people, mostly Bedouins, are really, really kind and honest. I had to leave a week before my boyfriend, and I gave the dive guide a pretty generous tip, (he had some hassles with our group which he didnt deserve: but thats another story) which he pocketed without looking at. That evening he spoke to my BF and worriedly said that I must have made a mistake; he tried to give the tip back!
There is diving for almost all skill levels, lots to see.
We stay in a family-owned hotel, Mirage Village. It has a nice atmosphere. It is not, however, at all fancy, and is therefore very inexpensive. I'm not sure if it would be the best choice if you have non-divers with you. There are a number of great-looking hotels in the southern part of Dahab; these would probably be more attractive to you.
Have a wonderful trip!

I've been to Dahab three times, most recently in November. The diving is fantastic and the local people,

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Dahab's diving and it's people are ACE !! I've lost count how many times I have been there

There is diving for almost all skill levels, lots to see.

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I'd say all skill levels myself..

As far as hotels it depends on budget. You have the poshest hotels 5 mins out of town - Swiss Inn, Hilton, etc.
Or you can stay cheaper at different ones there is a wide range..

Some dive centres have attached hotels, like Reef2000 for example, and some hotels (most in fact) have associated dive centres