april; where to go?

Hi all,

I want to go to egypt in april. I am looking for the following in 1 location:

- a town with something to do at night (no clubbing but at least a few restaurants, bars and perhaps a market or whatever. Preferable not too touristy)
- Good location for my dad to do his OW (okay, thats everywhere)
- I would love to see some big stuff. Mainly dove macro in the past. Would love to see hammerheads, whalesharks or mantas.
- Some sites with serious diving; I like strong currents, spidermanning the bottom, that stuff
- I consider to do an intro to tech diving- course (or caverndiving)
- 99% change for good weather; the hotter the better. At least 24 degrees and up
- dive sites not hours away; preferable less than 30 minutes.

What's thefirst destination that comes to mind? It will help my search a lot

thx all

..Hope everybody in Egypt is doing fine atm..

sonar:

Hi all,
I want to go to egypt in april. I am looking for the following in 1 location:

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I hope you enjoy it here!

- a town with something to do at night (no clubbing but at least a few restaurants, bars and perhaps a market or whatever. Preferable not too touristy)

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Rules out Sharm for a start - but Dahab would be a good bet, maybe Marsa Alam

- Good location for my dad to do his OW (okay, thats everywhere)

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Yup anywhere apart from a Safari boat would be fine

- I would love to see some big stuff. Mainly dove macro in the past. Would love to see hammerheads, whalesharks or mantas.

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Good luck with that - there is always the chance of an encounter but the best way to see the bigger stuff is to be on a liveaboard in the south - St. Johns or Elphinstone - The big critters are here, but we can't order them in advance!

- Some sites with serious diving; I like strong currents, spidermanning the bottom, that stuff

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odd definition of "serious" diving. The potential for strong currents exists in many locations, but spidermanning the bottom (if, in fact, there is a bottom) will mean you are dragging yourself through the coral and that, at least at my centre, will have you banned from the boat, no refunds!

- I consider to do an intro to tech diving- course (or caverndiving)

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Can be done in most locations. Dahab has a good tec scene. Shadow's your man in the know for that - I just float about with fish.

- 99% change for good weather; the hotter the better. At least 24 degrees and up

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Air temperature will already be in the 30s, average precipitation zero, however you may see the odd wisp of cloud in the sky. April sea temperatures can be cool - 20 - 24 degrees

- dive sites not hours away; preferable less than 30 minutes.

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can be done anywhere, but expect journey times up to 1 hr 30 mins for some reefs

What's thefirst destination that comes to mind? It will help my search a lot

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Swings and roundabouts my friend. I'm not so familiar with the mainland but the best diving around Sinai for sure is in Sharm - partly why I choose to work here and not Dahab, which is an altogether much nicer town to hang out in. Hopefully Asser, Samaka and co. can give you better advice for that side of the Red Sea,

I know that doesn't really answer your question but hopefully gives you some ideas and others can fill in the gaps.

Cheers

C.

thx for your reply

I obviousy don't want to spiderman through coral.. in a few occasions I had to spiderman but never in a coral area. If it's necessary there I would just hold on to one point and abort the dive asap

Gonna have a look into all your suggestions :cool2:

check samaka's website WELCOME TO AZIAB
has a lot of info about the redsea from hurghada and down south.

sonar:

thx for your reply

I obviousy don't want to spiderman through coral.. in a few occasions I had to spiderman but never in a coral area. If it's necessary there I would just hold on to one point and abort the dive asap

Gonna have a look into all your suggestions :cool2:

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If you have to Spiderman anywhere in the Red Sea, it probably means your guide made a mistake!

If there is a strong current, I'm a one-way diver. 90% of my dives in Sharm are drifts when I'm working the boats. I have had to abort dives in Tiran due to pumping currents but mostly there's a way to avoid the danger areas.

Cheers

C.

sonar:

Hi all,

I want to go to egypt in april. I am looking for the following in 1 location:

- a town with something to do at night (no clubbing but at least a few restaurants, bars and perhaps a market or whatever. Preferable not too touristy)
- Good location for my dad to do his OW (okay, thats everywhere)
- I would love to see some big stuff. Mainly dove macro in the past. Would love to see hammerheads, whalesharks or mantas.
- Some sites with serious diving; I like strong currents, spidermanning the bottom, that stuff
- I consider to do an intro to tech diving- course (or caverndiving)
- 99% change for good weather; the hotter the better. At least 24 degrees and up
- dive sites not hours away; preferable less than 30 minutes.

What's thefirst destination that comes to mind? It will help my search a lot

thx all

..Hope everybody in Egypt is doing fine atm..

Click to expand...

I think if it's spiderman conditions you seek, you're better off going to places like the Galapagos, Cocos Islands, Malpelo or Socorro Islands in the Pacific. In these places, there's no significant coral, lots of bare volcanic rocks, towering sea mounts and pinnacles and the current can really get pumping (this is why the big stuff come here). At some sites you have to go down on a line and crawl (indeed like spiderman) to the hangout where you sit and watch the hammers, silkies, Galapagos, grays, silvertips, blacktips, mantas, etc - (there they come to you) - and then crawl back to the line to surface. No choice but to do this: to attempt a drift dive results in a boring blue water dive and potentially a long, lonely swim to the mainland of South America (or elsewhere depending on the direction of the current).:missing:

I've done Cocos (LOVED IT!!!!), and Socorro is on the books for Jan 2013, Galapagos will follow hopefully not too long after.

Not to say the diving in the Red Sea won't be great (just different - I can't wait to see all the beautiful corals) - in fact, hopefully we'll be going on a 2 week liveaboard in the Sudanese Red Sea this April (cross fingers that this works out given the current issues in the region).

Bring on Longimanus!!!! Woo hoo!!!

sounds like a kickass spot for diving

afraid my dad doesnt want to learn clearing his mask while holding a line while orca's are beating on seals with hammerheads

well, for the big stuf, I suggest you the durban acquarium, for the open water of you dad , the restaurant and the tek course i suggest Dahab, and for the night life sharm ( but in sharm you'll have a lot of tourist...).