Egypt - Marsa Alam

[jaak]

Hi!

We're planning a trip to Egipt in November but as we've already been to Sharm and Hurghada we would like to take on something new. So came up with this fairly new place called Marsa Alam.
The question is - has anyone been diving there? Is it worth the trip and could you recommend some divingcenter there?

Thanks,

Jaak

[Rubis]

Hi!

We're planning a trip to Egipt in November but as we've already been to Sharm and Hurghada we would like to take on something new. So came up with this fairly new place called Marsa Alam.
The question is - has anyone been diving there? Is it worth the trip and could you recommend some divingcenter there?

Thanks,

Jaak

There are now some liveaboards that leave from Marsa Alam. South Egypt diving is great. If you could get on a liveaboard it is better than staying at a hotel.
They have a deco chamber in Marsa Alam, which is also a good thing ...

[jaak]

There are now some liveaboards that leave from Marsa Alam. South Egypt diving is great. If you could get on a liveaboard it is better than staying at a hotel.
They have a deco chamber in Marsa Alam, which is also a good thing ...

How much did your livebaord cost? Is it cheeper than hotel + dives?

thanx

[ScubaWim]

Hi Jaak,
We dove twice around Marsa Alam. Once from the Kahramana Hotel which is close to the Marsa Shagra Tent Camp and once at Wadi Gimal.

The corals in the south are really very nice. If you stay ashore between the diving you shouldn't expect many big stuff. A trip to Elphinstone reef would make up for this though.

At Wadi Gimal the dives are boat dives. At Kahramana (or Marsa Shagra camp) you do shore dives. You will go to a reef by truck, gear up and walk your way into the water.

If you need to know more, leave a message.

[Rubis]

How much did your livebaord cost? Is it cheeper than hotel + dives?

thanx

usually not ...
When I was living in France, the whole trip would be around 750Euros for a week, all included (flight also), and around 600-650 Euros for the hotel.

I would usually use http://www.blue-lagoon.fr/
as a tour operator ... But they are french, so they offer trips leaving from Paris or Marseille. In France they offer the best deals quality/price for the Red Sea.

There are a lot of italian or german agencies too, but I do not know those ... All german centers are usually PADI ...

With the liveaboard we dove sites where there were no other boats. We were lucky, seas were flat and we dove Elphinstone Reef 3 times the same week. It was awesome. It is a majestic dive. In comparison the shore dives were very dull ...

[jaak]

Hi Jaak,
We dove twice around Marsa Alam. Once from the Kahramana Hotel which is close to the Marsa Shagra Tent Camp and once at Wadi Gimal.

The corals in the south are really very nice. If you stay ashore between the diving you shouldn't expect many big stuff. A trip to Elphinstone reef would make up for this though.

At Wadi Gimal the dives are boat dives. At Kahramana (or Marsa Shagra camp) you do shore dives. You will go to a reef by truck, gear up and walk your way into the water.

If you need to know more, leave a message.

How about the prices at Wadi Gimal???

Thanks

[ScubaWim]

Sorry, don't remember anymore. We booked a package trip for a week. But southern Egypt trips are usually more expensive than trips to Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh.

[David B]

Just got back from Marsa Alam 3 weeks ago. Stayed at the Sol Y Mar Resort - not good - but the Kahramana seemed a nice hotel. Emperor Divers are based at the Sol Y Mar and I can highly recommend them. Marsa Alam is a very small place and there is nothing to do in the evening apart from eating at your hotel. Don't know which country you are travelling from so it is difficult to recommend a travel company.

We had a week on a liveaboard first and this was also with Emperor Divers. Thoroughly enjoyed this but unfortunately did not see any big stuff.

You must dive Elphinstone. It is a fantastic site. We went there three times as the diving was so good.

Have a look at the Emperor Divers web site for more info.

www.emperordivers.com

If you need any more info then drop me a line

Regards

David

[jaak]

Just got back from Marsa Alam 3 weeks ago. Stayed at the Sol Y Mar Resort - not good - but the Kahramana seemed a nice hotel. Emperor Divers are based at the Sol Y Mar and I can highly recommend them. Marsa Alam is a very small place and there is nothing to do in the evening apart from eating at your hotel. Don't know which country you are travelling from so it is difficult to recommend a travel company.

We had a week on a liveaboard first and this was also with Emperor Divers. Thoroughly enjoyed this but unfortunately did not see any big stuff.

You must dive Elphinstone. It is a fantastic site. We went there three times as the diving was so good.

Have a look at the Emperor Divers web site for more info.

www.emperordivers.com

If you need any more info then drop me a line

Regards

David

Thanks. Why is it that the south is more expensive than Sharm and Hurghada? I checked Emperordivers but wasn't quite pleased with their prices. 38 euro for 2 dives seems to be waay tooo much. Or am i just paranoid???

[stefo2]

Why is it that the south is more expensive than Sharm and Hurghada?

Less competition?

[David B]

In Marsa they bus you to where the dive boats are. This takes about 15 minutes. I suppose they have to pay for the bus, the driver and fuel. When you get to the boat you are taken there by rib. Again a further expense. I never felt that I was getting ripped off and thoroughly enjoyed the diving. If you compare Marsa prices to USA prices then it is a bargain.

David

[6474286]

Hi!

We're planning a trip to Egipt in November but as we've already been to Sharm and Hurghada we would like to take on something new. So came up with this fairly new place called Marsa Alam.
The question is - has anyone been diving there? Is it worth the trip and could you recommend some divingcenter there?

Thanks,

Jaak

Jaak,

I haven't been yet, but have heard only good things about the Marsa Shagra Tent Camp; I am going in October for 10 days; and it sounds like a superb diving holiday.

We have unlimited shore diving, and 2 boat/jeep trips per day to other dive sites. All food and non alcoholoic drink is also included.

The only down side I have heard of, is if you are with someone who wants to sight see, then there is nearly nothing to do.... So DIVE!

Paul

[David B]

We had a couple of days from diving and went to Luxor to see Karnak and Luxor Temples and the Valley of the Kings. Words cannot describe them. It is a 6 hour bus journey to get to Luxor from Marsa so if you are only there for one week I would not recommend it.

David

[DesertEagle]

I stayed at the Kahramana in December, 2000. Diving was done at the tent camp next door (I think it was Marsa Shagra). The camp looked pretty nice. There is a nice reef right in front of the camp. You will see mostly hard corals and healthy reef fish populations.

For boat diving we would board a zodiak which would take us to the main boat. I'm not sure if they have a jetty yet. Diving was with Pioneer Divers/Red Sea Diving Safari. They gave my goup briefings in English and French.

One word about Elphinstone- amazing. I've been to Ras Mohammed (recently and 10+ years ago) and believe me, Elphinstone is better.

[Christian]

Thanks. Why is it that the south is more expensive than Sharm and Hurghada? I checked Emperordivers but wasn't quite pleased with their prices. 38 euro for 2 dives seems to be waay tooo much. Or am i just paranoid???

Dear jaak

It is more expensive due to the fact that there is less competition in the south and because it is more much complicated/expensive to run a divecenter in the south than in Sharm or Hurghada. They have recently invested in buldings and infrastructure wich they now, naturally, want to pay off as soon as possible.

To get a good reccomendation you will need to tell us more about what you expect out of your trip and what is important to you, like is it important to be able to shop, eat in different restaurants and have other tourist facilities at hand? Can you compromise with the quality of the diving, or do you want only the best and are prepared to sacrifice som comfort to get it? Are you satisfied with two dives each day etc.?

The general advice for the serious (fanatic) diver that I give for this area is to go on a liveaboard. It will be cheaper per dive because dives are all included and normally you do 3-4 dives each day and the keen diver usually ends up with 20+ dives in one week. The only way to get that number of dives into a week when living on shore, is to stay in one of the places having their own house reef and spend all day long diving it (which of course can be very nice, but unsatisfactory for most). So I think it is more a question of what you want than price.

I haven't personally booked any trips through agents in many years, but you should be able to get one week on a descent all inclusive liveaboard in the south of Egypt and flights (from europe) for 1000 euro, probably cheaper.

Also do not forget - you get what you pay. This is more true in the diving industry than in many others. Cheap prices usually mean that people are underpaid, equipment and boats are old and not properly maintained etc. It is not cheap to run a quality dive operation.

good luck

christian

[jaak]

Is it true, that in Marsa Alam (most dive sites) the minimum cert. requirement is PADI Advance or even RD? If it is true then these sites must be really worth sth.

[ScubaWim]

Is it true, that in Marsa Alam (most dive sites) the minimum cert. requirement is PADI Advance or even RD? If it is true then these sites must be really worth sth.

Not for the shoredives. You'll need minimum AOWD for Elphinstone and at least 40 or 50 dives.

[Christian]

Is it true, that in Marsa Alam (most dive sites) the minimum cert. requirement is PADI Advance or even RD? If it is true then these sites must be really worth sth.

There are plenty of easy diving in the Marsa Alam area.

However it is true the best diving is the more advanced, not in all cases bust almost always. Usually it is possible to adapt your diving at a site to your skill level – But – this reminds me of a trip to Brother Islands a few years ago when they reopened from several years of closure. We were all experienced divers with several hundreds of dives in the Red Sea alone, and then there was a couple who was not very experienced. We spend 4.5 half days there, making some 20 dives. Fantastic diving with sightings of threasher sharks, hammerheads, silky sharks, an oceanic whitetip, a manta ray, a mola mola and of course grey and white tip reef sharks. The unexperienced couple didn't see anything and they were quite disappointed with the diving after all they had heard and read.

So if you are not prepared to go to deep, go out into the blue, go to current swept points etc., better save the best dive spots until you are and have sufficient experience to fully enjoy them. It will save both money and disappointment.

cheers

christian

[jaak]

I was contacted by one club in Marsa Alam called Deep South Diving. Has anyone any reliable info on that organisation???

thanks

jaak
Padi RD

[Desert Roos]

Marsa Alam is a great place to dive if you are only going for the diveing... Dahab is also great, money wise, and the quality of diving..you have there a big variety of accomidation, and famous diving spots like the blue hole, canyons, caves and more...the dives are offshore dives..

Sharm and hurghada are cheeper, because they have a lot of hotels at least 25 times more than Dahab, that effects the price, and its not just for divers ..its a beach holiday as well,

george




Thanks. Why is it that the south is more expensive than Sharm and Hurghada? I checked Emperordivers but wasn't quite pleased with their prices. 38 euro for 2 dives seems to be waay tooo much. Or am i just paranoid???

[Desert Roos]

Marsa Alam is a great place to dive if you are only going for the diveing... Dahab is also great, money wise, and the quality of diving..you have there a big variety of accomidation, and famous diving spots like the blue hole, canyons, caves and more...the dives are offshore dives..

Sharm and hurghada are cheeper, because they have a lot of hotels at least 25 times more than Dahab, that effects the price, and its not just for divers ..its a beach holiday as well,

george

[stefo2]

I was contacted by one club in Marsa Alam called Deep South Diving. Has anyone any reliable info on that organisation???



Jaak, haven't dived with them myself (dived with Red Sea Diving Safaris at their Marsa Shagra Camp), but someone I "know" from another forum dived with them and was quite happy with everything. If you're not sure about them I can try and forward your question to him (actually, may be a she), maybe they can give you some more details.

[jaak]

Jaak, haven't dived with them myself (dived with Red Sea Diving Safaris at their Marsa Shagra Camp), but someone I "know" from another forum dived with them and was quite happy with everything. If you're not sure about them I can try and forward your question to him (actually, may be a she), maybe they can give you some more details.


Have these people dived with any other centers in Egipt, i mean do they have anyone to compare with? How come there prices are twice as cheep than the ones Emperordivers offered us? I hope the quality is not half cheeper.

thanks

[stefo2]

Have these people dived with any other centers in Egipt, i mean do they have anyone to compare with? How come there prices are twice as cheep than the ones Emperordivers offered us? I hope the quality is not half cheeper.

thanks

Sorry, don't know if they have dived with anyone else in Egypt, but they definetely have done a lot of diving round the world.
Don't know the prices of Emperor Divers, nor have I dived with them, but compared to red Sea Diving Safaris (which provided excellent service), and Deep South were a bit cheaper, but not half the price.

[Desert Roos]

I would agree with the liveaboard choice, Marsa alam is a good choice at the moment if you are looking for a good quality diving in the red sea, the hotels are limited and expensive as well as drinks, yet liveaboard alles is inclusief only alcoholic drinks you pay.never the less you dont have to pay the extra fees$$ for diving elphinstone, st johnes and dolphin reef..and 3-4 dives per day..which is the best..if you wana know more dive in www.desert-roos.com
george

[gehadoski]

I have never been to Marsa A'alam before but I have been to the brothers Island. All I want to say is, try "LADY M" liveaboard it is one of the best liveaboads in the red sea. If you want more information about that boat visit www.LADYM.com I'm sure you that you will find 5 star service on that liveaboard.
Have a nice time and dive safe

[jaak]

Thanks to all :-D

[StefanB]

Just came back from a 4 weeks stay in Egypt (Sharm/ Hurghada/ South) and only can highly recommend the south. For one week we have been some 40 KM south of Marsa Alam in Tondoba Bay with Blue Heaven Holidays - a desert camp with not much more to do than diving. Honestly, the first two days we were nearly alone at all the dive sites, on the third day, another 3 germans joined us.

We have seen so much wildlife there - incredible. It was full and full and full of everything (except sharks - but this is not the reight season anyway) visibility most of times 30 + and reefs - incredible. Coming back to Hurghada was almost like diving in a toilette that after!!!!

Can only highly recommend to go there. Owner is a guy called Ayman Taher, and he will pick you up in Hurghada. For more info, visit his website on www.blueheavenholidays.com

Stefan

[Josef]

Hi!

We're planning a trip to Egipt in November but as we've already been to Sharm and Hurghada we would like to take on something new. So came up with this fairly new place called Marsa Alam.
The question is - has anyone been diving there? Is it worth the trip and could you recommend some divingcenter there?

Thanks,

Jaak
Hallo Jaak,
try this webside: www.beachsafari.nl there are the most informations about from Marsa Alam.
Greetings Josef

[Mark Goodchild]

Not for the shoredives. You'll need minimum AOWD for Elphinstone and at least 40 or 50 dives.

This is not strictly speaking true. I dived a couple of weeks ago with Emperor divers. I dived Elphinstone and am only just certified a AOWD. I think if you're on a liveaboard then perhaps the 50+ dives for the offshore sites is true. The government has imposed this diving level. Certainly this is true of the Brothers, Daedelous etc.

As with anything though your 50 dives might have been easy shore diving somewhere so this is all relative. So some common sense is needed.

Emperor divers decide on a case by case basis whether you are up to the dive site or not. Also more advanced groups will dive a slightly different dive to the more novice divers. Novice divers might only dive the wall to 20-25m. The advanced groups might go looking for the sharks on the plateaus at 30-40m.

Even if you dive the easier dive, its still worth the long trip from Marsa Alam. 2-2 1/2 hours. (The sea can be rough too... :-( )

Elphinstone's coral reef is amazing. Very nice hard and soft corals. Fantastic visibility and decent fish life. I did n't see much in the way of big stuff but some of the more advanced group saw hammerheads and grey reef sharks. I expected bigger shoals of fish too so in that respect was a little disappointed. But as ever you never know what you'll see...anything is possible!

I've some images. Not great but I'm getting better!
http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Gallery.htm

Hope this helps!
Mark Goodchild

[phrixus]

Going out to Marsa at the start of November with Emporer - any other sites you can recommend?

[Mark Goodchild]

Going out to Marsa at the start of November with Emporer - any other sites you can recommend?

Dolphin Reef is nice, make sure you go here. Fairly good chance of Spinner Dolphins and the hard corals are amazing. Also some nice swim throughs and caves.

Also Marsa Abudabab has a nice shore dive. Big turtles, guitar sharks and a dugong all possible.

Check out my images from my visit in September. We did n't see anyhting big apart from the Dugong but the reefs are incredible. Think I might go again when its a little cooler to see if it is easier to see hammerheads at Elphinstone.

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Gallery.htm
Click gallery number 5.

[phrixus]

Dolphin Reef is nice, make sure you go here. Fairly good chance of Spinner Dolphins and the hard corals are amazing. Also some nice swim throughs and caves.

Also Marsa Abudabab has a nice shore dive. Big turtles, guitar sharks and a dugong all possible.

Check out my images from my visit in September. We did n't see anyhting big apart from the Dugong but the reefs are incredible. Think I might go again when its a little cooler to see if it is easier to see hammerheads at Elphinstone.

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Gallery.htm
Click gallery number 5.

Wow - those pictures are great. Can't wait until next month now, I'm in the mood to go diving.
:O)

[6474286]

Wow - those pictures are great. Can't wait until next month now, I'm in the mood to go diving.
:O)

I am off to Marsa Shagra's tent camp on Thursday, so I can't wait :-)

I will let you know all about it when I get back!

TTFN

Paul

[oceanic-daz]

Just got back from Marsa.
You won't be dissappointed by the diving @ the tent camp.
I was at the Karamanha & on the odd day off from boat dives the shore diving was spectacular.
I was speaking to a couple onthe way out who booked the tent job & they were'nt sure what to expect.
Bumped into them on the return at airport & they where well pleased, unlimited tanks & accommodation was a tent plus a brick **** house!
Saying that I would still take in Elphinstone for a day on a boat & definately take a trip to Abo Dabbab for the shore dives. Swim with the Dugong & Hawksbills, you'll love it.
Even if you dont get to see the dugong theres some great Italian topless tooty to point your camera at.........

[Mark Goodchild]

LOL

Did you manage to get some great photos of the wildlife. :eyebrow: I can host them at Zeroviz if you like!

Marsa Alam trip report now live....will give you all some idea of what to expect!

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Reports/MarsaAlamTripReportSept04.htm