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Hello Everyone! My name is Elliott and I will see you guys soon, I just booked a 1 way ticket to Cairo on the 29th of May. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going but I'm planning to go for at least my DM in Egypt. I was thinking of doing advanced, rescue and DM each in different locations, then maybe head to Marsa Alam for a while. Wondering, what are your favorite locations and what operators would you recommend as far as training?? I'm thinking Sharm, Dahab, Hurgada, and Marsa Alam.
Thanks for your advice, looking forward to meeting some of you!
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"He's a f*ing walking slow tissue, what is he doing trying to teach technical diving, fcuk!" HH
Excellent. I plan to head to the Red Sea next winter so I'll keep an eyes on this forum. Look forward to tips from those of you who know the waters and critters there.
Hello Everyone! My name is Elliott and I will see you guys soon, I just booked a 1 way ticket to Cairo on the 29th of May. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going but I'm planning to go for at least my DM in Egypt. I was thinking of doing advanced, rescue and DM each in different locations, then maybe head to Marsa Alam for a while. Wondering, what are your favorite locations and what operators would you recommend as far as training?? I'm thinking Sharm, Dahab, Hurgada, and Marsa Alam.
Thanks for your advice, looking forward to meeting some of you!
I am in Egypt, and would like to head over to Egypt SOON and spend a couple of weeks there diving and climbing. Can someone contact me regarding diving? (or climbing!)
I am a backpacker... and I have till October 15 before I leave out of Israel.
Nuweiba - African Divers - Phenomenal value and great diving
My wife(who does not dive) and I stayed at the Swisscare Hotel in Nuweiba from May 25 to 28, 2008, during what is still low season. We identified the hotel through TripAdvisor and chose it for the combination of an excellent scuba diving shop on premises (African Divers), beautiful beach and swimming pool, room spaciousness and cleanliness, friendly service, and good food – all at terrific value for the price. We found that the positive reviews on nTripAdvisor were “bang on” and we had a lovely four days/three nights there.
I can also honestly say that one of the nicest dives – maybe even the nicest dive out of about 170 dives, that I have ever done anywhere in the world (and I have gone diving before in the Red Sea, in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, and many other places) was right off the beach close to the Swisscare hotel. The combination of large numbers and variety of beautiful fish and coral, excellent and comfortable equipment, easy beach access, depths up to 100 feet (30 meters) and beyond, and being with such a nice divemaster, was superb. The other three dives off the beach near the hotel were also very nice, but one was spectacular.
My wife and I also did an excursion to the marine park at Abu Galum, a two and half hour drive south, which is mostly off-road through the gorgeous mountainous desert terrain. I went there to do a wall dive on the prior recommendation of an Israeli friend and diver. Frankly, however, nice as the two dives were that I did there, the best were right near the hotel. But the drive through the wadis (dry river beds) of the Sinai mountains was breathtaking and worth the trip!
I have been diving for 28 years and I did a total of six dives with African Divers. In fact, I was lucky enough to be the only person diving on all three days that I dove.
The owners of African Divers, Sarah (from England) and Daniel are very nice and helpful, professional, and have excellent equipment.
I also decided on the spur of the moment at African Divers to take the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification course, just to do something a bit different. The course is not difficult, but gave me the chance to learn more about underwater photography, navigation, eco-systems and fish identification. Without even asking, Daniel color-corrected my photos (taken with their digital camera) and put them on a CD (and what a difference that made). For amateur photographers, I recommend asking about taking photography lessons over multiple dives, because one dive isn’t enough to get the hang of it.
My wife does not dive, like everyone else who was staying at the hotel while we were there. However, she had a nice time relaxing on the beach and by the pool and also had a massage. There is also nice snorkelling right off the beach. Because most of the diving that I did was right off the beach close to the hotel, it was also very convenient that I was not gone for nearly as long as would have been the case, had the dives involved a boat trip.
A last word about African Divers is that one should be prepared to pay Egyptian pounds in cash, because a premium is charged for use of a credit card. There is a bank in the Hilton down the road, so obtaining cash is not a problem, subject to daily withdrawal limits.
To get there, we crossed into Egypt from Eilat at the Taba border crossing. From the time that the Arkia airplane pulled up to the gate in Eilat to the time that we were through immigration on the Egyptian side was just 45 minutes. Crossing the border was no problem at all. Not many people use the border crossing these days, but the officials on both sides were friendly. Private cars are not allowed to drive across and therefore, travellers must take a short walk from one side to the other with their bags in tow. On the Egyptian side, a small fee of US$10 or US$15 per person must be paid in Egyptian pounds to an office half a kilometre down the road from the crossing and no credit cards are accepted. Best bet is to change money at the bank in the Taba Hilton, which is immediately adjacent to the border crossing.
We booked our stay at the Swisscare Hotel through Sarah and Daniel of African Divers and they arranged for a car to pick us up at the border for a drive that took less than an hour and a half.
Taba and Sharm el Shekh have become big tourist centres, with large numbers of charter flight visitors and most of the big hotel chains. Nuweiba lies in between and the hotel “strip” is isolated from both the town and the port themselves. There were obviously once great government plans for the hotel strip, which stretches over a mile and a half, from the Hilton to just past the Swisscare. However, construction was halted on some hotel facilities and never started on many of the tracts of land and the hotel adjacent to the Swisscare is now closed. Aside from the Hilton, the Swisscare and one or two other hotels, there was nothing else on the strip. So, guests should be prepared for being somewhat isolated. This is not a place to stay at for “action”. The upside is a fantastic bargain for divers and those just wanting to relax.
The Swisscare has two wings of 24 suites on either side of a big, clean swimming pool that has a gorgeous backdrop of the sea, beach and Saudi Arabian coastline on the other side of the Gulf on one side, and the rocky desert and mountains on the other. One wing had yet to open and therefore, only 24 suites were in operation when we were there. Each suite consists of two large adjoining rooms, each with its own bathroom and TV (though there was a problem with the satellite service the nights that we were there). The rooms were clean and the large bed very comfortable.
As others have said in their reviews on the TripAdvisor web site, the service at Swisscare is friendly and excellent.The food was fine, if not scrumptious. We had no complaints. We were pre-assigned the same table in the dining room for each meal and the tables were not very close to each other, making it difficult to have conversations with those at other tables (which most guests may, in fact, prefer).
We did not have children with us, but there were some families there with children from six or seven to eleven or so and they seemed to be having a good time in the pool, on the beach and snorkelling. But there were not enough guests at this time of year to provide organized activities for kids.
Bottom line for African Divers and the Swisscare Hotel: Phenomenal value for relaxation, great facility and service, and excellent diving!
Hi, I'll be in Aqaba in Oct and want to know where to dive and stay. I have heard good and bad things about the Coral Bay Hotel. Also how is the Adverture Dive Club accomodations? What do you think? Is it easy to go from the south section which I hear is where the good diving to the city of Aqaba. Thanks for your help
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