Where to dive around Marsa Alam

[EssA]

Hi !

We are AOWD with a little less than 50 dives and we are planning a trip to the red sea in the end of September. We hesitate between staying near Marsa Alam or going south to the fury shoals. Are the dive sites around Marsa Alam (such as Abu Dabbab, the dolphin house reef and Elphinstone + the hotel house reefs) better or should we plan to get closer to the fury shoals ?

We couldn't find any liveabord for our holiday dates and we don't yet have the 50 dives required as a minimum for some of the distant sites.

Any help would be much appreciated !

 

[adammoore]

hi am adam from cairo egypt i have a very close friend who has a boat and a diving center in marsa allam i always recommend him for my friends you are right u need a minimum 50 loggs for some distant dives but if you are good in diving you can still dive them but with some one that knows you dive well so if you want you can contact me before you come and you dive with him all your dive he has a boat around 27 meter long that goes every where within the redsea so if you are interested right me back here or here is my mail Adamsalam99@gmail.com you are welcome any time

Hi !

We are AOWD with a little less than 50 dives and we are planning a trip to the red sea in the end of September. We hesitate between staying near Marsa Alam or going south to the fury shoals. Are the dive sites around Marsa Alam (such as Abu Dabbab, the dolphin house reef and Elphinstone + the hotel house reefs) better or should we plan to get closer to the fury shoals ?

We couldn't find any liveabord for our holiday dates and we don't yet have the 50 dives required as a minimum for some of the distant sites.

Any help would be much appreciated !

 

[Solly]

check samaka's website WELCOME TO AZIAB it has lots of info about south red sea

 

[diverLux]

Hi,


In case you haven't seen it here is a map of the area for your orientation, you would also need 50 dives for some of the advanced sites like Elphinstone.
Marsa Alam Map
( the new Hilton Nubian isn't shown on the map its position would be at km 35 )

 

[samaka]

Thyere are plenty of good dive sites in both Marsa Alam arean and Fury Shoal but there are much less boats and divers on the sites in Fury Shoal. Personally I prefer Fury Shoal when it comes to the quality of the reefs. Also you have dive sites like Claudio, Maksour, Abu Galawa (Sorayer & Kebir) with the wrecks, Sataya, Malahi, and much much more that are outstanding dives. I wrote about Hamata which is the "town" closest to Fury Shoal in issue seven of The Equalizer where Daily Diving in Fury Shoal was one feature article and the wreck presentation actually happened to be Tien Hsing which is the wrecks at Abu Galawa Kebir. Pretty interesting wreck actually if you know the history and a very pretty dive. In Marsa Alam area of course you have world famoous dives like Elphinstone and Samadai which are brilliant. You also have the well known bays where you can see big Green Turtles, Shovelnose Rays and sometimes Dugongs. If you ask me I personally think you would get more out of a week in Fury Shoal than Marsa Alam...


Hope you will have a great holiday
...a...

Thank you Solly for sharing the link!

 

[large_diver]

You could try contacting Red Sea Diving Safari and see what kind of itinerary they can work out for you across their three sites.

RED SEA DIVING SAFARI - The Eco-diving Adventure - Home

Shagra is closest to Elphinstone...and great site, but often very crowded

Nakari is closest to Dolphin House reef = lots of good shore/RIB diving at this site as well. Much quieter than Shagra. We stayed there a few years ago and loved it.

From Wadi Lahami, you are close to many Fury Shoals dive sites.

One thing to keep in mind with RSDS = RSDS is very much a "dive camp", especially at Nakari and Lahami. Accomodations are in comfortable but simple lodges, with tents also available. No TV, no fancy hotel....just the Red Sea, the desert, simple but plentiful/tasty meals, etc.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[andrethediver]

Can someone recommend a well run local dive op that does not charge an arm an a leg for a day of diving? Do you need a guide to do shore diving off the beach? I've seen some recommendations for Emperor divers and Orca dive club (locaated Tulip resort)? Thanks.