Heading to Sharm early March 2018--need recommendations please

[SarcasticDiver]

Hi all, hopefully I'm posting this in the correct spot......
Just looking for any tips/advice you can provide--we have only 2 days to dive in Sharm, March 7-8th.
I'm AOW, my husband is TEC, but leaving his CCR at home. We are looking for All-Inclusive resort recommendations relatively near the airport and that has on-site Dive shop or one in really close proximity.
Since we only have the 2 days to dive--my husband would REALLY like to do the Blue Hole of Dahab--but I understand that it's some 50+ miles from the airport area, so it's likely not practical given our time constraint? But maybe it's worth it--lol, which is why I'm asking.....
Really not sure when we'll be back that way again after this trip, so just trying to make the most out of a really short amazing dive opportunity. Ideally, we'd like to dive the Blue Hole from a liveaboard sometime in the future but for now--can anyone recommend 4 to 5-star resort accommodation, dive shop and the best dive sites.....
Thanks in advance!

 

[Youssef ElNahas]

Hey!

I've stayed at the Concorde El Salam resort in Sharks bay a couple of times. It's close to the airport and they have a decent dive shop inside the resort (Marina Divers) and the house reef is excellent. There's also a Hilton resort right next door which also has its own dive shop.

The Blue Hole is in Dahab which is about an hour from Sharm El Sheikh airport and it's a shore dive which I don't think is possible to do through a liveaboard. If you really want to you should be able to do it in a day trip. I recommend Scuba Seekers in Dahab.

Another great daytrip from Sharm is the wreck of the SS Thistlegorm. I haven't done it myself but it's considered by many to be the best wreck dive in the world


Good luck and enjoy your stay in Egypt

 

[AJ]

Two dives on the Thistlegorm were my two best dives in almost 400 dives. If you like wrecks, you will love this one. However, with your limited time span those two dives will cost you a whole day on the boat.

Enjoy the Red Sea, it's beautiful there.

 

[Skulmoski]

I stayed at an all inclusive resort for a couple of weeks. I dived everyday save one. I would not stay in an all inclusive again: they use budget food in their meals (e.g. canned rather than fresh mushrooms were used in omelettes, tinned fruit rather than fresh fruit, etc.) If you pay for all inclusive alcohol, then expect poor quality wine, beer and spirits. There were lots of drunk Russians enjoying themselves. The all inclusive 5 star resort that we stayed in was about a 50 minute van ride from the Sharm harbour.

Next time, I will stay with Camel Dive. They are right at the harbour. This way, you avoid the time consuming pick up and drop off van ride. Your food options are much better since you are at the harbour with a large variety of eating establishments. Camel has good specials now and can customize your diving experience.

Red Sea diving holidays in Sharm El Sheikh | Camel Dive Club and Hotel

Enjoy your diving!

GJS

 

[Sunn]

If you really want to dive the blue hole, you'd better take contact and arrange diving and accomodation with a dive center in Dahab.

They can pick you up on arrival at the airport.

Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't have time enough...

some of the dive centers there :

H2O Divers Dahab
Dahab Divers, Hotel and Dive Center
⎜Best Dive Center in Dahab
Big Blue Dahab – Just another WordPress site
Deep Blue Divers | The Best Scuba Diving in Dahab | Sinai, Egypt
etc...

 

[UFOrb]

Two dives on the Thistlegorm were my two best dives in almost 400 dives. If you like wrecks, you will love this one. However, with your limited time span those two dives will cost you a whole day on the boat.

Enjoy the Red Sea, it's beautiful there.

I agree, the Thistlegorm is fantastic! We did a day trip from Dahab so was an extremely loooong day but so worth it. 2 dives on the wreck and then did Yolanda/Shark Reef on the way back, which was stunning. A superb day out.

Is your hubby wanting to do the Blue Hole as a rec or tec dive? It’s a cool recreational dive, but I wouldn’t recommend it over the Thistlegorm & Yolanda/Shark Reef if you can only do one or the other.
Doing the The Arch of the Blue Hole is another matter, which I don’t know much about, but it would take a lot of prep and not something to be done on a day trip!

 

[SarcasticDiver]

Thanks everyone for the wealth of information, very much appreciated. The Blue Hole dive would be rec for both of us, as he's not bringing his CCR. He's long heard about "diving the BLUE HOLE" so this is definitely on his bucket list...... whereas I don't really care if we do it or not, lol. I'm a "find nemo, relatively shallow--warm water diver!" We only have 2 dive days, so my preference would be to make the most out of diving Sharm and not to spend the time/money getting to Dahab if the juice isn't worth the squeeze or if it's more "hype than substance" if you get me.....?? We've never been diving in Egypt, so I'm looking for honest evaluations to assist in making an informed decision. That's where you all come in..... Thanks again everyone, keep the info coming--it's extremely helpful.

 

[UFOrb]

This list may help you decide, note positions 4 & 5
Revealed: the World's Top 100 Dive Sites
The Blue Hole, Dahab was voted in at a very respectable 27, although the site’s probably more notorious for the deep technical dive through the The Arch, which has claimed numerous victims.
My advice would be to do the Thistlegorm & Shark/Yolanda boat trip from Sharm on one of the days and dive a bit closer to Sharm, eg around the straits of Tiran, on the other day. Given your time constraints I’d avoid the fairly long road trip to/from Dahab. Dahab’s lovely place to spend some time and do some nice shore dives though - we have very happy memories from our trip in 2012

 

[Youssef ElNahas]

The Blue Hole dive would be rec for both of us, as he's not bringing his CCR.

I don't think the Blue Hole is worth going to Dahab for if you're only doing it recreationally. It's a great dive but given the time constraints I'd stick to Sharm

 

[Sunn]

Youssef is right.
If you've only 2 days, try he strait of Tiran (Thomas reef or somewhere around there...) and the second day Ras Mohamed.

It's better to have the best at the end... (and without knowing you, there will be no divemaster to let you make your first dive on a wall with hundreds of meters under you...)