Tips for all going to Egypt

[El Orans]

As for the Spanish Princess - RSS it was only for one day. Buuuuuuu
I wish I could be a Spanish Princess captured by Pirates for a bit longer

How about being a Polish Mod, captured by Advisors...

 

[Leroy Barclay]

And don't forget to visit http://www.reviewadivecenter.com when you're back. We want to know about your experiences!

Cheers,
Leroy

 

[xepi33]

Hi,

I need some help. I am looking into booking a trip to Egypt in April. I want to do one week on a liveaboard - I looked at Emperor Divers fleet and found something departing the 4th of April from Marsa Alam. The date is not very good since it is in the middle of the week and it is kind of splitting my 2 weeks vacation in 3. I was thinking of spending few days before and after the liveaboard in Sharm el Sheikh and 2 days in Cairo. However, it seems like a lot of flying in such a short period of time.

What would you recommend? Is there anyway that we can fly from Sharm el Sheikh to Marsa Alam directly? Which airline and can we book on Internet? Is Hurghada a nice place? What about diving? Have you heard of Emperor divers? How is the diving in Sharm el Sheikh, is it very busy? Is April a good time to go?

Thanks for your help. I have a very hard time finding information - the agencies in Montreal who sell Egypt - they sell all inclusive packages which do not interest me at all.

Thanks

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

As far as I know, there's no direct flights from Sharm El Sheikh to Marsa Alam.

Hurghada is a nice place but not excellent diving. Sharm El Sheikh is better, IMHO.

Normally, April is mid season, not very busy but not empty either. But take care; we have local vacations during April and it is better to come in the first half. Regarding weather, it is good time to go.

In case you need any assistance with diving or other trip organization, drop me a line.

 

[Divingdon]

Like RSS i don't think there is a direct flight from Marsa Alam to Sharm. You can however take a ferry from Hurgada to Sharm which takes 90 minutes http://www.internationalfastferries.com/html/schedual.html . I think you best bet would be bus/taxi to hurgada then ferry to Sharm. Emperor are a large operation, and I believe a lot of their clientele come from the UK. I currently work at Sinai Divers in Sharm www.sinaidivers.com . Currently it's pretty quiet, but the weather is lovely and warm for this time of year. The viz is a bit reduced from normal at about 20 metres and water temperature varies from 21C at Shag Rock to 23C in Na'ama Bay itself. From what I hear, April should be reasonably busy with people taking Easter holidays, the water temp about the same and the weather nice. If you're looking for anymore info drop me a line. Don

 

[phrixus]

Thanks for this Mania, it's very helpful info for anyone travelling to Egypt. :egypt:
Just a couple of points to add.
The majority of stomach problems stem from not drinking enough water rather than food, remember soft drinks, caffeine & alcohol dehydrate you rather than rehydrate. You need to be drinking at least 3l a day if your diving, ideally more especially in summer. It can also be beneficial to drink a glass of rehydration salts before you go to bed, rehydran is the local equivalent & costs about 10 egyptian pounds.
With regards to treatment for stomach problems then go to the local pharmacy, as Mania suggested, ANTINAL is a good one to get. Try to avoid taking medicines from your home as these don't work very well on Egyptian bacteria infections.
As far as I know pretty much all medications can be brought over the counter at the pharmacy so if you're feeling ill, visit the pharmacy if you can rather than the hotel Dr (you normally have to pay for these).

A few useful phrases for taxis;
Stop: stenna
Here: Henna
Good: Quies
Stop Here: Stenna Henna
Slow down: Showhya showahya (means little or simething similar but generally works for slow down)

Also worth remembering to finalise the price before you get in the taxi, Sharm has big signs with the taxi prices on them

 

[mania]

I have moved all posts concerning safety issues to this thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=190144

Mania

 

[elmagnoon]

in Hurghada, Sharm and Dahab they use alu tanks. 15 liters are available but you have to pay extra ( I think in Hurghada it was 5 US$ per day or something like that)
and thanks marek for confirming that there you are probably safer than in Warsaw's streets in the middle of the day (not to mention the night). They are waiting for you Americans to come back.
Mania

I rented 15 litre tanks in Dahab and Sharm. I was quite disappointed in both cases as they only filled them to 170-200 bars, which pretty well beats the purpose of renting higher capacity tanks. Not only that but when I mentioned it to one of the instructors he actually argued with me that the 3300 PSI marked on the cylinder is the "Maximum Operating Pressure" but that it was meant to be filled only to 3000 PSI(200 bars) to get the 15 litres

 

[mislav]

I rented 15 litre tanks in Dahab and Sharm. I was quite disappointed in both cases as they only filled them to 170-200 bars, which pretty well beats the purpose of renting higher capacity tanks. Not only that but when I mentioned it to one of the instructors he actually argued with me that the 3300 PSI marked on the cylinder is the "Maximum Operating Pressure" but that it was meant to be filled only to 3000 PSI(200 bars) to get the 15 litres

Well, the volume of the 15 liter tank doesn't change with pressure, what you do is you squeeze more air into the same volume. In Europe and Egypt they normally fill the tanks of any volume up to the 200 bar, so I believe this to be the standard procedure, not something to be disappointed about.

Actually, what you'll see most often is tank filled up to 220-230 bar which will then reduce to about 200 bar as the tank cools off.

But, there's also a safety concern with higher tank pressures in mass tourism diving resorts. Those tanks do get used and abused... Personally, I wouldn't want them filled up to their max.

 

[mania]

Well
Standard in Europe and Egypt is 200 bars.

200x15liters=3000 liters
200x11 liters (US Alu 80)=2200 liters

so there is a difference.

Mania