Scuba in Egypt?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone been diving out of Hurghada? I'm interested in planning a trip, and was wondering about any personal experience re: costs, best time of year to go, dive outfitters, liveaboards, etc. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Id be terrified to get in a swimsuit in a Muslim country.

[Anonymous]

I have been to Hurghada but not for diving - went diving in Sharm El Sheikh.

I think the best time to go is in the December. I went in the summer and it was pretty hot but I survived December the weather is nice.

The beaches in Egypt are gorgeous. You will have a blast.
Egypt is high season in December, but in January you can get really good rates on both airlines and hotels.

BTW - the pp is very ignorant about Egypt. All the Italians and Germans invade the beaches in Cairo during the holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been to Hurghada but not for diving - went diving in Sharm El Sheikh.

I think the best time to go is in the December. I went in the summer and it was pretty hot but I survived December the weather is nice.

The beaches in Egypt are gorgeous. You will have a blast.
Egypt is high season in December, but in January you can get really good rates on both airlines and hotels.

BTW - the pp is very ignorant about Egypt. All the Italians and Germans invade the beaches in Cairo during the holidays.

I'm that PP and yes, I am ignorant about Egypt. I'm glad to hear that it welcomes western guests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been to Hurghada but not for diving - went diving in Sharm El Sheikh.

I think the best time to go is in the December. I went in the summer and it was pretty hot but I survived December the weather is nice.

The beaches in Egypt are gorgeous. You will have a blast.
Egypt is high season in December, but in January you can get really good rates on both airlines and hotels.

BTW - the pp is very ignorant about Egypt. All the Italians and Germans invade the beaches in Cairo during the holidays.

I'm that PP and yes, I am ignorant about Egypt. I'm glad to hear that it welcomes western guests.

Your comment is accurate in the gulf regions of the middle east, but Egypts main source of income is tourism so they very much welcome vacationers, bikinis or not.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, 20:03, I was beginning to give up on this thread. How was the diving in Sharm El Sheikh?

[Anonymous]

Diving in Sharm El Sheikh is amazing!!!!
You should seriously consider diving there.

http://www.sinaidivers.com/english.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been to Hurghada but not for diving - went diving in Sharm El Sheikh.

I think the best time to go is in the December. I went in the summer and it was pretty hot but I survived December the weather is nice.

The beaches in Egypt are gorgeous. You will have a blast.
Egypt is high season in December, but in January you can get really good rates on both airlines and hotels.

BTW - the pp is very ignorant about Egypt. All the Italians and Germans invade the beaches in Cairo during the holidays.

I'm that PP and yes, I am ignorant about Egypt. I'm glad to hear that it welcomes western guests.

Your comment is accurate in the gulf regions of the middle east, but Egypts main source of income is tourism so they very much welcome vacationers, bikinis or not.

It's not even accurate in the Gulf regions--I'm sure you've heard of Dubai? Abu Dhabi? Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait all have resort hotels. (Although I will say that UAE is the most Western of all, but Oman is the prettiest, IMO). It's really only KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) where you can't do that. And even they were trying to hop aboard the tourist train for a while--just not with bikini beaches, etc.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about diving but Oman is an incredibly beautiful country and very welcoming. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Skip Kuwait though.

[Anonymous]

I went on a liveabord out of Taba so I can't make recs for Hurghada. I would say the diving is pretty good. December is high season and crammed with Euros on holiday, it's their equivalent of the Caribbean. I found my liveaboard through an Israeli dive shop (just over the border in Eilat). DH and I were the only US folks, everyone else was European (it was great) and many had been before. Those who had been before liked the liveaboard though I was not so impressed. I think compared to what they'd seen before from Egyptian dive outfits it was an improvement. I'm pretty safety conscious so I wasn't impressed. It wasn't the worst I'd seen but just keep your eyes peeled because it's going to be high season, high volume, and my own experience is that many of the places like this don't care about you coming back because they can always get more customers. So they don't maintain equipment super well, they take you to really crowded sites, and they're less concerned with safety. As far as the actual diving, it was ok. I don't like crowded sites so that was a downer. I also don't love wreck dives and I think some of the best dives are wrecks. I also find that the people who love Red Sea diving either went a decade or more ago (before a lot of stuff was damaged in the Red Sea) or they haven't been better places. Europeans LOVE it because it's relatively close and cheap for them and better than anything they have up there. I've gone several times off of Egypt, Jordan and Israel--certainly going off Egypt offers the best dives. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We are deciding between diving the Red Sea or Utila, Honduras (where I've been diving but my husband hasn't). I guess I need to start lining up the pros and cons of each...