Private Touring
to the
Most Intriguing Place
on Earth

Scuba Diving in the Red Sea.

The Red Sea is arguably one of the top destinations in the world for excellent reef diving along with some pretty exciting wreck diving. There are also a few scattered drift dives which can be absolutely awesome at times. There are two general areas which are most popular with the majority of divers: the northern area centered on Ras Mohammed at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, and the southern area which includes everything for hundreds of miles starting about 25 miles south of Hurghada.

Most of the Red Sea is accessible from Egypt although one can also dive from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Eritrea and Jordan. All of our experience has been from Egypt because the dive location in Israel and Jordan are too limiting; Saudi Arabia has limited infrastructure and access is pretty much limited to the military; and the Sudan and Eritrea are, just too difficult and cumbersome to get to and all the diving is European camping style in Jeep safaris, to say nothing of the civil wars...

In the north there are two main land based areas. The most well known is, of course, Sharm El Sheikh. Built up since the War, it is a typical European style holiday village and a lot of fun. There is a wide boardwalk running for several miles along the beach, bordered by one hotel complex after another. There have to be a couple of dozen dive shops and more dive boats than are countable scurrying back and forth between Sharm, Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran.

In Sharm, we work primarily with Sinai Divers because their operation is reliable and safe, and they know how to show divers a good time.  They have been in operation for almost 25 years and have all the facilities one could want including equipment rentals and repair and a full service photo and video center. They even have a little gift shop with some interesting dive-related clothing I haven't seen elsewhere. As with all operations in Egypt, diving is European style. That is, 2 dives taking up most of the day with a 3 hour surface interval during which a hearty lunch, cooked aboard the boat, is served. Expect little in the way of free afternoon time when you are diving here. Shore diving is also available, but few Americans seem to want to take advantage of it; I think that's wise because most of the shore sites seem to be fairly well dived out.

There is an excellent selection of hotels, from the 3-star Ghazala (where Sinai Divers is located) to 4- and 5-star luxury palaces. All are within walking distance of the shop and where you stay depends mostly on your pocketbook and desire for amenities.

Camel Diving!

About 60 miles north of Sharm is the little village of Dahab. I was there once and had a wonderful Camel Dive. It was probably the most unusual dive of my life: you are driven by Jeep about 10 miles across a seashore track, through army checkpoints and even across rock falls large enough to necessitate getting out and climbing  while only the driver takes the vehicle across. Eventually you reach a herd of camels tended by half a dozen sub-teen Bedouin boys. Your gear (yes, even the tanks) is loaded onto the camels, you mount up yourself and, 90 minutes later, you are at a camp/dive site and are the only people for miles. Talk about being out in the wilderness! The first dive is awesome because the site is dived so seldom that everything is pure and pristine. During the surface interval, the camel boys serve terrific stews, chicken and salads; it's almost enough to make you want to blow off the afternoon dive but everyone forces themselves into the water. After emerging, the boys have the camels almost fully packed and you are on your way back to Dahab the way you came. We left at 7 in the morning and returned about 8 at night in the dark -- but it was adventure every minute of the way! They also have overnight Camel Dives, which is high on my list for my return visit.

Heading south, except for the wrecks (Giannis D, Carnatic [shown] and the Chrisola K) at Abu Nuhas, between Sharm and Hurghada, there is little until one is at least 25 miles south of Hurghada. Then, as you get further south, the diving gets better and better. Many of the famous dive sites (Brothers, Elphinstone, Zabargad and others) have been closed by the government, but the dive operators are searching out new sites all the time. Plus, this being Egypt, they may or may not be open at any time.

Liveaboard Diving in the Red Sea, Egypt.

The Ghazala Voyager, Ghazalas I & II and The Lady M.

Although there are many liveaboard boats in the Red Sea, not all of them come up to the typical standards Americans expect. So we won't even consider sending you on them. However, there are several which are fine platforms for exploring this wonderful area.

Recommended are the liveaboards operated by Sinai Divers out of Sharm El Sheikh, the 87 foot Ghazala Voyager and the sister ships, the 78 foot Ghazala I and the 65 foot Ghazala II. They also operate the 87 foot Lady M. They are ideally suited when combining some Red Sea diving with tours of Israel and/or Jordan as it's a short hop down to Sharm and you don't need to pass through Cairo if you prefer not to.