Dive Review of
Red Sea Diving College/Radisson SAS Sharm El Sheikh in
Red Sea/Sharm El Sheikh

Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, California, Naples Italy, Athens Greece,
Lake Tahoe, Hawaii

Dive Conditions

None.  On the first day of diving, my air consumption was very good and the
divemaster allowed me to stay down until I was down to 500 psi.  Depth
restrictions were lax.  No one in my group wanted to go deeper that the
100-110 foot depth.   

[None]  

Overall Rating

This trip was a dream dive vacation for me.  I have made over 1000 dives
and been an instructor for over thirty years.  I made the arrangements for
this trip for myself and five other divers.  I work at the American Embassy
in Athens, Greece and completed all reservations via the internet.  Red Sea
Diving College had been mentioned in previous "Chapbook" articles
as " the facility that I would use the next time I dove the Red
Sea".  That statement pointed me toward them, and I was not
disappointed.

We were picked up at our hotel every morning and driven to the shop to
begin the day.  Our gear was checked out the first day and placed into
plastic cartons.  These were moved from boat to boat each day from then on.
 Although I changed plans one day and dove a different site than the rest
of my group, my gear was there, on the boat waiting for me.  After the
dives, we were transported back to our hotels.

The sites were wonderful.  I had read that they weren't as good as they
were when the area was under Israeli control, but I found the coral to be
plentiful, beautiful, and the fish everywhere.  Lunch was included each day
for a small additional fee.  Pasta was a main selection, but other food was
always included.  

Most of the dives were drift dives which allowed us to complete the dives
and relax on the surface as the boat returned to pick us up.  The dive I
made on the day I dove without my group was to the "Thistlegorm".
 It is a WWII British supply ship that was sunk early in WWII.  It was 100
feet to the bottom and about 80 feet to the deck.  The holds were open and
contained jeeps, motorcycles, trucks and other war supplies.  The fish life
around the wreck was abundant.

The divemasters (ours was Hooch) were very knowledgeable and allowed us to
enjoy the dives at our own pace.  They were there to lead the dive, but not
there to restrict safe exploration.  The group I dove with were all
experienced and Hooch allowed us to enjoy the dives.  My last day of diving
was with the other people that accompanied me.  They arrived a couple of
days after me and were placed on another boat.  They had told their
divemaster that they didn't want to go deep and their divemaster
accompanied them at shallower depths.  Other members on their boat were
allowed to dive deeper.  The divemaster could watch both groups because the
visibility was excellent.  She was perfectly suited to divers of that level
of training and experience.  This illustrates that Red Sea Diving College
can provide excellent service to all levels of experience and training.  

Overall, the dive facility was outstanding.  On the second day, our van
that was taking us to the harbor, broke down, but we were stranded for only
about five minutes before another van picked us up.  One area for
improvement would be to increase the number of vans available to transport
divers to/from the shop.  Often, the wait at the end of day would be
several hours after arrival at the shop before a van would be available to
return us to our hotel.

We stayed at the Radisson SAS Resort.  It is a new resort located about
five miles from the airport in the direction opposite the town.  They
offered a full B&B service or full Board.  The meals were well prepared
and served buffet style.  They had special theme meals several nights.  (We
were there for six nights).  The only downside to the resort was its
location.  Being so far out of town, we were dependent on their shuttle
service.  When you took the shuttle from the hotel to town at 7:00 PM you
couldn't get back to the hotel until 11:00.  Taxis were available and
reasonable, but we could have walked to most resorts because they were much
closer to town. 

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