2000 Chapbook

The Red Sea is on every diver's top-ten list. When it was under Israeli control, the reefs were well-protected, but now, under Egyptian domain, Hurghada dive operators are failing to provide loving care to nearby reefs. Live-aboards are trying to move southward, but they're having difficulties with other governments. Most of the good southern sites have been closed. Be sure to check ahead of time to see if this has changed. Water temperatures can drop into the cool 60s during February and rise into the 80s by August.... Many divers combine a Red Sea trip with a visit to Israel and biblically historical sites....

Eilat

Red Sea Sports Club, August 1999, Michael O'Hagan, Stuttgart, GE. Vis: 40-70 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Shore dives at the upper end of Gulf of Aqaba; Red Sea Sports conducts a morning deep dive to 80 ft and a shallow afternoon dive. They ferry you by van and pick you up at the end of the dive. Dives are guided. Sites well marked and accessible; rent equipment and strike out on your own. Interesting coral outcroppings, otherwise sandy bottom. Not a huge number of fish but variety: lionfish, clown cons, broomtail wrasse, blue trigger. Egyptian Red Sea diving is better; I recommend Sharm over Eilat. Eilat is worth a detour, but not a journey. (www.redseasports.co.il)

Sharm el Sheikh

AquaMarine/Novatel Hotel, May 1999, Bill Mangum (bmangum@mindspring.com), Atlanta, GA. 9 day pilgrimage to the Baha'i holy places in Israel. Planned our tours through the Internet and phone. Marvelous tour of Old Jerusalem. Stayed in hospice of the Church of Scotland outside Jaffa Gate. Quaint and comfortable and resembled an old castle! I booked by phone (011 972-6732-401) at $80/night. From Jerusalem we traveled by state-run buses to Eilat on the Red Sea, where we connected with our tour guide and bus to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. $230/person; should have stayed in Petra longer. From Eilat we took a taxi to the Egyptian border in Taba where a prearranged car and driver from Europe Car awaited us. Finding information on how to get from Israel to the Egyptian Sinai was difficult. Route Tours in Tel Aviv (routeto@ibm.net, phone 011 972-3-5162443) arranged the car and driver from the border, 2 nights hotel in Sharm El Sheik and 2 days diving package. Cost was $572 for both! 2 1/2 hour drive was scenic and the Novatel hotel adequate and comfortable. Egyptian people were welcoming and friendly and we felt safe. Few American tourists in the Sinai. Diving in Sharm El Sheik was unremarkable, but the Ras Mohammed was the best we'd seen! Coral large and beautiful, fish abundant, visibility excellent. No litter, broken coral, or crowded diving sites, as was previously reported. Lionfish, puffers, clownfish and rays, schools of fish. AquaMarine competent, rental equipment adequate, gauges and weights metric. Some difficulty adjusting buoyancy: salt content was different from the Caribbean. Dove Shark and Jolanda Reef, Jackfish Alley and Ras Zatar. Diving at Ras Mohammed requires full Egyptian tourist visa, available in advance (about 3-4 weeks) from the Egyptian Consulate in Washington, D.C. (Telephone +20 62-60-0276; Fax +20 02-351-0017 or +20 62-60-0176)

AquaMarine/Sofital Coralia, May 1999, Ned & Diane Elton, Ridgewood, NJ. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 72-74 degrees. Dive sites are crowded; many boats on each. Primarily drift diving. Nice soft corals. Ras Mohammed and Sharm El Sheikh better than Caribbean but worse than Palau. Shore diving poor by Caribbean standards.

Camel Dive Club, Ghazala Garden (Sharm el Sheikh), August 1999, Isaac Aharon, New York, NY. Vis: 70-100 ft. Water: 27c-29c. Restrictions in force: 100 ft., 3 min. check cert., stop at 15 ft. Hotel in the best location in the center of Naama Bay. Very nice, 38 rooms, nice swimming pool. Good restaurant, no TV in rooms, clean. Dive operation is great, well-organized boat trips for different locations. Max group of 10 divers with one instructor; made 8 dives in 3 days. Great dives with 2 instructors, one from Italy (Alex, who was great), and Natalie, from Australia. (Telephone +20 2062-60-0700; Fax +20 2062-60-0601)

Dive Discovery, Hotel Marriott, July 1999, Yoram Hahn, Florissant, MO. Vis: 80-100 ft, Water: 80-82 degrees.

Diver's Lodge Hurghada/Intercontinental Hotel, May 1999, Peter Heseltine (heseltin@hsc.usc.edu), Los Angeles, CA. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 85-88 degrees. Sunny. Water: choppy, currents. No specific rinse tank on boat, large cabin with tables. Great wrecks. Perhaps the most spectacular, friendliest fish, and in large numbers that I have seen anywhere. PADI, TDI instructors were knowledgeable and let experienced divers set their own profiles. Mixed gas including helium, CO2 scrubber all at reasonable prices. No so good: Briefings and judgment of current and conditions less than good. Ran out of O2 for a day; poorly marked tanks (always test your breathing mixes yourself!) Long boat rides (1-2 hrs) to good locations. Water in short supply. No safety equipment (life-preservers, life-raft on boat). We didn't need it, but we did dive a sunken dive boat, so it happens! Hotel was very adequate. (Telephone +20 65-44-6911 or +20 65-44-6912; Fax +20 65-44-6910)

Sinai Divers/Ghazala Hotel, June 1999, Edward Leibowitz, Jersey City, NJ. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 65-75 degrees. Restrictions: stay within depth limits. Flight from New York to Sharm El Sheikh was 14 hours including layovers. Water 65-75 degrees though the air was in 90's. Briefings were in German and English. I used a 3 mm full wetsuit and was cold on every dive, so my air consumption was greater than normal. You need a 6 mm wet suit to be comfortable during the early part of June. Boats leave 9-10 in the morning for two tank dive and return at 5:00 pm. On the single tank dive, you return 2:00-2:30 pm after lunch. Excluding Ras Mohammed, it was necessary to stay on the boat all day, but boat captains do this, so you will purchase a large lunch for $7. Dive operators contract with private boat owners. Free beverages and bottled water. If you go to Ras Mohammed, you must bring your passport with you on the boat. Crews assist you with your gear. Night dive was one of the best that I've done: two large groupers, octopus and many small critters. Stayed at the Ghazala on half-board (breakfast and dinner included, served buffet style). Diving as good as the diving in the Caribbean. Fish life somewhat sparse. Occasionally I saw a large Napoleon Wrasse. Since it is easier and cheaper to fly to Caribbean destinations, diving in Sharm didn't justify the additional expense and flight time. (Telephone +20 2062-60-0150 or +20 2062-60-0151 or +20 2062-60-0152; Fax +20 2062-60-0155 or +20 2062-60-0158)

Sinai Divers/Ghazala Garden, January 1999, Isaac Aharon, NYC. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 22 C. Restrictions: Depth, time limit, no gloves, check cert. 15 ft stop, 3 min. Hotel nice, food great. TV in each room. Very clean. Located in Naama Bay. Dive operation bad. Each divemaster stays with 15-18 people in one group. Briefing mostly in German. Only one great divemaster, Patrik. The other 2 terrible: Wolfgang and Carmen. I had problem with their equipment almost every dive. Once the gauge (air) was dancing 3 degrees to 7 degrees bars so I had to go up. One dive at 100 ft. I couln't inflate my B.C.

Sinai Divers/Ghazala Hotel, July 1999, Don Vinh (donvinh@ibm.net), N. Attleboro, MA. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 74-76 degrees. Sunny, water: calm, no currents. Restrictions: Depth limits to 30 meters, air to 50 bars (Divemaster makes you go up at 50 bars). Diving by own computer not allowed (All divers must follow rigid depth, time, surface interval dictated by divemaster) 3 out of 4 dives divemaster-led in groups of 12. Good for beginners but not experienced. I am a divemaster with 800+ dives and a computer but wasn't allowed to follow my own profile. Divemaster checked my air gauge underwater and forced me to go up at 750 psi though I was underneath the boat! Dive briefing good and the divemaster, when she was motivated, could show you some neat critters. You carry your own gear from the shop to the van and to the boat. Boat is moored at 5 mins away. Boat is very slow. Depart at 8-9 AM and get back at 5-6 PM for a two-tank trip. Bring your lunch and water; $7 for their good lunch. Rental gear in relatively good shape; $25/day. No computer rental. Sends divers on their first day to local reefs (White Knight, the Gardens) around Sharm-El-Sheikh; far below Red Sea standards, equivalent to average or better Caribbean diving. Lots of broken corals, little soft corals, nice little tropicals but no big fish or walls. Ras Mohamed, a two-hour boat ride. First dive on the Dunraven,a British steamboat wreck. Uninteresting; wreck has little remaining and no coral or fish. Shark Reef worthy of Red Sea fame! Stupendous wall diving with lots of soft corals, swarms of tropicals and large fish. Diving as good as Palau, no large pelagics. Shore diving: Right off Ghazala Hotel beach are three reefs at 20-45 ft. Very good especially for a night dive. If you are experienced diver, try faxing Sinai Divers your C-card and log book and request diving Ras Mohamed or Tiran Island (the better sites) on your first day. If you are an experienced diver and want to dive more than two dives a day at the better sites, try live-aboards or another dive operation. Ghazala Hotel: accommodation is very good at the main house, poor at the bungalows. Request a second-story room in the main house.