Entry By : Eric
Country: Egypt
Subject: Hurghada Diving
Date: August 3 , 2006

We've been in Hurghada for about 6 days now and I have had three days of diving already. Hurghada is a fairly bustling town on the coast of the Red Sea and is full of European tourists. Many of them are Dutch, but we have seen Danes, Germans and a few others. Egyptians also vacation here.

We left Luxor by bus and had another adventurous ride here. It was schedule for 5 hours, but by the time it finally left, an hour late, and went through a dozen check-points, we were on the bus for over six hours. We arrived to our hotel and basically sank into bed in front of the air-conditioner.

The next day I went out to find the dive shop I had been corresponding with via email to see where they were located and figure out the routine for the diving. It turned out they were based in a hotel not 100 meters from ours! What luck:)

I walked over and spoke to the shop manager and got everything arranged to begin the next day. After this, Val and I went out in search of dinner and maybe even something to drink. We found a place called Papas II. Turns out it was Sangria night so we ordered one and some tapas. The drink came in half a hollowed out watermelon and was about a liter of the stuff. Needless to say, we didn't order a second!

The following morning I began my diving. I have booked five days with two dives per day. Our first dive was a wreck close to shore. The dive brief went like this: "This wreck has been here since 1969. There is no coral on it and very few fish. It is in about 25 meters (83') of water so we will have a maximum dive time of thirty minutes. Visibility at this site is usually about 5-7 meters (16-23 ft.)." I almost fell off my chair listening to this. Why the hell are we even bothering to dive here I thought. I had heard the Red Sea was crystal clear blue water with the most spectacular corals in the world.

We did the first dive and I came up very disappointed. I was beginning to rethink booking five days here. The second dive was to show me that I had made the right decision. We left the wreck site and headed to one of many reefs along the coast near Hurghada. The corals were pretty impressive and the visibility was much better.

With each successive day, we have visited better and better sites. Yesterday we were at a site that had some of the clearest, blue water I have ever dove in. We have seen lots of large eels, rays, lion fish and other interesting creatures. I have taken many photos, and some of them have actually turned out OK:) We have had pods of dolphins come and swim with us during surface intervals, and it has generally turned out to be some great diving!

We are taking a day off today, but will be back on the boat tomorrow. I say we because Val has been on the boat as a snorkler the past two days and is loving it as much as I am the diving. The clear water and colorful coral makes for great snorkeling.

We will be in Hurghada until next Tuesday when we catch the ferry across to Sharm El-Sheik on the Sinai Peninsula and then catch a bus to Dahab (Egyptian for Gold) and will spend the balance of our time in Egypt there. This region was occupied by Israel for several years and they set up some of the first resorts here so it should be interesting to see if there is any difference between the buildings there.

For now, we have a day to get caught up on some business stuff. Book transport to our next stop, get a room lined up for the first night or two, and even get the website updated!

Until next time,

Eric

 

 

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