sarah

Go further south - eg el qusier Stayed at Akassia Swiss resort check my profile for review and my picture is of dolphins on a dive there, marsa alam plenty of hotels or the eco lodges even further south. Bernese did a trip report on the Marsa Shagra Eco Village lodge and really enjoyed it. tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g311425-i9663-k198…

Also you get a lot of shore diving or you can go on a rib or boat in this area and there is plenty of choice regarding different levels of experience. Most dive sites I was at we were the only ones with the exception of Salam Express.

Only word of warning is that this area of Egypt is still not as built up as sharm(thankfully)yet, so holidays are very much based round the hotel with trips or just dive yourself out

Sg.

Hey again Sg

I'm not stalking you around the world I promise!

Thanks very much for the recommendations - will certainly check them out. I also like the look of those eco lodges. Definitely wanting a diving holiday so if there's nothing to other than diving that's fine by me, and quiet dive sites is exactly what I'm after. I felt a bit like I found Sharm too late so want to see some of the other dive spots before they get as crowded.

It's a toss up really between the Red Sea and trying Biyadhoo before the refurb. I think my OH would really love the snorkeling there and I'd love to see it before it gets destroyed. Decisions decisions as always :-(

Trying to keep it fairly low cost this time as my boyfriend will (hopefully) be doing his open water referral, but we'll see.

Thanks again

Sarah

Head to Nuweiba... you can get there by flying either to Taba or to Sharm.

Contact your namesake, Sarah, who hails from the UK and is, like myself, a Spurs supporter, and who, with her German husband, Daniel, own and operate African Divers Nuweiba.

www.africandiversnuweiba.com

hi sarah

Not didn't think you were stalking me round the world :-) Personally I would go back to Biyahdoo before refurb, it breaks my heart that they may be doing that,which will probably be out of our price range next year, my OH couldn't be got out the water for snorkelling on the house reef.

As I said loved the Marsa alam area and maybe going further south next time( but having to take an injury timeout at the mo) would agree the other areas suggested are worth looking at eg (blue hole) and Neweiba.

If you can have a look at google earth it gives you an idea of the area as does U-Tube which seems to have a lot of videos for various Egypt resorts.

Sg

sorry typo ,meant to include Dahab for the blue hole which would be up your street as well as Nuweiba.

Sg

hi Sarahog

My and my fella are in EXACT same situ as you!

we have decided on Marsa Alam next month.

he is intending to do his advance there so i have 2 days free to do a bit more advanced diving then we plan to dive together to get more experience for him.

I have always dived Sharm, and it has become too 'touristy' for me during the last few years which is an absolute shame.

we are looking to possibly book with A1 holidays (Cinderella beach is cheapest at £450 each AI,sea view & transfers in Sept for 2 weeks).

Even though i dont intend to eat at hotel all time it is there as a back-up (and he is a tall fella with hollow legs to fill)!

let me know how you get on

Hi Sarah

Just returned from Port Ghalib. We stayed at the Coral Beach hotel (also known as Marina Lodge). My husband and son are advanced Padi, i'm only Open Water - my husband has a lot of experience at home and in the Red Sea but my son and i have only 35 dives. The hotel is ideal if you're after a diving holiday. You literally walk out of the hotel onto the boat. We dived with Emperor divers and they were very good. The whole experience is different from Sharm ( we've done there 3 times before) At most sites, you are the only boat, except when we went ot Dolphin House which is part of the National Park. I admit the sites are limited compared to Sharm but you can pay extra for more advanced dives if you like. You can find all the details on Emperor divers website. We booked a five-day package but ended up doing a couple extra dives. The dive sites are maybe not quite as good as Sharm but having said that, we saw turtles, octopus and a school of dolphins swam with our boat on 2 days - made my holiday. We were too slow to get in to the water to actually swim with them but the captain did stop so some people could get in with snorkel gear. The dolphins weren't playing ball and swam off!

This holiday seemed a whole lot more chilled than when we've been to Sharm. You are not hurried in and out of the water and there were people of all levels. We were lucky in that our groups were only small (8 - 10)as the school holidays do tend to be quieter, i understand. The dive guide said they would be much more busier out of season so i guess this goes for the dive sites aswell. You could probably check this out with EMperor divers? We were on boat 'Amy' most days and the crew were very good. All in all a great holiday for divers but lots of people at our hotel were there just for the sun and the pools.

Don't think we'll go back to Sharm now we've experienced a quieter resort. Hope you find what you're after.

Wendy

Hi Sarah,

I haven't been to Sharm myself as I've heard so many horror stories about the condition of the coral, but I have been up the coast to Dahab twice and it's lovely there.

Flights still go into Sharm and it's about a 1 hour hot, dusty, bumpy drive up the coast, but it's worth it when you get there though.

There are several dive operations in Dahab so should be no problem with your boyfriend getting qualified. I'm not sure about the dive centres in the middle of town - it may be that the coral is not too good in the training area for obvious reasons, but there are a variety of dive sites to visit.

Both times I've been there (2003 & 2006) I've stayed at the Bedouin Moon on the outskirts, which has an on site dive operation - Reef 2000. The hotel is by no means 5* but is comfortable, and the staff there and at the dive centre were great. The dive sites I visited with them were great with the coral untouched.

The town of Dahab was a hippy haunt in the '60's and still has some of that feel about it - pretty laid back.

Hope this helps. Happy diving.

Siobhan