Scuba Diving, Sharm El Shiekh, ADVICE PLEASE?

DazzaMc

Hi. I tried scuba diving a couple of years ago in turkey and loved it, wanting to go on a scuba diving holiday this summer.

Anyone got any suggestions?

I've looked into explorers, are they any good?
Offer a 7 day holiday with scuba diving for £425, even less if you book last minute

Am I better off doing this or booking a normal holiday last min and adding the scuba diving on (ie - lastminute.com offer a holiday in april for £199, £335 with scuba diving!) or booking seperately when I get there?

Any help would be appreciated.

The ocean bay hotel looks lovely but I just read that one of the bombs in 2005 exploded right next to it!

Not an indication of future bombings obviously, but made me slightly uneasy.

Thanks

Funkymum

Hi
My hubby stayed at the Ocean Bay in september last year & said it was ok. Nothing special quite basic but in Naama bay, which in his opinion is the best place to be. He just goes for the diving so is not really interested in what the hotel is like. He always eats out in the evening as its so cheap. Hubby says its not next to where the bomb went off. There is a police check point very close to the hotel now so you cant even drive down that road anymore. Explorers are very good for last minute bargains. We sometimes book diy & use med hotels (staying at the Tropicana Rosetta- this is very central).
Hubby always books his diving through Emporer divers- in his opinion they are the best. He has used them many times.
http://www.emperordivers.com/

You'll have a lovely time!
Funkymum

carole.uk

hi we have been to dom rep and hughada they were both great for diving i have to say i did enjoy the dom rep more but must be in the south of the island
edit: sorry i ment to say it was much cheaper on both times for us to arrange it when you arrive

pin

Are you going on your own? When I went out to the region last year I actually did DYI rather than package. However I stayed in Dahab, which was great. Diving was good and it had a very good vibe. However I have been told diving off Sharm is better, but the vibe of the place is very package touristy. Dahab on the other hand is very much laid back.

DazzaMc

I'm going with a friend, possibly 2 others as well. But most probably there will be 2 of us.

Funkymum - has your husband tried ocean college diving?

Just wondering as thats the company explorers uses

pin

When I was looking for diving info in Egypt and Sinai in general I used Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree. I was a great source of info. Have a look there as well.

Funkymum

DazzaMc wrote:

I'm going with a friend, possibly 2 others as well. But most probably there will be 2 of us.

Funkymum - has your husband tried ocean college diving?

Just wondering as thats the company explorers uses

No he hasn't. But he knows one of their instructors as they used to work for Emporer. He said he wouldn't have a problem using them, they're probably similar to Emporer. ( Hubby is an instructor in the UK)
He did say that you would be better off learning to dive in the UK as if you can dive here you will be able to dive anywhere.(due to our rubbish conditions!)
Have a great time.
Funkymum