| Having completed 25 dives this year all in cold water it was time for a bit of a change and to experience some nice clear warm water.
Having read the report on diving in the area of Sinai, Egypt in this years January edition of the BSAC Dive magazine, I thought it would be worth a try.
I have only had two previous experiences of diving in Egypt and both of these have been on liveaboards. Although the diving was good the food and the accommodation left a lot to be desired and as my other half does not dive I thought it would be nice to treat her and myself to a bit of luxury.
Having spent hours looking through holiday brochures we decided to book a one-week trip at the five star Sonesta Beach resort in Taba on an all-inclusive package.
It takes between five to five and half-hours from Manchester to reach Taba airport, which incidentally is controlled by the military.
Once you have landed to comply with the immigration regulations, you will need to get an entry visa stamp in your passport if you have not already got one in the UK.
In Taba you can either take the ‘Sinai Only’ visitors visa, which is issued on arrival free of charge. This is valid for the immediate local area of Sinai and also for visits to Petra and Israel. Only those wishing to go to Cairo need the Full Entry Visa. This can purchased at the airport for £15.
The transfer to the Sonesta Beach takes approximately one hour, which meant we just got to the hotel just in time for our evening meal and what a pleasant surprise it was.
The food was all buffet style, which included soup, fresh bread, salad bar, and a few main courses to choose from. As we are both vegetarians I must admit I was a little concerned, I had no need, as there was always plenty of choice. For anyone like myself who has a sweet tooth the deserts were absolutely superb. I was not going to go hungry on this trip.
After a good nights sleep we were at the dive shop after breakfast the following morning. By the way the breakfasts are just as good as the evening meal.
I booked a five-day package of shore dives with Sinai Dolphin Divers who are associated to the hotel. The price was £127, which included two dives a day with cylinders and weights. They pick you up at 0900hrs (9am) and drop you back at the hotel around 1300hrs (1pm). They also wash your kit for you at the end of the day. If you wish you can do night gives at an extra cost.
The first days diving was on the Sunday and we went to a local beach called Maganna, which incidentally was in Nuweiba.
Kiting up on the beach in 30°C of sun I was starting to think my 5mm full length wet suit, hood and gloves was looking a little bit over the top, particularly when the dive guide was only wearing a 3mm full length suit. Anyway I brought it so I was going to wear it. Boy did I make the right choice. The water temperature was 21°C and it felt cold.
The water was a little bit cloudy with the visibility down to about 5-6m, however there was an abundance of life, ranging from the colourful Nudibranches to the usual Anemone fish found in the Red Sea.
The second days diving was to a location called Devils Head, again in Nuweiba. The aim of the dive was to visit the eel garden. The visibility had improved and was in the region of 15-20m. What a pleasant surprise upon reaching the eel garden, no one else there and by keeping our distance the eels put on a very good show. After 15 minutes we set off to explore the reef. Moray Eels, Bearded Scorpion fish and Lion fish everywhere. The hard and soft coral was very scenic and in god condition, probably as it does not appear to be over dived. Four dives completed and not seen any other divers. This trip is looking good.
The following day we visited the house reef close to the Coral Hilton in Nuweiba. Have you spotted the twist yet?
This site was subject of a report in the BSAC Dive magazine edition in January. It was described as one of the best house reefs in the world. Unfortunately, I am still trying to visit the rest of the world so I can not confirm this comment, however it was a superb dive. Critters all over the place, Yellow Mouth Morays, Lion fish, three big red Octopuses in three locations and the biggest Turtle I have seen, to name just a few. And what is even better than this, no other divers.
On day four of my diving I was promised something very special. I was told the location, which was back to the beach close to the Coral Hilton, Nuweiba.
After a brief briefing I got quite a shock another dive group (four divers) turned up at the location. This was too busy so we let them go in and had a chat for 15 minutes.
It was time to kit up, do our buddy checks and our group (the dive guide and me) entered the water. After a couple of minutes of going over seagrass we were into the blue and down at 20m. All of a sudden it appeared, a big thick chain disappearing into the depths. Looking up from 20m the chain was full of soft corals with what appeared to be a buoy of some sort, under the water with the divers who entered before us around it. We slowly worked our way up the chain admiring the colourful corals and critters that have made it their home. Then all of a sudden I was in a shoal of Fusiliers, so many that I could not see the dive guide. I have only ever experienced this in the Maldives and it is a fantastic experience. By now I had reached the buoy which was sitting at 12m and the other divers had now disappeared. The life on it was out of this world, if only had brought my camera (sorry, Simon’s camera – trust him to move house and pack it all away. I surpose I will have to spend some more money and purchase an underwater camera. Will I ever stop spending money on this hobby???).
This dive was also mentioned in the same edition of BSAC Dive magazine that I mentioned earlier.
Anyway time was up and we headed back into the blue and back to the reef. Could it get any better? Well Turtles, Nudibraches, Scorpion fish etc. etc.
Many thanks to the Israeli army who dropped the mooring buoy into water too deep, without this error this dive would not exist.
For the next dive we moved further along the beach to do a dive called the Pipeline. Incidentally, the Israeli army laid these two desalination pipelines. Once again many thanks to them for creating another environment for another excellent dive site.
The pipes are about 5m apart and start at around 5m deep gradually sloping to just over 20m. They are covered in hard and soft corals and I gave up counting the number of Lion fish I saw. You could spend the whole dive just exploring these pipes, however this was not the plan.
After about 20 minutes we headed off over more seagrass, saw a couple of snake eels and a couple of banded sea snakes then we arrived at a collection of small coral pinnacles. It was here that I saw the biggest shoal of Tuna I have ever seen, right next to a shoal of Barracuda, what a site. Unfortunately I was diving on a single cylinder and it was time to end the dive.
These are probably the best two dives I have ever done in Egypt.
They say all good things come to an end and it was the final day of my dive package. As there was only myself diving again we decided to do the Sonesta Beach House Reef, Taba. Spotted the twist in the title yet. I booked the trip to dive Taba and ended up doing eight dives in Nuweiba. Bad planing I hear you say, fortunate planing I say. I will now have to return to the area so I can dive Taba, it’s a hard life. To achieve this I will probably book into the area known as Taba Heights.
The house reef is not a deep dive, maximum 12m, however this visibility was excellent and had I had a camera I would have got some great critter photographs. The poor dive guide was nearly frozen as the water was 20°C and after 1hour I think he had had enough, unfortunately for him I am a critter spotter and I made sure I enjoyed my last two dives.
In summary this was a very good trip, the hotel was excellent if you want a quiet relaxing time with good food (pool can be a bit noisy with children). There is nothing near the hotel and the local transport does not exist. The diving was first class if you like life (no wrecks). Access to the dive sites is from the beach, which is very easy. The water never got warmer than 22°C so for me I am glad I never brought my 3mm shortie. Sinai Dolphin Divers are not one of the biggest dive organisations, they don’t have the better vehicles, however they are very friendly, very well organised and customer focused. It is a great location for people who are in to photography and current-free diving.
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