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| There are some fantastic places in the world for diving… Thailand, Great Barrier Reef, Maldives, Caymans, Mexico…. the list is endless and everyone has their favourites. In the top three of every diver’s list will however be the Red Sea…. warm crystal clear waters, abundance of fish and fauna, huge range of dive sites from easy to stretching and a massive infrastructure of diver provisions from training, guiding, boats, equipment and safety support.
Those divers who have found Red Sea diving become frequent visitors, time and time again. Even the dive professionals living and working out here never tire of what the Red Sea has to offer. |
| No doubt if Captain Kirk (Star Trek) had to design a sea for divers he would end up with the Red Sea. A long narrow sea surrounded by mountains this sea rarely sees strong winds or waves and with virtually no tide movement the shoreline suffers only light erosion and enables almost all of the 5,000km coast to support the growth of fantastic coral reefs and home for trillions of fish. |
| The Red Sea is 2,250km long, on average only 300km wide and at its deepest 2,850m. It is separated from the rest of the world’s oceans at its southern most point, Bab el-Mandeb. Here the opening to the Indian Ocean is only 29km wide and a very shallow 134m. Now it’s pretty handy having this open; without it the sea level would fall around 1.5m per year making this year’s beach property a cliff top home within 25 years!! With almost constant sunshine, warm dry air and sea temperatures that rarely fall below 20C the sea evaporates around 900 billion cubic metres every year…. making topping up from the Indian Ocean a constant need. This incredible evaporation rate has led to another uniqueness for this sea…. a salinity of over 38% (41% in the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba) making it the highest of all the worlds seas except the Dead Sea. |
| Water temperatures range from 20C in winter to 30C in summer…. pretty impressive. Uniquely, the sea gets warmer the deeper you go. In the Atlantis II Trench at a depth of 2,000m the temperatures range from 30-63C! At this depth the Red Sea is the scene of geothermic activity from the earth’s core and magma which not only heats but pumps incredible amounts of minerals into the waters supporting the incredible diverse marine life. |
| There are over 250 species of coral to be found, 8% endemic to the Red Sea, ranging from soft fragile to large hard varieties. The fish stock is enormous with over 1,250 species, some 20% of the kinds only found in these waters. Some seriously small fish and some seriously large; be honest a Whale Shark at 18 metres is pretty big; fortunately it’s a plankton eater!
The name Red Sea dates back to before 500BC when the Greeks called it the Erythros Sea, Erythros being ancient Greek for Red. Another source may be that in certain limited areas the sea takes on a reddish hue from an algae. More likely the name comes from the surrounding coasts which are predominately composed of reddish rock which reflects of the water, particularly at sunset. |
European divers have long considered the Red Sea to be a prime dive location. The first diving expeditions started back in the 1950's, very low numbers with little to no local support. Diving gained pace in the 80’s and really took off in the 90’s.
Today, throughout the Egyptian Red Sea, diving is a major tourist attraction. Dive centres, training schools and world leading staff have made this area the world’s largest diver training and development area.
The support for the diver from local businesses and the Egyptian Government is second to none. Topping the list of support is the requirement for the provision of skilled staff, concentration on diver safety and diver specific medical centres and rescue facilities.
The area has many, many hundreds of recognised dive site; some, especially in the environmentally protected areas, are amongst the finest sites in the world, not just in the Red Sea. Visibility in the warm waters ranges from 30 to 75 metres giving fantastic panoramic views of coral formations and thousands of shoaling fish….. drifting gently into a shawl of over a thousand barracuda is awesome, watching a cruising White Tip Oceanic tunnel through them is mind blowing. |
The land of the Pharaohs, 8 millennium of history, the Nile, oodles of sand and desert and… the Red Sea. Egypt has a population of almost 80 million, with over 90% being Muslim and the remainder mainly Christian. Most live in the north at Cairo and the delta region, and along the banks of the Nile which is truly the life line for the country. Tourism is the major industry of this fantastic and fascinating country. |
| Egypt was in its time the centre of civilisation, modern day Egypt may not be able to claim the same but it is the centre of civility and serenity. The Egyptians are amongst the warmest, friendliest people on Earth….they haven’t learnt to be great hosts…. it just comes naturally. |
The capital, Cairo is home to nearly 17 million. A vast city mixing the old and the new, the rich and the poor. crowds from dawn to dusk; hustle and bustle is the order of the day. It is also the home of the world’s greatest museums and of the only remaining Seven Wonders of the World… the Pyramids at Giza. South on the Nile brings you to Luxor, an open air museum of temples and close to the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.
The major Red Sea resorts are Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Marsa Alam |
Hurghada was the first major Red Sea resort to evolve in the late 70’s. Most of the early guests were divers and their families. Today Hurghada and the surrounding areas is a full on holiday resort with all the amenities for sun worshippers and divers alike.
Sharm El Sheikh, at the southern tip of Sinai, lagged behind Hurghada for most of the 70’s and 80’s but has really developed over the last 5 years. It is fast becoming on par with Hurghada. Like Hurghada it caters for sun worshipers and divers alike. |
| Marsa Alam, 200km south of Hurghada, is the NEW Red Sea resort area. Serviced by a new International Airport the area is developing fast and offers truly international hotels and resorts for holiday makers and divers. |
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