Dahab - 1998

We're going to tell you a little bit about a dive trip that we made to the Red Sea last February. The venue was a small Bedouin town called Dahab, South Sinai with a largely Bedouin population of about 4000 people. It is situated in the Gulf of Aqaba, 90 km north of Sharm al Sheikh.The trip was organised by Richard Moncad of  Fastrak Diving, Paignton, Devon

The flight from Gatwick to Sharm takes about 4.5 hours. We arrived late Sunday evening (8^th Feb 1998) – too late to get provisions at the airport. We piled into 2 buses that took us through the dark Sinai desert to Dahab. Near Dahab we had to stop at an armed roadblock – a reminder of the tensions in this area.

Our hotel at Dahab was the very excellent Nesima Hotel and Diving Centre - our base for the next 7 days. The rooms are comfortable but built in an odd dome shape. They have private bathrooms and air conditioning. The facilities and service were very good. There is a lovely outdoor pool, plenty of tables and chairs, a tent and a good restaurant and bar.

We spent a lot of non dive time sitting outside during the day and inside at night. Prices of drinks were about the same as in Britain, but Egyptian beer is an acquired taste. A meal was around 7 pounds - but somewhat less in Dahab itself.

The diving at Dahab is shore based and quite unspoilt. Because there is little if any boat diving then the coral beds don’t suffer the effects of anchor dragging. A couple of the sites required just a shortish walk from the hotel. We were ferried to the other sites via a couple of pickup trucks driven by local Bedouin drivers. In most cases access at the dive site was little more than just stepping into the water. One or two sites required a bit more walking. Night diving was excellent. The dive centre supplied our tanks, weight belts and any other equipment that we needed. The standards were high – and the centre imposed a fine if any tank was returned with less than 20 bar.

More details on dive sites

Diving

The diving around Dahab is almost entirely shore based. There is a profusion of shallowish coral reefs of great colour and beauty. There are few if any wrecks that are dived in this part of the Red Sea. Visibility is usually over 30m and the quality of the water is extremely limpid. In February the sea temp was 22 C. In August it rarely gets over 28C. The air temperature is warm to extremely hot. Dahab experiences quite strong offshore and onshore winds, but they don’t blow for long (at least not in February). Apart from Nesima there are a number of other diving operations. The standards are quite high and the service good. But - it would have been nice to have 232 bar tanks rather than the mandatory 200 bar. We were pleased to have taken dry suits. Wet suits would have been a little cool.

Dahab lies alongside the deepest part of the African rift that created the Red Sea. The Sinai mountains above tumble down into the sea at around the same angle giving rise to a drama of valleys, canyons and drop offs. It is possible to go really deep off the underwater cliffs. Accidents have happened and lives have been lost. Dahab is acutely aware of this and the standards of the diving operations reflect this concern. Diving below 30m is not encouraged, and diving the Blue Hole was strongly discouraged.

The fish life is extensive and includes the following: Porcupinefish, Bigeyes, Frogfish, Turkeyfish, Lionfish, Mullet, Triggerfish, Surgeonfish, Parrotfish, Butterflyfish, Angelfish, Spotted sting rays and of course a profusion of Wrasse and Morays. We saw one turtle but no sharks. Apparently February in Aqaba is a bit early for them.

Care should be taken of the Lionfish which can lurk in unexpected holes. Less obvious dangers are cone shells and fire coral.

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