scuba diving in sharm--scary? amateur friendly?
 

I cant go to Egypt without seeing the underwater life, so I plan on visiting Sharm, although with a small budget Im not sure where Ill stay (suggestions appreciated for that too).

Question: Can anyone scuba dive? Is it likely that if you think stingrays and/or eels and sharkish things are scary when on the discovery channel that you will be more afraid with them up close? Or is it majestic up close? I dont want to die of coronary.

Plan B: Snorkeling

Lots of hotels offer scuba lessons, so go for it it that's what you're into. I finally made the trip to Sharm and had a blast snorkeling - my second time ever. I thrilled at the reef life - it was exhilirating and peaceful at the same time.

You shouldn't be afraid of the fish you will mean 'down under'. They're afraid of you!!
If you want to scuba dive, you'll need to take lessons anyway. Maybe there's a possibility of an introduction dive, individually with an instructor.
In case your hotel doesn't offer scuba lessons, there are tons of diving schools in Naama Bay. Werner Lau's is a very reputed one.
Scuba diving is not cheap!

Oops ... first line should read "fish that you MEET down under ..."

My husband and I have just come back from a holiday at Sharm. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency which was excellent, but not cheap! The snokelling from the beach (and a purpose built floating jetty which enables you to go into the water directly over the edge of the reef)was brilliant! We have snokelled in some amazing places - Great Barrier Reef, Maldives and Maui amongst others and Sharm is one of the best. We have done try-dives, but not a full diving course because we enjoy the freedom of snorkelling, and diving is expensive. If you haven't done either, I'd suggest you try snorkelling first and a try-dive - many hotels offer this free. The Hyatt has a snokel/dive place on the beach and staff are very helpful. Everything about the hotel was excellent, but I wish I had known about the price of meals and drinks - the dinner buffet was £24 pp, Egyptian wine (the cheapest on the list)£15 and a bottle of water £1.50. You can, however, catch the hotel free shuttle or get a Taxi into Naama Bay where restaurant prices are much are much cheaper and the same wine in the Baccus Supermarket is £4 and water £0.15 !

Hope this helps !

Gaynor

Hey pethicta,

we just got back from our honeymoon in Egypt and we spent a week in Sharm. We paid 450 British pounds for 7 nights at the Reef Oasis (it has one of the best beaches in Sharm, we checked them out) We booked it through Thomas Cook. That price also included roundtrip airfare from London and ALL MEALS and BOOZE at the resort too! Reef oasis is a 5 star resort. My husband dives (I cant cuz of asthma) and although he was an experienced diver, he used the dive club at the resort, and for 5 dives he paid 252 Euros, that included SOME of his equipment rental, he needed to rent a BCD and a regulator, the rest he brought with him. I saw them giving dive lessons in the pool and off the dock all the time, every day, but I don't know what they would charge. My husband says the dive guides there are really great.

One thing - don't think you can use another hotel's beach if you see a beach you like better, you can't - we tried. They have cops who patrol the beaches and the guests wear wristbands to identify themselves. Best to go with one of the best beaches to begin with, Reef Oasis's was great - all of the dive boats used our beach for snorkeling and diving, so that must say something. Also, GREAT snorkeling right off the beach! We saw: giant triggerfish, lionfish, unicornfish, blue spotted stingrays, tuna, and a 5 foot napoleon wrasse, among many other fish and coral. Be careful - don't touch the coral, there is a lot of fire coral - pretty to look at, painful to touch.

Have a great time. Let me know if you have any questions...

@ townclose
You can't go to private beaches. You can freely go to non-private beaches without problems! There are excellent dive & snorkeling spots in Sharks Bay and Om El Cid (both Sharm area), both non-private. Every dive guide not depending from a hotel dive school will show you the way!

For those that have visited Sharm, Elat and Thailand (Phi Phi Islands, Similan's,etc.) and/or Eastern Malaysian Penninsula in the past 2-3 years how would you rank them for very avid snorkelers/skin divers-not scuba though?? I realize we would have to go at different times of 2006 to Asia than Middle East.