🙂 Stunning resort – sea to desert. Fantastic diving!
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Up at 05h00 and caught flight from Luxor to Sharm el-Sheikh, which is an Egyptian resort town between the desert of the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea. The first time we came in 1993 there was one German dive operator and nothing else – now it is a built up monstrosity! We waited for our transfer to the Hilton Resort in Dahab but it never arrived! Fortunately the driver for ‘Sun Splash’ divers very kindly offered to transport us the 1hr30 mins journey – quite specatcular through the sesert.
We arrived and checked in. There were profuse apologies and they covered the cost of the transfer. We were checked into our rooms which were great with views of the turquoise sea and had a mini bar and large domes in fitting with the desert surroundings. We sorted out our diving plans for the week ahead with Sinai Divers Hilton Dahab including Nitrox qualifications and relaxed on the beach for the rest of the day. We had a nice meal and an early night as we were all exhausted.
We were up early the next morning and checked the girls into the holiday club. after breakfast. Pete and Trent had a Dutch instructor who checked their log books and did their qualifying dives with them. Paul and I did a safety check dive and then headed over in a boat to the island for their first open water dive and the girls could come on the boat with us, which they loved. A great first day!
Breakfast early again. We did a boat dive with the girls on board and Pete and Trent did the moray garden dive. They are now both qualified PADI Divers – Hoorah~! Stunning sea life.
Enjoyed a cocktail for sundowners.
Then headed into the little town and had a great meal Loads of stray dogs. Caitlyn obsessed with every cat and dog! Headed back and in bed by 10pm.
As per Trent’s diary. “Mom, who is an Advanced Diver encouraged me, Dad and Pete to do our Advanced qualifications – so we did” So proud 🙂 He also wrote that throughout the deep dive as his buddy I was frantically checking him every three seconds! LOL. Lion fish, trigger fish. After lunch they all did their 2nd advanced dive which was a shore entry – tough as the equipment is so heavy and you sink into the sand. That evening we went to the lighthouse where we did a night dive under the full moon and you could even see without using a torch! When we did turn off the torches ansd waved our hands all the phyto plankton glowed – very cool.
Straight t o bed afterwards.
Up early for breakfast and headed off to head to the Blue Hole – 80m deep and just a few metres from the shore. Many graves surrounding the sight which is a grim reminder of risks taken.
We jumped onto our extremely hot and grumpy camels who carried us and our equipment to a Bedouin village and our dive site. We had a snorkel with the girls and then our dive which was just spectacular! Amazing coral and fish life and morays.
We snorkelled with the girls. Then girls and Trent played with the other local children and we enjoyed an excellent lunch before heading back.
When we got back we swam in the sea and relaxed. We had sundowners at the Coconut Bar and a lovely dinner and fell asleep very quickly as we were completely exhausted after a great adventurous day out!
The next morning we were up at 05h00 again and took the mini bus with Sinai Divers to Sharm el Sheikh to dive Ras Mahammed. This was one of the most pristine dive sites in the world – and although it is now dived far more than my first dive there in 1993, it is still awesome. Beautiful corals… Very enjoyable lunch on board the boat and second dive also pleasant. Headed back to have dinner at the Dolphin but no one could speak as we were all so tired – straight to bed!
Had our first lie in!! After breakfast we headed off to the Canyon for a dive which was too deep for Trent so he looked after the girls while we dived. We dived the Blue Hole again – STUNNING. SO blue…. This was the Student’s 5th Dive so they are all now qualified Advanced Divers! Sundowners in the Coconut Bar were lovely – the Pina Coladas are great! After dinner we persuaded Trent to go on a horse ride on the beach – but he was disappointed as they wouldn’t allow him to canter or gallop. We bought a sheesh pipe for ourselves and a a gift for our au pairs and back to our room to drink a bottle of wine which we’d been carrying around all holiday!! LOL. Slept in and had a leisurely breakfast and spent most of the day lazing by the pool. Caitlyn got a massive splinter and the doctor gave her a massive injection – poor angel of love!! We went on a banana boat, windsurfed and water skied. Trent got up first go!! Final drinks at Coconut Bar before settling up ….at which point we realised EVERYTHING was fully inclusive – we had been limiting ourselves to one cocktail per night due to cost!! LOL. At least we were never hung over for diving!We then headed to Sharm el Sheikh for our flight – our driver was a complete maniac and we were all rather shaky and relieved when we arrived at the airport!
A magnificent holiday – History, Culture, Sun, Sea, Diving – we’d enjoyed every minute of every day!
Go To: Cairo
Go to: Aswan
Go to: Abu Simbel
Go to: Nile Cruise
Go to: Luxor
Go to: Dahab
