Egypt's Red Sea
Posted By Cem Timurkan on 27 May 2002
First, I would like to give you a little information about visa. Be sure your passport is valid for at least six months, and has at least one empty page to be stamped. Even though, you can obtain a visa at airport, I strongly advice getting it from an Egyptian Consulate. The visa would valid for one month, but extensions of up to 6 months and multiple entry visas would be applicable.
The Red Sea has one of the world's most exotic, colorful, abounding marine life. The Red Sea is located between Asia and Africa. Sinai peninsula resides at the north. The Red Sea goes over approximately 1600 kilometers south to join the Indian Ocean. There are desert plains in the north and west. The Red Sea contains vast variety of living creatures, reefs, and coral formation.
The Red Sea's water temperature remains constant year round, approximately at 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees F) in the summer. To give you more idea, the water temperatures vary from around 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees F) in the southern Red Sea in the summer to nearly 18 degrees Celsius (65 degrees F) in the northern Red Sea in the winter. The coldest month is January (I went there in January and there was excellent warm weather, only nights are little bit breezy). The warmest months are July and August. Thus, one can wear a 5 mm. or 7 mm. wetsuit during winter months and a lycra or 3 mm. wetsuit during the summer.
There are more nearly 200 known coral types and thousand species of fish; such as, butterfly-fish, surgeon fish, jellyfish, Napoleon fish, and so on. Colors of corals and their closeness to one another makes reefs of the Red Sea so beautiful. Because of these attributes, the Red Sea attracts divers, photographers, marine scientists, and many more from all over the world. One can encounter with caves, lagoons, and plateaus. Some of the marine animals are dangerous to touch; such as the Lion Fish, and some are dangerous to come face to face with; for example, sharks. However, since spear fishing and feeding is prohibited there is a little danger that might come from the sharks.
Your options are endless; you can participate in daily diving, live aboard safari trips, shore, wreck, reef, wall, drift, technical, and so on. You can even get certified. One usually leaves by boat between at 9 and 10 am, does 2 dives or more, has lunch and returns around 4 or 5 pm.
For those who like live aboard, it should be known that mini safaris are available for 2 to 3 days, and the standard trips range between 7 and 14 days. Many sites; such as, Brother Islands, Daedelus Reef, Rocky Islands, Zabargad Island and St Johns Reefs can be dived by live aboard boats. Many dive centers execute shore diving excursions to reefs along the coast. On the other hand, you may try shore diving desert safari, which you can get your tent and accommodate on the beach and do the diving. Cool isn't it?
There are lots of shops specializing in dive equipment sales, rental and repair. You can even take a photo course or hire a cameraman to capture the highlights of your dive. It would be cheaper if a group hires one cameraman. Actually, it's what we did in Safaga. Most dive centers offer TDI, SSI, NAUI, and PADI courses. Courses range from inexperienced level to instructor level.
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