Diving the Sinai - Sharm el Sheikh - Part I
Posted By Stephan Whelan on 26 April 2006
Photos: Mark Evans
It has been a while, 8 years to be exact, since I had been to Sharm el Sheikh, the diving mecca at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. After all that time I was itching to see some of my favourite dive sites up close, so when my phone rang and my buddy Mark Evans asked if I was free for a trip to Sharm I jumped at the chance.
Camel Dive Club
The Camel Dive Club, based in Na’ama Bay – the central hub of Sharm, was our host for the few days. Camel is celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2006, and 20 years ago Sharm el Sheikh was a very different place.
Camel was set by Hesham Gabr, a student in Cairo who was getting bored of city life and his current degree. After sampling diving around Marsa Alam in 1977 he was determined to setup a diving company and after a friend suggested the Sinai history was set for the Camel Dive Club to be setup. He swapped his degree to anthropology and spent most of his month by the sea building his skills and base for what was to become the best dive centres in Sharm 20 years later.
Na’ama Bay in 1986 was a desolate place. Only a few buildings and tents were spread around the bay and diving in Sharm was definitely classed as “adventurous”.
In the 20 years since the first building and tents were put in place Camel has grown to include a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre, a TDI technical diving facility, 4-Star Hotel, swimming pool, Tandoori and Italian restaurants, a clothing store and the legendary Camel Bar and Roof Bar.
So the scene was set for a spectacular few days in a resort that attracts divers and tourists alike.
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