The Red Sea is home to amazing Reefs with a teeming marine life, pelagic fishes, Reef Sharks, Dolphins, and even the very rare Dugong. The Red Sea can be divided into two parts:
- The North Red Sea with the resort destinations such as Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and the more laidback Dahab (which is the most popular part).
- Sharm El Sheikh offers excellent wreck diving and even maybe the best wreck dive in the world, the Thistlegorm Wreck! Not far from there is the Ras Mohammed National Park with great wall diving and amazing coral formations. The second biggest diving destination in Egypt is Hurghada. It offers good conditions to learn scuba diving as well as great wreck diving with 4 beautiful wrecks to explore in Abu Nuhas Reef.
My scuba diving took place in Dahab located a bit more North has a more chilled out atmosphere and is famous worldwide for the Dahab Blue Hole.
Perfect Conditions
Diving conditions in the Red Sea are idyllic, with water temperatures rarely falling below 71°F/22°C even in the depths of the Egyptian winter (December – February). In summer, water temperatures in the southern Red Sea typically reach 86°F/30°C – making it possible to plan multiple dives without getting chilled. Topside weather conditions are equally pleasant, with temperatures ranging from 68°F/20°C – 104°F/40°C depending on the time of year.
Visibility is usually excellent, and can sometimes reach a dizzying 130 feet/40 meters. This incredible clarity transforms the area’s teeming reefs into a veritable aquarium, providing the perfect conditions for underwater photographers hoping to get that perfect shot. The abundance of warm, clear water helps new or inexperienced divers to feel comfortable underwater, making the Red Sea an excellent choice for those hoping to sign up for an entry-level scuba course.
Spectacular Reefs
Above all, the Red Sea is renowned for its reefs, which remain stable and healthy at a time when other major reef systems are suffering from the effects of climate change and marine pollution. In total, the reefs of the Red Sea support more than 220 different species of hard and soft coral. Together, these corals provide the basis of an ecosystem that offers both food and shelter to more than 1,100 species of fish, almost a fifth of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
Perhaps the most famous of the region’s pristine reefs are those of Ras Mohammed National Park, a marine reserve located at the southernmost tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Established in 1983, Ras Mohammed is Egypt’s oldest national park and constitutes a 480-square-kilometer sanctuary for a proliferation of corals and marine life. Other unforgettable reefs include those of the Giftun Islands and the Straits of Tiran.
Budget Prices
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Red Sea diving is that this wealth of world-class experiences comes at an incredibly low cost. Egyptian tourism has taken a significant knock in recent years thanks to safety concerns raised by terrorist attacks and political instability in some areas of the country and as such, many dive centers are offering rock-bottom prices in an attempt to revive the industry. Diving hotspots including Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam are still considered safe by UK and US travel advisories.
While a PADI Open Water dive course will set you back approximately $550 in the Florida Keys, the same course costs around $360 in Sharm el-Sheikh making it one of the cheapest places in the world to get scuba certified. Qualified divers can sign up for a two-tank dive for $60 in comparison with an $85 fee in Florida. Diving and accommodation packages like this one also offer amazing value for money. In an indication of the cost comparison for liveaboards, the Aggressor fleet rates for 2019 price a 7-night Red Sea trip at $2,355 per person, while the same length trip in the Bahamas, Fiji or the Galapagos costs $2,995, $3,595 or $6,595 respectively.
