Dahab Diving memories I.
Sometimes the best holiday experiences are born from a spontaneous idea, without too much planning or overthinking, like the one I’m going to tell you about. The idea of going to Egypt was inspired by a friend we met (also spontaneously) in Croatia earlier this year. He told us that he took a diving course in Egypt and that it was one of his favorite destinations to visit during his year of traveling.
I was always aware that Egypt is a special place to visit not only for its cultural heritage but also because of the rich underwater life of the Red Sea. In my case, the safety concerns of visiting the country were always stronger than my curiosity so I put the country on the back burner as a place I probably never get to visit in this lifetime.
But a few days or weeks after our Croatian workation, while considering different holiday plans, Eugene asked “should we just go diving to Egypt?”. I believe I said yes without much hesitation. Mountains have been the main focus of most of our recent travels so this was something new, and maybe once in a lifetime opportunity to explore this land and its waters.
Initial concerns
To minimize potential risks, our choice of place went to Dahab as it’s a remote coastal city on the Sinai Peninsula one hour up north from Sharm El-Sheikh. To get there, it doesn’t require a lot of driving (we did know about the military checkpoints which can put any tourist at unease) and nonetheless Dahab has a great reputation about its excellent diving conditions. With the choice made, we gave up on the idea of visiting the pyramids and the desert. We put on the careful attitude of “let’s see if we like it and wanna return for the rest”.
To fight the heat, we prepared with light, long-sleeved linen shirts and pants plus suncream (I still got sunburnt). To mitigate possible food issues, we booked a hotel in the centre of Dahab with access to many restaurants and shops (and also near a police station).
First impressions
We took an uneventful 6-hour flight from Eindhoven to Sharm El-Sheikh (through Hurghada). Some lucky passengers sitting by the window could see the Suez-canal on one side and the mountains on the other, we only got a few glimpses of both. The views of the red pointy mountain ranges really surprised me: on my mental map of Egypt there was only desert, Nile, pyramids and the Red Sea.
When stepping out of the plane at our final destination, the breeze of hot air touched our skin and that stayed a constant for the remainder of our trip. Our driver already waited us at the airport and drove us on empty roads between even more red and taller mountains to Dahab. We passed 2 military checkpoints by reporting us as ‘holandés’ and we went with it.
We arrived shortly before dark to our hotel (Club Red Dahab), which was indeed in the center of Dahab as we learnt it the hard way during the first night. We got a spacious room with sea view, airco and poor internet connection. It was basic but perfect for our 6-day trip. We only had dinner and we had to get ready for our diving course next day at 8.30 in front of the Big Blue Dahab Diving center.
I’m not entirely sure what our goal was with booking an entire diving course of 3 days without any previous experience. I probably thought the course was giving us the opportunity to do a few dives with a guide and it also kept us busy for the most of our holiday. The first warning sign was that shortly after booking the course, we received 4 hours of video material we had to watch before we start the course.
On the first day on sight, we slowly got to learn that this course wouldn’t be only about having a fun time in the water but to prepare us to become autonomous divers. The course we took was made to prepare us for all kinds of situations which can occur under the water, like running out of air, losing your mask or getting entangled in a net, and how diving actually works. And that was that, we took an underwater basic survival course in the most beautiful and most distracting settings of the Red Sea. (The official name of the course is Padi Open Water Diving Course.)
The Red Sea
Soaking in the view of the Red Sea on the first morning from our terrace, wondering what lies underneath the surface. The shore is covered by restaurants and bars each with ladders into the sea, there is only a few gaps offering direct access into the water where you can see how clear the water is. It’s already hot and the streets are still empty. Dogs are lying around lazily. We have a quick bite for breakfast, then make our way to the diving centre, where we collect and test our equipment for the course and go to the lighthouse by car, our diving spot for the next days. We have a coffee with our teacher Osama at the bar and go into the technical details of diving. Then we suit up for the first time. The diving gear is very heavy on land. Noted.
(end of the first part)
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