Diving in Hurghada, Egypt

Hello beautiful reader!

In this blog, I will tell you my experience of diving in Egypt, Hurghada.

My main aim to go on this solo-diving holiday was to dive in tropical waters and see corals for the first time (most of my dives were made in the Netherlands). Egypt is therefore perfect, as it is the closest place to Europe with tropical waters.  It is possible to dive the whole year round and I went in January. However, in the winter months, you can expect a cold wind from the north, making a 7 mm suit necessary.

There are three main locations in Egypt for divers:

• Sharm-el-Sheikh
• Marsa Alam
• Hurghada

Hurghada is a city of 200.000 people that is completely focused on tourism. I noticed it immediately after my plane had landed. The local people will see you as a money bag and try to sell all kinds of useless stuff which can be quite annoying. 

In Hurghada, it is common to do two boat dives each day. Each day the boat will go to different diving spots in the archipelago. There are special anchorage places for boats and it is not uncommon that three of four boats are laying next to each other on the same diving spots. Many operators are organizing dive trips at Hurghada archipelago, and I choose to go with Blue paradise diving. To choose for this Belgian organization was a good one, as they will pick you up by taxi in front of your hotel, the crew will help you with your gear and for a small fee they have warm lunch for you. 

Winter season

During my stay in Egypt, I made eight dives, whereof each dive was beautiful on its own. Winter season is ray season and on almost every dive we saw feather sting rays two to three meters long. Other creatures I saw during the dives, were lionfish, moray eels, nudibranchs a turtle and one (baby) shark. While clownfish are quite common fish in the red sea, they are one of the funniest fish to observe: they try to attack you when you are swimming too close to their anemone (even though they are only 15 cm). Another funny fish is the suckerfish: when they are free swimming they will attach to your leg until they found another fish to attach to. 

Best diving spots

The two most beautiful diving spots I visited were Shaabrurh Umm Gamar and Careless reef. At Umm Gamar we did a drift. we went over to a beautiful coral garden and saw the baby shark hidden under the coral.

A careless reef is the crown of all diving spots. Careless reefs are two rising pillars in the middle of nowhere, making them an oases for all kinds of creatures.  The corals are really healthy, due to the recent opening for divers after several years. When I was diving there, it felt like the first scene of ‘ Finding Nemo’: The corals were full of colourful happy fish, while in the open water, a school of barracudas were swimming waiting for their prey. If you are lucky enough you are able to spot there big basses, sharks and even dolphins. 

Overall, it was a fantastic week with lots of dives, beautiful coral and many new species. Moreover, it were my first dives in the tropics! After the week I already missed the diving and currently, I am looking forward to going to the dive in the red sea!

If you are interested in diving in Egypt, let me know and I will give you all kinds of information!

– Jorn School