Diving With The Emperor, Sharm El Sheikh

by Alison Boler

Where to go for a week's guaranteed first class diving during February half term holidays? If you want hot sun and warm (ish) water without having to endure a long distance flight, there is really only one choice: The Eygptian Red Sea.

And so it was, that we found ourselves flying out of East Midlands airport on a grey and cold February Monday in 2006. Well, not all of us! Someone had to stay behind and work.... so that would be Bob! Which made it a girls trip - just me and our two teenage daughters, Lucy (15) and Daisy (14).

Our arrangements were a bit complicated this time. We own a timeshare which can be split up into four weeks holiday a year and we'd used one of the weeks to book accommodation at the Dive Inn Resort in Sharm el Sheikh. Having secured this week, I then found out that I had a problem. Flights from the UK were on Sundays and Mondays with some on Thursdays. Unfortunately, the Dive Inn week had to run Friday through Friday - no flexibility there at all, despite various calls to Sharm and to Head Office in Cairo. The only flexibility offered was a unique twist on the more usual travel offer of Stay for 10, Pay for 7. In this case, it was Stay for 7, Pay for 10, rather expensively!!! No thanks!

I wasn't unduly worried - there was plenty of cheap accommodation in Sharm - I would book some extra nights somewhere. Then I looked at the price of the flights. EEEKK! I couldn't find anything under about £250 each, some much more - good old school holidays. This cheap diving break was rapidly becoming rather an expensive one. I began to seriously consider cancelling and booking something else.

Then I moved away from the flight-only websites and had a look at the direct holiday companies, like Portland Direct. Website and I struck gold. They were offering a return flight to Sharm out of East Midlands including a week's accommodation in a hotel with breakfast and transfers for £176 per person. Problems solved and money saved in one click of my mouse button!!! We booked immediately.

So, to summarise this complex tale , we ended up with 4 nights accommodation at the Dive Inn Resort in a 2 bedroomed condominium, 3 nights accommodation b&b in a triple room at the Cleopatra Tsokkos Hotel, plus flights and transfers for £620 including tax and surcharges etc for all three of us.

The Flights:
The flight was with Thomsonfly and we had no trouble at all on check in, despite being pretty laden down with kit. I was really impressed with East Midlands airport having never used it before. In comparison to Manchester our more usual departure point, it was absolutely tranquil. Our secure parking was walking distance to the terminal, we walked right up to the check in desk (no queue at all), the plane wasn't totally full so we spread out, nice restaurants etc etc. The flight was on time all pretty smooth. Timings were also good. Going out we took off at 11am and landed in Sharm around 1820. Coming back, we took off at 1920 and landed at 2315. Quite civilised.

Dive Inn Resort

The resort is in the Ras Umm Sid area of Sharm, between Naama and Sharm el Sheikh itself. The Resort is not on the sea but runs a shuttle bus at frequent intervals to its beach club. There is a very large pool, a restaurant, bar, snack bar, bedouin tent area, gym, spa. The accommodation is all condominiums - 1 and 2 bedrooms. We had a 2 bedroomed unit which consisted a large lounge/diner with kitchenette, a twin bedroom, a family bathroom, a double bedroom with a toilet and wash basin en suite. It was very comfortable for 3 or 4 but if you had used the sofa bed in the lounge it might have been a bit snug!

We self catered breakfast but were out all day diving so didn't use the rest of the facilities very much. We did avail ourselves of a massage one evening which was absolutely superb and great value at about £10 each. There is a dive centre but we didn't use it.

The apartments were really good and ideal for a group of divers - so much more space than a hotel room to come back to. I would definitely stay here again for a diving holiday.

We ate in the restaurant once only, on the night we arrived and it was pretty mediocre. Stale buffet fare, not inspiring at all.

Cleopatra Tsokkos Hotel

I was dreading moving into this hotel. After I'd booked the Portland Direct deal, I'd started looking on the internet and read some pretty dreadful reports of the hotel - stories of filthy rooms, deafening karaoke sessions that kept you awake till 2am, views of building sites, food poisoning! By the time we got there, I had decided that if any of it were true we would move out immediately.

However, despite all the reports, we had a super time here and again, I would go back. Let's be clear about it: this is a 2T hotel, so don't expect 5 Star luxury. From our experience, the rooms are small but completely clean. The beds are comfortable, with spotless mattresses, although the sheets are a bit thin. The pool area is nice, the food is excellent.
The buffet breakfast was a very lavish selection with the usual omelette/egg chef plus a big range of hot and cold offerings. They kept the dishes moving all the time and hygiene seemed good. We ate one lunch and one dinner in the hotel - buffet both times and again the choice and quality was good. On the night we had dinner, they had both roast beef carvery and roast turkey.

The spa services were superb. We treated ourselves to several massages and coconut rubs (mmmm - heavenly)!The best thing though is the staff. They really couldn't do enough for you, especially the Guest Services Co Ordinator, Inge. She was always on hand to smooth your way, nothing was too much trouble. An absolute star.

The hotel is also in the Ras Umm Sid area, not on the sea but with a shuttle to a private beach club. I didn't use it but heard very good reviews from other guests.

Lots of people were on an all-inclusive option which gave you all the food and drink you could manage - it seemed incredibly good value, but we like to eat out so it wouldn't be our cup of tea.

We got back to the hotel about 11ish most nights and found it very quiet and were not disturbed at all at night. Our room was 261. I did speak to some people who had rooms around the 160s and who were right over the disco! They were pretty desperate to move I must say. However, whilst I wouldn't personally choose to stay here for a non diving break, I was more than happy with it for our purposes and would certainly stay here again if I was on a diving holiday where the size of the room and the quality of the facilities is not very important.

The Diving

I'd pre-booked with Emperor after doing a bit of research. They were offering a pretty good deal which gave us 5 days of boat diving for £360 for the three of us including tanks and weights. I'd made a point of emailing them and asking what their dive policy was. Last time we were in Sharm we'd dived with a different operator and whilst they were perfectly safe and acceptable, they insisted on a strictly led grouping and worst of all when the first group member hit 50 bar, everyone had to surface. In the course of 10 dives, I never left the water with less than 100 bar and neither did anyone else in our family. It was infuriating. So, we didn't want that again. Emperor assured me that as long as we all checked out on the first day, they were happy for us to do our own thing, subject to general rules. They were true to their word.

The arrangements are pretty slick. They picked us up at 0730 every morning from our hotel and brought us down to the dive centre in Naama. On the first morning, you check in, get any rental equipment you need, sign up all the paperwork, hand over your cert cards (insurance against you running off I suppose) and you are assigned a group. They try and keep the groups together all week, but inevitably there is some boat swapping. You put your gear into a named crate and put the crate with the rest of your group's stuff. It is then taken to the appropriate boat for you and it remains there whilst you stay on that boat.

On subsequent mornings, you just come to the dive centre, go to your assigned group table, pay up for lunch and drinks, sign in and then when everyone is present, you get taken to the boat where you will find your gear already in place.

After the boat returns to Sharm at the end of the day, you either leave your crate on the boat, or it will be taken back to the centre for you (if you are finishing) or put on another boat (if you are changing boats on the next day). You are then returned to the centre and subsequently to your hotel. You get back to the hotel by about 1730.

There are generally about 10 divers in each group and 2 dive masters, so you dive in two waves. They split the parties roughly by experience. On the first day, everyone has to do local diving which means the boat takes you to sites around Sharm el Sheikh. This gives them a chance to subtly check you out and it gives you a chance to get your weight and equipment right before venturing out further afield to Tiran or Ras Mohammed. After day 1, the boats go to either Ras Mohammed or the Tiran Reefs. There are also specials to the Thistlegorm or even Dahab.

On top of the cost of the dive package there are a few extras. It costs 20 Egyptian pounds (£2) per day for drinks on the boat (cokes, coffee, tea, water). If you want lunch as well as drinks it is 40 Egyptian Pounds. On days when you enter the Ras Mohammed Park, you have to pay fees of 35 Egyptian Pounds each. If you dive a third dive, it is 20 Egyptian Pounds extra. If you dive the Dunraven, it is 25 Egyptian Pounds extra. The Thistlegorm or Dahab is even more. Nitrox is on offer at extra charge. At the end of the week, you are asked to pay a contribution to the recompression chamber. Of course you also have tips to the boat crew and to the dive guides.

Emperor have a number of dive boats - all around the same spec: large dive deck, upper sundeck, large saloon, rear dive platform with twin Xmas tree ladders. If you are going to Ras Mohammed or points west, you embark from the "new" harbour in Sharm el Sheikh. For Tiran and points east, you embark from the "old" harbour in Naama.

We struck tremendously lucky by getting Chris, a lovely woman from The Netherlands, as our dive guide on day 1. We really hit it off and she stayed with us throughout the whole 5 days and I hope she enjoyed diving with us as much as we did with her. Nothing was too much trouble for her to do and she really made a difference to our enjoyment. I've been diving this area for a frightening 20 years now and have certain favourite dives and dive routes. She always tried to accommodate my wishes in the day's plan - what more could you ask for!

Most of the divers on the boats were Brits with a sprinkling of other nationalities. It was all very friendly and we met some great people - one of the nicest things about diving holidays. Quite a few people were quite intrigued by a grouping of a mum and two daughters diving! I was very proud of the girls and very flattered by the number of compliments they received. Emperor were happy for us to do our own thing as long as we returned to the boat within 1 hour and with at least 30 bar in the tanks. As it happened we generally remained with the party (or joined them during the dive). I quite enjoy having the guide point out things of interest along the way as long as don't have to endure the "one up - all up" rule.

On most days, Emperor offered 3 dives on the boat. You could do all three, or pick which ones you wanted. We always did 2, as per our package - it was enough! One thing I liked was that all three offers were good sites. Again, I have been on boats where the third dive is definitely an afterthought in a less than great spot, just outside the harbour so that they can up anchor and get back asap. Not so with Emperor. As Chris put it, "Hey, we are divers too. If we're diving, we want to dive the best sites".

Over the five days we did:
Day 1 - Local - Far Gardens, Near Gardens. Nice, easy diving, good fish life. A good start.
Day 2 - Ras Mohammed. The Dunraven and Shark/Yolande Reef. (Jackfish Alley also offered) Absolutely fantastic day - couldn't be bettered. Perfect conditions, colours, fish.

I have a very strong preference for the way I want to dive Shark Reef/Yolande. I like to be dropped in on Anemone City, swim along the wall in about 25m, see the anemones and then swim across the blue to the Shark Reef wall. The swim across the blue takes a few minutes but it is a stunning moment, to see the sheer wall rising in front of you as you approach. Also, there is often a very large ball of barracuda hanging right at this point, maybe in around 30m. If you are lucky, you can swim into them and if you are very lucky, there is sometimes a shark in there. If you are a bit less lucky, and you look down, the sharks will be below the barracuda. Sometimes of course, you don't see them at all. On this occasion, the barracuda were there but no sign of Mr Sharky. Anyway, you then go on around the Shark Reef wall (keeping it to your right) and admire all the soft corals and the plummetting depths until you come to the saddle between Shark and Yolande Reef. If you explore here you will find lots of morays, often a Napoleon Wrasse, turtles and lots of hard coral. Cross the saddle and go around Yolande Reef keeping it to your right and you will come to some of the wreckage of the Yolande - the loos and the baths. There are also the remains of a BMW car. Great for a scuttle through. Depending on current and air remaining you can then circle Yolande or look at Satellite Reef and surface around there. Many boats like to drop you right onto the wall at Shark Reef because there can be adverse current and they are wary of the swim across the blue at the beginning. However, if you get the chance to try my route, do go for it - it is just a most awe inspiring beginning to a dive that just gets better and better.

Day 3: Tiran. Thomas Reef and Ras Nasrani. (Jackson Reef also offered). I really like Thomas Reef - it's a huge wall and I like to look down into the Crevice at the end. The coral is great and you often see turtle and large fish in the blue.
I was curious to dive Ras Nasrani again (after a gap of about 15 years) which is why we chose it over Jackson which is much more frequently offered.


Inevitably, it has suffered due to the building on the cliffs above it. The big fish are gone but the coral is in pretty good shape. However, the days when this was a dive that rivalled the offshore reefs are gone.


Day 4: Ras Mohammed - Shark and Yolande Reef. Dived it the "normal route". It was good but nowhere near as stunning as the previous day. Had plenty of time on Yolande wreckage though and had a good "fossick" around! Ras Gadzani - beautiful coral gardens, very nice dive. (Ras Umm Sid offered).


Day 5. Woodhouse Reef, Tiran. Excellent very long wall. Gordon Reef, Tiran. One of my favourites of the Tiran reefs. There are a load of drums containing tyres and rubber out there and they have become encrusted with coral over the years - really beautiful. The current was really running on this dive and we absolutely flew along. Because the surface conditions were so calm we were allowed to go on out into the infamous "washing machine" between the reefs which was a lot of fun. Ras Nasrani offered as the third dive.

When we surfaced after Gordon - unusually in this instance, it was just us three - we had to signal the boat for pick up and then wait for it. This gave us one of most hilarious moments of the holiday and a fitting end to some very enjoyable diving. Emperor have a unique "OK at the Surface, Come and get me" signal which is a copy of a pose often seen adopted by Pharaoh and carved on temple walls (they call it the Sign of the Emperor - get it?) Basically you curve one arm round on top of your head, and stretch the other arm out in a Seig Heil salute style. Anyway, there we were doing this like mad while we bobbed merrily along in the current and laughing our heads off as we turned the signal into variations of "I'm a little teapot" and "Springtime for Hitler" and various Monty Python moments involving Nazis with Limp Wrists. I think the deckhands thought we were all completely barking mad! I guess you had to British, and very very happy and relaxed to really get it.

Weather

The temperatures were in the high 70s throughout and it remained warm at night. All days except one, were clear and sunny. The day before we came home we awoke to find heavy cloud and - believe it or not - it actually rained on several occasions that day. Water temperatures were around 22C. I never feel cold in the water and I dived in my usual 3mm suit quite happily all week. The girls have 4mm suits and they felt cold on the first day so I hired them extra shorty suits to wear over the top of their normal suits and this worked out fine.






Eating and Drinking

Emperor run a barbecue once a week at the next door bar. The food is free - buffet - and there is quite a good spread and you pay for your drinks (quite expensive). It was a fun evening that most people turned up to and as long as you keep an eye on the tab, it was worth going to.

Other than that we ate out most nights around town and visited various sheesha bars. No visit to Sharm would be complete without at least one look in at the Camel Bar in Naama Bay - it is the definitive divers hangout and you always meet someone you know there.

Personally, I much much much prefer Old Sharm el Sheikh to Naama Bay in the evenings. There is a lot less hassle, the atmosphere is a much more authentic one, the shopping is better and the prices are much cheaper for everything. It is easy to get a taxi down there and ask to be dropped at the Old Sharm Market which is the centre of the nightlife and within 50 yards of all my favourite restaurants.

There are three restaurants in this area that we return to again and again and I have recommended to many people who have raved about them too.

The Sinai Star:
An authentic seafood restaurant that has been a Sharm el Sheikh landmark for over 20 years. I can remember eating here in the 80s when it had no shop front and was like a sort of garage!!! Anyway, it's not a big menu. You can either have the seafood platter with lobster or without. If you have it without, you will pay about 140 Egyptian for 4 people. If you have it with, it's about 250 Egyptian for 4. This includes, an array of starter salads and dips, bottled water, bread and the aforementioned enormous platter of seafood. Oh, yes - you can choose to have it grilled or fried. You get fantastic white fish, calamari, jumbo prawns and if you chooose, lobster. The quality is absolutely first class - I have never had a bad meal here and I promise you, you will be full to the brim by the time you leave.

Don't be put off by the plain looks of the place - just sit down at one of the outside tables and prepare for a feast! They don't serve alcohol but just opposite - in the way of Egypt - a young chap has set up an ice cream fridge full of beer and wine. You can buy a bottle off him and the waiter will open and serve it for you quite happily! No corkage either.

Meat Grill - on the corner, nearly next door to the Sinai Star is its meaty cousin. This restaurant only serves grilled meat, no fish. Again the choice is pretty simple: chicken, lamb or beef or mixed grill. A mixed grill of chicken, lamb, lamb chops and steak with salad, dips and bread, and soft drinks cost us 200 Egyptian including tip and round of desserts. We couldn't finish it and the meat was absolutely tender and totally delicious. Absolutely superb.

Terrazina Restaurant. This is a beach restaurant on the seashore and across the road from the marketplace, next to the hotel of the same name. It's a fantastically chilled atmosphere where you can choose to sit at conventional tables or lounge on cushioned couches literally feet from the sea. They serve grilled fish - very fresh - or meat plus some Italian specialities. A bit more upmarket than the others but still extremely cheap and a very romantic ambiance.




After you've had dinner wander round the shops in the marketplace - they are a real Aladdin's cave - jewellery, fruit, incense and spices, tobacco, sheeshas, bags, diving equipment, perfume, clothes, shoes.... and then end up at one of the sheesha bars in the gardens. You will find an array of comfortable couches under fairy lights and palm trees where you can enjoy an Egyptian coffee (best medium sweet) or a Bedouin or mint tea - or whatever takes your fancy. We like to complete the experience with a sheesha pipe! About a million miles removed from conventional tobacco - and of course probably as unhealthy in its own way, but an interesting experience! Please don't flame me about letting the girls try this! We are all vehemently anti smoking and I really don't think this holiday experience is about to change any of that. Anyway, our favourites were apple and rose (like turkish delight flavour). Amazingly relaxing and you feel very decadent too!


Conclusion

For a week's deep winter warm water diving, the Red Sea is unbeatable. Sharm is still a good diving destination for an all round holiday - the reefs have suffered over the last 20 years, but they are still better than many many other places I have dived.

Emperor are hard to beat as dive operators of choice for Brits. There instructors are mostly Brits or speak excellent English and most importantly they know what British divers like.

Do yourself a favour and get a taxi to Old Sharm one night early in your week. If you do, I promise you, that you will go back - it's so much more pleasant than Naama.

If you are looking for a flight only deal, don't forget to check cheap package holiday prices too. We got a package holiday for less than I could buy a flight only.

Check the less popular English airports. Manchester is an hour's drive for us. East Midlands was 90 minutes but much much cheaper and a lot more pleasant.

Had never stayed in an apartment before in Sharm and for a diving only holiday, it had A LOT to recommend it - will try and do this again.


It was still 70F when we left Sharm at 730 pm. As we landed back in the UK, we had to deplane down a set of stairs to a bus rather than at a gate. Imagine our delight to step out into a howling sleet storm! Welcome home....

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