Breaking My Red Sea Duck, 2006

by John Kirk

Finally managed to break my Red Sea diving duck by spending 2 weeks in Naama Bay. In summary: it was great !. The following is my trip report which might ramble on a bit but hopefully includes the odd hint and tip I picked up or can pass on.






The holiday

2 weeks based at the Rennaissance Golden View resort situated between Sharm and Naama. It had to be land based so Mrs K could get the pampering while I indulged in a spot of diving. The hotel was very good, supposed to be 5 star but our view was 4 star based on the standard of service (sloooooooow) regardless of the baksheesh tendered. Its located on a rocky peninsula and has access to a house reef for diving/snorkelling etc via a walkway and pontoon.




The weather

Hot !!!! This was great after the dire winter here. Air temps averaged about 30-35 degrees, there was a variable breeze. Apparently it has only rained in this area 3 times in 23 years so if you want a bit on winter sun its just about guarrenteed. Temperatures on the day boat reached 44 degrees !!!!!

The airport experience

I had read and been told that Sharm airport is an experience in itself. Well, the reality is worse !!! In simple terms, its a mad house !!

Tip - if you need a visa (and you don't if you are diving Ras Mohammed/Tiran/local) get it before you join the passport control queue. The visa area is on the left as soon as you enter the airport after disembarking your flight. Visa cost £13 (GBP)

After passport control, you now run the gauntlet of every hand being held out for baksheesh, whether its for a trolley, someone moves your bags, pretends to be a rep etc etc etc. The funny bit is they look at you in disgust if you give then Egyptian money - they want pound coins.

Tip - trolley costs 2 Egytian pounds NOT £2 GBP (thanks Dave for the loose Egyptian change you gave me, it came in handy) and if you don't want someone to wander off with your bags towards your coach be polite but firm.

On our return it was the same but we were a bit more savvy. Nothing prepared us for the absolute mayhem there. Check in queues changed, departure gates changed, the departure area was crammed full, seating space on the floor only. We even watched one flight being called to 3 different gates, then they closed the airport for an hour while Mr Mubarak arrives on his private jet and the army rings the place. All in all great fun - just what you imagine an airport in this area would be like - but worse. In great fairness though, the folk loading the planes walked about everywhere shouting out flight numbers etc to make sure everyone got to the right place in the end - a tough job dealing with thousands of bemused/confused westerners !!

On the plus side, the airport was that busy that the sheer volume of luggage caused the conveyors to fail so we got away with murder on the excess baggage front where we were told we would get well and truly stiffed

Namma Bay

We stayed on a B&B basis so had to eat out every night. Naama bay is great !!! We loved it, loads of restaurants, loads of people - very cosmopolitan apart from the fact that about 50% of visitors are russian (you can tell they are successful russians as they are big and the wife is big and well fitted out and they look like they are growling all the time. You can tell if they are gangsters as they are big, the "wife(s)" are about 18 and extremely beautiful and they look like they are growling all the time) 25% Italian and the rest are brits/eu folk. The Russians are not very well liked by the locals !!

Anyway, for eating we would recommend:

1. Peking restaurant for Chinese - very cheap, very good food
2. Thai bar - great food
3. Seaview restaurant on the sea front (international) - good food at great prices
4. Sandwiches at the Camel bar

We found the Camel bar to be very "clicky", the roof area always seemed to have the best seats reserved. Nice though if you want to watch the footy.

Our Naama bay experience would not be complete without the infamous taxi rides !! It works a bit like this - various "individuals" hassle you "you want taxi?" You say yes then they try to take you to a bar while you wait. When you say no to the bar thing, they then get on the mobile and call their mate who has a taxi. Make sure you agree the price before you get the taxi and only use the blue and white ones. Now you are safely esconced in a taxi (no seat belts so hold on tight !!) Now the fun begins - its a bit like a micheal Schumacher/dick Dastardly/Death race 2000 experience - they are nutters !!! The road rules are interesting to say the least.

The Dive outfit

I chose to go with Dive Inn who were based at the hotel. They are an Italian outfit that is very friendly and professional. Safety is to the fore without being anal about it. They enforce the buddy system but once they are happy with your ability its pretty relaxed. having a video camera helps as they generally buddy you with the guide so effectively its semi solo.

Diving is on a day boat basis but you can do house reef dives at 9am or 2pm if you are bored at the hotel. The day boat is called Moonlight and was exceptionall clean, well run and the food was excellent - can't fault them at all. Diving alternates between Ras Mohammed and Tiran and they run Thistlegorm trips twice a week (sadly no Dunraven as they reckon its dangerous !!) Again, all trips are well run. Be aware that water temps were 23 - 25 degrees, bloody cold after 2 dives - I would recommend a full 5mm plus hood, the hood makes a hell of a difference. All dive guides wore semi drys/drysuits so that gives you an idea.

The diving

House reef - this was OK, a bit battered but loads of fish life (puffers, jacks, soldiers etc etc and the odd turtle) Coral in the shallows was great (hard and soft). I also did a night dive on it which was pants - much better in the day time

Ras - Shark and Yolanda - nice dives, barracuda shoal, crocodile fish, huge napolean, lovely colours, vis about 30m + on all dives. sat on the obligatory toilet wreck etc. Great dives

Ras Ghozlani - very scenic and colourful, again good coral condition and colours



Thistlegorm - it had to be done and the box is now ticked. Just like all the videos and pics you see. Vis was about 30m and there were about 7 boats moored up, busy but not silly. First dive was around the outside of it - great stuff, second dive was a penetration dive (which worried me until I found it was very safe and open) Got to see all the motorbikes, lorries, bombs, rifles etc etc - fantastic stuff for a non hardened wreckie. We even had a blacktip amble by which apparently is rare

Tip - get a 15L tank and use nitrox, you want to max out bottom time. Max depth was 30m as we swam thru the propellor blades but most of the dive is about 20m. The penetration dive maxed out at 27m.

When we go back I'm gonna do this one again !!






Tiran - Gordon reef - Nice bimble dive, napoleans, anenomes, hard and soft corals in great condition (even on the drums) Best part of this dive is about 10m where the reef ascends - this is where the colours and those damned orange antheas really show through. Saw a huge pufferfish.

Tiran - Thomas reef - Again, like Gordon a very nice "twee" bimble dive. They would not let us get close to the canyon but it sure looked inviting

Ras - Jackfish alley - very nice dive, blue fin trevally, blue spotted rays, lovely coals - again colourful in the last 10m or so

Ras Za`atar - Cracking wall dive with a little bit of current, nice big gorgonians and the usual fish life

Tiran - Jackson reef - for me the best dive (apart from the Thistlegorm) grey shark, shoal of tuna, barracuda plus all the usual colour and corals

In all I managed to sneak in 13 dives and enjoyed them all. Im going to be a bit neggy here and say that I did expect more - more colour, more life, more big stuff. A buddy did mention that it was better in summer when the water temps rise to 28 degrees so I will have to go back and prove it !!

Also, I found that all the guides use the Sinai Diving guide for reference and dive briefs. So I went and got a copy (149LE at a dive shop in Naama bay) and its a great reference book with dive plans laid out etc and full details of each dive site - I would recommend it to anyone going for the first time

Overall - I loved it, endless vis, colours, some life, weather great, boat great and we will go back again. The Egypt experience in total is great - even the bad stuff

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