Egypt
Egypt, the land that is famous for the Pyramids, Sphinx, Tutankhamun, Nile etc. Whilst the old established areas of interest for tourists will not diminish in their appeal, diving is an ever growing earner of revenue for Egypt. The diving, centred in the Red Sea, offers some of the best in the world.
Dive sites such as Elphinstone (famous for its Hammerheads!) and Dolphin Reef, previously only accessible to southern Red Sea liveaboards, can now be dived by day boats from Marsa Alam.
The dive resorts that are forever popular starting with the largest, Sharm El Sheikh are as follows:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING DIVING IN THE RED SEA
Avoid Rogue Operators - Dive only with legal diving operators on your next trip to Egypt’s Red Sea.
All CDWS member dive operators have met ISO standards EN 14467 / ISO 24803 for diving to ensure your diving safety.
Look out for the CDWS logo for the symbol of quality and safety.
| January/February: | Jellyfish are more common |
| March/April: | Red snapper breeding |
| May: | Titan triggerfish breeding |
| June: | White and red snapper breeding after full moon. Towards the end of June, you can see fish spawning at Ras Mohamed |
| July: | Barracuda start to shoal, mashed butterfly fish and masked pufferfish breeding. July is also the beginning of the turtle breeding season |
| August/September: | Mantas and whale sharks common |
| September/October: | Oceanic whitetip sharks |
| November/December: | Grey reef sharks mating at Ras Mohammed |
The current Red Sea diving laws are as follows:
Non-marine Park Itineraries: Open Water Diver or equivalent. Divers with minimum experience and training can only dive on northern routes.
Marine Park Itineraries: Advanced Open Water Diver or above and at least 50 logged dives. Divers must meet these minimum experience and training to dive southern route itineraries and absolutely for Brother's Islands and Zabargad.
Remember to take your log books and certification card - they're required to dive on liveaboard boats.
Yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from infected areas. There is a very limited Malaria risk.
A 30-day visa is required and can be obtained on arrival for (currently) US$15 or the equivalent, provided the purpose of travel is for tourism.
Travellers entering Egypt via South Sinai (and remaining in the South Sinai resort area), can obtain a free 14-day visa on arrival.
| Language: | Arabic is the official language but English, French, Italian, Spanish , German and even Russian are widely spoken. |
| Currency: | Egyptian pound |
| Time: | GMT +2 |
| Climate: | Desert; hot dry summers with moderate winters |
| Natural hazards: | Occasional droughts, frequent earthquakes, flash floods, landslides; hot driving windstorms (Khamsin) occurs in spring |
| Diving season: | 12 months |
| Water temperature: | Jan to March - 20C/68F |
| July to Sept - 27C/80F | |
| Air Temperature | 21C/70F - 35C/95F |