Diving in the Red Sea - a quick intro...
Red Sea marine life and diving conditions are legendary. There are creatures from the very tiny to some of the largest on earth, and plenty of shipwrecks. Some are real wreckies wrecks, as intact as any shipwreck you're ever likely to see, whilst others have been there a while and are well on the way to being a part of the reef.
Lionfish, seen at the Alternatives, a regular liveaboard check-dive site
Visibility is reliably 20m or more, and the water temperature varies from 32 degrees in summer to 20 degrees in winter. It's the closest warm-water, coral-reef, high visibility diving to the UK, and deservedly popular with divers from around the world. The dive-travel industry in Egypt is well established and provides excellent facilities for every level of diver, from the complete beginner to advanced mixed-gas techies.
Giannis D at Abu Nuhas - a favourite wreck for many
Put all these factors together and it's no surprise the Red Sea is the most popular overseas diving destination for British divers.
There are two ways to dive the Red Sea*, hotel based dayboat diving or liveaboard diving, each of which offers divers a different experience.
*OK, if you go up to Dahab or down to some of the southern resorts or are happy just off the beach of your hotel then you can shore dive, but it's mostly boat diving!
Dayboats
Dayboats operate out of everywhere there are tourists. Walk out of your hotel, turn left and you'll find a dive-centre (Or two, or three, or more....). Turn right and you'll find just as many. Poor operations don't last long, there's too much competition, but for peace of mind, and slightly lower prices, pre-book your dive package before you leave the UK.
Typical dayboats, here seen moored over Thistlegorm
On a dayboat trip you stay at a hotel, then each morning you'll be collected and transferred to the boat for your diving. You'll probably need to set your kit up each day, then settle back for a trip out to the dive site. Dayboats usually leave the marina around 9am, unless you've booked an optional trip to wrecks like Thistlegorm, Dunraven or Rosalie Moller, or are heading to Abu Nuhas, when you'll need to depart much earlier.
Entry from a dayboat - very casual!
Your dive-package will probably be two dives a day, but you'll almost certainly be able to add a third dive each day, and a night-dive or two during your week, all at extra cost. Day-boat dives tend to be quite closely escorted and guides will be definite about dive-times and staying together as a group as there are usually more novice divers in the group - these are the boats that newly qualified divers go out on after completing their courses - so if you and a buddy want to dive as a pair, make sure the guide knows before you enter the water.
Lunch will be provided aboard, though you may need to pay for it.
Nitrox will certainly be availalble for those who are qualified, and there are specialist technical and mixed-gas operations, both open circuit and CCR, if that's what you want.
The key downsides are that your dayboat will go out at the same time as the others, and as there are only a finite number of sites you'll see plenty of other divers in the water. The upside is that you come back to shore each night and can hit the restaurants, clubs and bars.
Liveaboards
Liveaboard dive-boats are floating hotels where the only attraction is diving, though if you have a birthday, anniversary or mark a significant diving milestone the crew will be very happy to throw you a party. On a liveaboard trip you transfer from the airport to your boat where you'll stay for the next week, set your kit up once and you're ready. The first dive of the trip will be a mandatory check-dive, to make sure you and your kit have survived the journey intact, then you're off away from land to see the very best sites your destination has to offer.
Liveaboard, this is Tony Backhurst/Tornado Marine Fleet's Whirlwind
The usual rule is three day-dives and a night-dive each day except the last, when you'll do two dives. Each day you'll wake up either over the dive-site or very near to it, and be in the water by 7am, giving you nice long surface intervals to make the most of subsequent dives. After each dive you put your kit back in your space and remove the first stage from your cylinder to show it needs filling, and that's it. You'll find the cylinder is done long before the next dive.
Food is good, with three full meals a day plus an early morning pre-dive snack and an afternoon snack after the third dive. Soft drinks, tea and coffee are usually included, and available twenty four hours a day, though check exactly what is and isn't available on board and what you need to pay for when you book.
Dining room aboard a modern liveaboard, this is Tony Backhurst/Tornado Marine's Whirlwind
Nitrox will almost certainly be availalble, as will sofnolime, helium and oxygen if pre-ordered, sometimes nitrox is included, sometimes it's an extra, it depends on the fleet operator.
Key downside is that you can't get off the boat, so whatever you've booked you're stuck with. The upsides are less crowded dive sites and more diving included.
Red Sea Diving
Dive times are up to the clients on liveaboards, though a maximum of 60mins is often requested. Dayboat dive-times will be set by the guide, and may hover around the 40 to 50 minute mark. Depths will usually be 30m or less - that's where the seabed is on most of the northern wrecks - though some deeper dives are possible. Rosalie Moller really needs 40m, and Aida on the Brothers starts at 35m, whilst the wall at Ras Mohammed goes down to 900m or more and there are plenty of 60m walls all around both Sharm and Hurghada.
Time to go diving!
Cylinders
Single cylinders are the rule, though twins (Hire a manifold twinset, or twin your own using the 12l cylinders on your boat) and rebreathers (Bring your own or you can hire) are increasingly common.
Decompression
No-deco is the rule, but it's becoming common for properly equipped and experienced divers to plan and execute deco, especially on the deeper wrecks. Just be aware that the Red Sea is very salty, the sun is very hot and you're likely to be dehydrated, added to which you'll have a very bumpy RIB ride to a chamber if it all goes horribly wrong.....
Suits
Suits are something of a personal preference - it largely depends on how cold you're prepared to be! The Red Sea can be as warm as 30C in summer, but a realistic in-water temperature in summer is 26C in the north and 28C in the south, falling to 20C and 22C respectively in February, which is the coldest month. After a few days of long dives you'll start to get chilled without adequate thermal protection, except in the height of summer, and as it's always windy in the Red Sea the wind-chill between dives can come as a very nasty surprise for divers expecting hot sunshine, especially in winter.
I dive in a drysuit from November to April, and a full length 5mm wetsuit from May to October, though in August a 3mm full suit or 5mm shorty is enough.
Knives and Gloves
Knives are generally frowned on, though a discreet little knife attached to your BC isn't going to cause upset, and unless you have a medical problem, NO GLOVES anywhere in the Red Sea. The idea is that if you have to touch things with your bare hands you'll make more effort not to touch anything, which benefits wrecks and reefs alike.