| Poseidon Dive centre | Dive Urge Dive Centre | Dive Sites | What to do in Dahab and surrounding areas |
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The first visitors to Dahab in the Egyptian Red Sea were enticed by the miles of empty beaches, the diving of course, and the town’s reputation as an under-developed resort which was akin to the real Egypt. It is true that hotels, have been built now with the necessary essentials for main-stream tourists, yet the area is still considerably under-developed, and retains its quaint charm and old-fashioned appeal. A perfect retreat with some fantastic diving!
Like Sharm, Dahab clings to the edge of the Sinai desert, with spectacular mountains behind and views over the Gulf of Aqaba. However with just one hours drive away and fewer hotels, the similarity stops.
The locally-owned restaurants, bars and shops along the sea front help create the intimate atmosphere of Dahab which hasn’t been artificially created for tourists - a glimpse into the real Egypt.
The Europeans there will tell you the best bars for an evening’s jaunt, and you feel that you are a visitor to an Egypt which hasn’t been artificially created for tourists. It’s wonderfully child-friendly, and the little town has a bank, local food shops, and only a very few selling tourist treasures!
To get to Dahab, you fly into Sharm and a one hour’s drive through the mountains rising steadily to 600m. above sea level brings you to Dahab. To the North lies Nuweiba and Taba. Like Sharm, the weather is good all year and on-shore breezes during the summer keep the heat tolerable. All the diving offered from Dahab is shore-based and any breezes can be avoided by choosing the right dive site. For divers who prefer a more relaxed attitude to their holiday, there’s no rushing around, no getting kitted up in a rush, and far fewer people.
You do not need an Egyptian Visa when visiting Dahab providing you stay within the Sinai area, which includes Sharm el Sheikh.
Over the past few months, more and more of you are asking us to take you diving in Dahab. You want high standards and something just a bit off the beaten track …. We’ve come up with two exciting choices which we’re sure will appeal to those who want only the best - for couples or families travelling with children and for those of you, particularly groups, who want technical diving. Great also for non-divers!
Fly from Gatwick, Manchester, Luton, Glasgow, or the East Midlands to Sharm el Sheikh, transfers to Dahab (1 hr). Accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis at either Dive-Urge or Poseidon Diving.
There is a Decompression chamber in Dahab, open 24 hours a day.
| Poseidon Dive centre | Dive Urge Dive Centre | Dive Sites | What to do in Dahab and surrounding areas |
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“At Dive-Urge we offer you a very special dive service for those who want to leave the crowds behind and who like to dive with divers with compatible skills, at your own pace with small numbers or on a one-to-one basis… perhaps to refresh the skills you have or to work on techniques to fine tune your diving so that you can maximize the enjoyment of your time in the Red Sea and indeed all your future diving…”
Dive-Urge is a family run business, being owned by Lynne Gillis and her husband, Helal. They have two young children, Nadia and little Hebba. As a family, they have a complete understanding of what divers need in Dahab, and will overwhelm you with their unbelievable kindness and thoughtfulness to make your stay the best ever. Nothing is too much trouble for them and if you have little ones who travel with you on your dive tour, then they can safely be looked after at the local nursery during the day. Dive Urge accommodates up to 16 people, so if you want to have the place to yourselves, it's a perfect retreat for you and your friends.
Dive-Urge is a 5 star PADI Gold Palm resort, with friendly, caring and helpful staff who are so much part of the family and will make you feel the same, plus the unbelievable luxury of a maximum of 4 divers for each guide which maximimises enjoyment and minimises environmental impact.
Accommodation is within the Dive-Urge Centre, with Chalets or a suite which provides space for a family or for friends. Dive-Urge has its own beach and during the day, you can use it freely to swim, dive or snorkel, or simply to sit under the shade and read or chat and relax. In the evening, it’s the perfect place to watch the sunset and if you ask, Helal will arrange for a barbeque to be cooked for you. They can also easily organise a trip to the mountains in the evening to enjoy a Bedouin meal under the stars.
Khaled and Bakar have important roles as the Centre’s chefs. They can come up with anything from a tasty full-on fruit pancake in the morning to a memorable steak and shrimp special! They are also there for those quick pasta dishes or freshly made pizza cooked in a special pizza oven for lighter meals or even just a hot chocolate when you come back from a dive - nothing is too much trouble. For your evening meal, you can stroll along the Corniche into the “town” to try the local fish restaurants, or stay at Dive-Urge and eat their truly sumptuous meals. Fly from Gatwick to Sharm, met on arrival and transferred to Dive-Urge, Dahab, where you will be met by a Dive Urge crew member.
B & B accommodation in twin room. Includes Maximum number of divers in any group is 4. Prices based on two people sharing a room. Regional UK airports may also be available for departures.
| Dive Urge EXCLUDING FLIGHTS |
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| 7 Night Tour | Diver | Non-diver | Single room |
| Double Room | £255 | £263 | Add £70 |
| Double suite | £379 | £263 | |
| TRIPLE SUITE | £305 | £263 | |
| QUAD SUITE | £265 | £263 | |
'Diver' price includes 5 dives.
All prices are per person, sharing a room on B&B basis.
Group discounts available.
| RESORT Courses | ||
| Course | Duration | Cost |
| Open Water diver | 5 days | £300 |
| Open Water Referral | 2 days | £155 |
| Scuba Review | 1 day | £45 |
| Advanced Certification | 2 days | £210 |
| emergency 1st response | 1 day | £70 |
| Rescue Diver Certification | 3 days | £150 |
| Nitrox course | 2 day | £100 |
| SPECIALITies (PER DIVE) | 1 - 5 dives | £40 |
| dive master | 21-41 days | £650 |
| Additional Dives | per dive | £25 |
Please note that the course prices are added to the 'Non diver' price above
No credit card payments on site. Dive Urge accepts cash only in Sterling, Euros, American dollars and local currency
PADI standards require that all students must have their own material for courses. This can be purchased from Oonasdivers prior to your departure or on site. Please call for prices.
Private Guide £100.00
All courses can be taken with a private guide at an additional cost.
£25 Sterling per day for full equipment hire. Free during all PADI courses.
“A number of dive masters and instructors also complement the main staff to ensure that individual attention is given to guests, and anything is possible. We won’t guide you around like sheep, or take you to the sites we want to go to – your choices count, and we will schedule our day around you”.
Poseidon has been running since 1995 and is right on the front in the centre of Dahab. It’s owned by business partners Ed Poore and Mats Fischer, who have full time divermasters on hand, with a complement of Instructors offering PADI, TDI, DAN and DSAT courses. The centre is so relaxed and laid back, you’ll never want to leave.
Your accommodation choice is adjacent to the Centre, The Blue Beach and based on a bed and breakfast basis. Snacks are available at the Centre itself and of course there are plenty of restaurants near by for your evening meal. Alternative hotels also possible on request.
There are 2 classrooms with all PADI, PSA, and TDI instructional materials and full audio visual facilities, combined with tables outside to sit and have a lesson, or relax and eat lunch while waiting for the next session,
This really is life in the slow lane – the most effort required is between putting your kit in the back of the truck, or putting it on before falling in the water. For the confined training you have to take a stroll out to the front and within 30 seconds of leaving the Centre, you are in the water!
Poseidon also arranges Barbecues at weekends, and their regular parties are well known in Dahab.
There is also technical equipment and they blend Nitrox and Trimix, as well as supporting rebreathers. There is more than enough equipment for many Technical students including the latest ATX200 regulators from Apeks, Custom Divers wings, OMS and MDE manifolds, and an enormous array of oxygen clean cylinders and equipment, all kept in excellent condition by Mats.
Fly from Gatwick to Sharm, met on arrival and transferred to your hotel in Dahab where you will be met by a member of the Poseidon team. B & B accommodation in a twin room. 5 days shore diving – 2 divers per day. This price is based on two people sharing a room. Regional UK airports also available for departures such as Manchester, Glasgow, Luton & East Midlands.
| poseidon EXCLUDING FLIGHTS | ||
| 7 night tour | Diver | Single room |
| Yasmina hotel | £355 | Add £70 |
| Blue Beach | £290 | Add £70 |
'Diver' price includes 5 days shore diving.
All prices are per person, sharing a room on B&B basis.
Group discounts available.
We can arrange flights departing from Gatwick, Manchester and various regional Airports to Sharm El Sheikh. Prices vary and are subject to availability.
| RESORT Courses | ||
| Course | Duration | Cost |
| Open Water diver | 4 days | £195 |
| Open Water Referral | 2 days | £120 |
| Scuba Review | 1 day | £45 |
| Advanced Certification | 2 days | £135 |
| emergency 1st response | 1 day | £70 |
| Rescue Diver Certification | 3 days | £185 |
| Nitrox course | 2 day | £110 |
| SPECIALITies (PER DIVE) | £50 | |
| dive master | 21-41 days | £370 |
| adventure dives | per dive | £35 |
Please note that the course prices are added to the 'Diver' price above
PADI standards require that all students must have their own material for courses. This can be purchased from Oonasdivers prior to your departure or on site. Please call for prices.
Private Guide £100.00
All courses can be taken with a private guide at an additional cost.
£20 Sterling per day for full equipment hire. Free during all PADI courses.
This is not a comprehensive list of all the dive sites in Dahab, more a flavour of the type of diving available, as the majority of the coast is coral and there are many dive sites. All of the dives are shore based and are dived depending on conditions and level of experience. Shore diving is great because you can be very flexible with when and where you go which frequently means you can avoid other divers and enjoy the fish and the corals. Many people find it easier to dive from the shore as the entries are easy. The challenges of each site vary from dead easy for those wanting to learn to dive, to the famous Blue Hole, a considerable challenge. There are superb coral gardens, canyons and caves, as well as such a pelagic creatures including turtles, rays morays, octopus, as well as the larger fish including Napoleonfish, Barrcuda, small sharks and dolphins. What more could you want with such a list!
Dive Urge is on the shores of one of the most famous Dive Sites in Dahab, Eel Garden and from Dive Urge Club, you can walk directly into the dive site, where you are rewarded by a field of Red Sea Garden Eels, gently swaying with the current, on a bed of white sand. Beautiful.
This is an amazing crack in the reef table, large enough to dive. You then exit up into a 'fishbowl', filled with thousands of wonderous glass fish. Dive it during a full moon and it’s an incredible night dive, one such that you’ll never forget.
A world class shallow dive, max depth 16 meters and described by the Times as the best dive site in Dahab. Some of the largest corals in Dahab can be found here, together with huge brain coral and large schools of Emperor or Barracuda which define this site as a magical experience and which will leave you unable to talk for a while after you have swum through its breathtaking corridors of colour!
The most famous site here in Dahab and, certainly the most talked about is Bells to Blue Hole. So intensely blue, this site is viewed whilst hovering next to a wall that drops to over 1000 meters. It is truly spectacular to see a ray or turtle slowly emerging into view from the endless blue. This is a dive for Advanced PADI Open Water minimum, but can be done as part of your Advanced Open Water course or Adventure dive as long as you have completed a Deep Dive with a PADI Instructor. Also best early in the day.
A brilliant place to learn to dive and home to many species of fish. At Lighthouse, the sea changes so that if it’s windy on one side of the bay, it’s calm on the other, as it’s here that the current changes.
Then there’s Abu Helal (particularly beautiful!), Abu Telha, Banner Fish Bay (where you may find seahorses), Southern Oasis, Golden Blocks, Glassish Pinnacle, Om Sid, the Caves …..
| Poseidon Dive centre | Dive Urge Dive Centre | Dive Sites | What to do in Dahab and surrounding areas |
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If you would like to travel to Dahab and would like our advice on the most suitable centre for you, please telephone us on 01323 648924 or e-mail us on info@oonasdivers.com . The two centres we offer are both excellent and we feel you would be happy at either destination. However, we try to ensure that the tour we offer is the most suitable for you, so please contact us to discuss your preferences.