Johan (the manager of Red Sea Diving College) has been on Sky news..watersports closed but diving still allowed. Attack happened in a protected area in the area right next to Hyatt Regency. A female was swimming in a protected area and was attacked..it happened very quickly apparantly. The life guard from the Red Sea sattelite dive school (based at the Hyatt) dragged her to the reef but she was sadly fatally wounded.

They think the same shark is responsible for all attacks...this is unsual behaviour and is very very rare...

a shark has killed a german lady snorkelling about 30 yards offshore in sharm today. tourists only allowed back in water yesterday after attack on 3 holidaymakers. this will be major blow for egyptian tourism.

Again we were in the water when it happened, we were in the water when we saw hundreds of fish jumping 3 foot in the air and out of the water. I knew something wasnt right as bigger fish were swimming around us and knipping people. The atmoshere in the water felt uneasy. Within half an hour of us getting out of waist high water the attack happened. Beaches closed for at least 3 days. The first attack on the russians and a seoarate incident the ukrian was the white tip shark. They found that shark and the other who attacked the ukrian, both sharks have been killed outright for safety as they have severly injured the 4 holiday makers. The incident involving the german lady was by a differnt 18 foot long shark. To add to that another holiday maker has also been injured but alive.

What species of shark is unknown at present because its still loose.
Yes divers who are experienced can go in the water. All in all 5 injured and one dead, all snorkling.

All the above written in late news paper by ministry of tourism.

Weather here gorgous 86 in the day and 18 at night. Last day tomorrow then hoping to fly tomoa night.

Michelle from egypt x

Just got word diving supended for tomorrow at least as there are more sharks coming in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11922032

Fatal Sharm shark attack leaves operators poised for action

Tour operators to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh are taking a wait-and-see approach to client advice after the weekend's shark attack that left a German tourist dead.

The incident follows shark attacks in the middle of last week when three Russians and a Ukrianian tourist were badly mauled.

Egyptian authorities had placed a ban on entering the water at the hugely popular resort after the first attacks but then relaxed it after two sharks thought to be the culprits were caught.

Just days later the 70-year-old German woman washed up to shore at Naama Bay near the Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh Hotel, a shark having torn off her right thigh and elbow.

This morning the Foreign Office updated its advice to warn of shark attacks in the region.

A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said that the operator would brief reps on the ground and staff back in the UK according to Foreign Office advice, which currently advises of the danger of sharks but does not suggest Brits don't travel to the region.

UK diving specialist Regaldive said clients due to travel out to Sharm next week had begun calling this morning but that the operator was currently following the advice of the Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS), the governing body for diving in Egypt.

Regaldive's director Andreas Elia said: "We are quite lucky in that we do not have any people in resort at the moment but we do have people due to travel there on December 11. We are not having to make any definitive decisions as yet but are closely monitoring the CDWS which are regularly issuing statements on the situation."

"The calls from clients started this morning but until there is further advice we are not telling people to cancel or change locations. It's a fluid decision making process at the moment."

Meanwhile Longwood Holidays which currently has dive clients in Sharm was holding a management meeting first thing Monday morning to decide how to advise clients.

Diving specialist Tropical Sky's director Chris Hawkins said clients would be given an alternative for certain holidays already booked in light of events. He said: "All winter sun holidays booked remain unaffected and bookings will be going ahead as planned. With any Tropical Sky scuba diving holidays booked, clients will be offered alternative dates to travel until the watersports ban has been lifted by the Egyptian authorities."

All of Sharm's beaches have been closed again for watersports activities except for nature reserve Ras Mohammed, south of the region.

Marine biologists have been flown into the area to study the phenomenon, which is confounding authorities. Egypt's tourism minster Zuhair Garana told the AFP news agency: "We are getting marine biologists to assess the situation and why there was this change in biological nature. This is unnatural. It has never happened before. We have no explanation."

With permission from Travelmole

Excellent information..thankyou David.

My other half has spoken to Regaldive this morning who basically told us what you have written.
They said an announcement was being made at 3pm today ( don't know what about) and advised us to keep checking the CDWS website during the week as the situation could change.

Basically, I think we will still be going ahead ( well i HOPE we are going ahead!) and they may just revise the dive sites...but they admittedly are as much in the dark as the rest of us.

This is so unusual and I dont think this has ever happened before....

Just seen this on the news too......message to self............. Sorry I am a whimp too, seeing a shark whilst swimming in the sea would be my worse nightmare, think I will always be a pool lover

Could make an exception if it was a chance to swim with dolphins - well, maybe

and much respect to all you brave divers though.

Fizz

Have been on the CDWS website and their stance is currently that all watersports are banned in the immediate vicinity of Naama bay until tomorrow at the earliest. Diving is still allowed in the Ras Mo and Thistlegorm areas for experienced divers with 50 or more logged dives.
I did read something about Glass bottom boats but cant remember.....

I will be travelling and I will be diving.....

I will be travelling and I will be diving.....

Glad to hear it Val. You've paid for your diving holiday and are looking forward to it. Luckily you're a braver person than me as I would be avoiding the sea for some time. I know Helen was shocked to read about it as she's off on her first hol to Sharm in April. Hope it will have all settled down by then

News like this is exactly the reason why I'm terrified of the sea and have been for some time!! Hopefully nobody else will be harmed.

It is becuase of films like Jaws and the fact that this is SO RARE that it is making headline news.
Yes..the sea is a powerful place and has killed many a person..but you need not fear getting attacked by a shark.
They very rarely come this far into shore..very rarely attack...and the chances of owt happening to you whilst in the sea like this are remote.

Whilst I do not want to take anything away from the tragedy in Sharm..I must stress again this is highly unusual..and should not put anyone off going to Egypt...not exploring the sea.

Marlou wrote:

News like this is exactly the reason why I'm terrified of the sea and have been for some time!! Hopefully nobody else will be harmed.

Justval wrote:

Whilst I do not want to take anything away from the tragedy in Sharm..I must stress again this is highly unusual..and should not put anyone off going to Egypt...not exploring the sea.

100% agree. As I've said previously, the sea isn't 'our' terratory and things like this do unfortunatley happen from time to time. I can understand the local authorities taking the action they are, they need to be seen as doing something, but catching and relocating sharks won't make a difference. One of the sharks shown caught and killed wasn't even a white-tip! They are their because something has changed and they want to be their. Oceanic White-tips are pelagics, why they're this close to shore and doing this is anyones guess as it's unusual for them to venture this far inshore. Their main diet are cephalopods and bony fishes as well as other fishes and marine animals, not humans! They are known to become aggressive around humans though but as with most sharks, they're mainly inquisitive and just want to know what you are rather than eat you. They don't have hands to investigate, only mouths and their bite can do a lot of damage. It's normally blood loss as a result of an attack that proves fatal, not the actual attack (they spit you out). Most shark attacks occur in less than 3m of water close to shore making snorkellers and surfers more vulnerable to attack than divers. It certainly wouldn't stop me from visiting a country or going in the water or diving. On the contrary, it would attract me!

Enjoy the diving Justval, I'll be thinking of you while I'm in the river at 4oC and you're in the tropical waters (by comparisson). No fear of sharks where I am though, only Salmon!

Darren

Glad you are still going Val. The problem seems to be affecting those that snorkle more than divers and you are very experiened. It is very rare and I suppose now that Sharm is a popular winter-sun tourist resort as well as a diver resort it was bound to make big headlines. Seems like a lot of marine biologists from all over the world are being called in to offer their expertise on the situation, so at least the Egyptians aren't being left to cope with it on their own. Are you staying at the Hyatt ?

Doe

Beaches re-open for diving at shark-hit Sharm El Sheikh

The majority of beaches in Sharm El Sheikh will be open for diving activities on Tuesday.

According to Egypt's regulatory diving body the Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS), its members' clients will be allowed to go back in the water but there will still be restrictions.

All snorkeling and other watersports are still banned following the latest fatal shark attack at the weekend in the resort.

However, the CDWS says divers who have logged a minimum of 50 dives can scuba in the areas of Tiran and all sites south of Naama Bay as long as the excursion is run by a CDWS member.

Diving is still off limits to everyone in the area between Ras Nasrani to the north of Naama Bay.

There will also be no introductory or training dives in the sea anywhere in Sharm el Sheikh.

Meanwhile Red Sea Holidays managing director Peter Kearns said his team have been busy reassuring clients in resort.

He said: "We are providing clear, transparent information to our customers at a time when they may feel uncertain. We are reassuring customers already booked and updating them on what is being done to resolve the situation.

"We are also communicating regularly through our reps with clients in resort and making sure they have the most up to date information and are able to carry on enjoying their holiday with minimum disruption.

"We are obviously regretful of the situation and our sympathy is extended to those who have been affected. However we want our customers to carry on enjoying their holiday. We are offering increased excursions, doubling the contact between reps and customers and advising new customers to book the larger resort style hotels with multiple pools and on site activities."

With permission from Travelmole

Trust the Egyptian authorities at ones peril...................

Regarding life guards at resort beach points, most cannot swim and again they are seldom present or sleeping!

i am off to hurgarda in march and there is no way i will be putting 1 toe into the red sea the pool look fine to me for a swim

What annoys me most about the Egyptian lifeguards who are at the edge of the resorts and the sea interface is that they dont stop people from walking on the coral. They also need the signs in more languages considering how multicultural the place is.

Dont they realise once it's all destroyed the red sea resorts will just be the same as any other built up tourist winter-sun resort and have nothing to offer over and above everywhere else.

lets face it, no one goes for the fine wine/dine or entertainment