Hi there, going to Sharm week this coming Sunday, staying at the Grand Rotana for the first week HB then the Calimera Royal Moderna AI for the second, can anyone please tell me about these hotels and the location compared to Narma bay?

The main topic I wanna talk about is the price of the PADI Open Water Course, I've been on the net and I get prices around the £250 mark, now is this a good price or can I expect to get a good deal haggling when I'm out there? Also is it safe?

Some people have advised me that we could just do a spot of Snokling and thats just as good, can I get some impartial advice please.

Thanks in advance Demon_SaV

Damon, i am not into this diving lark but Rob is a qualified deep diver.

The price for the open water course you have quoted, to my knowledge, is pretty reasonable. From my memory, the open water course involved some pool time ( approx 5 hours) while rob was tested on skills ( ie: taking off the mask and putting it back on, taking the regulator out, throwing it away and then finding it and re inserting etc) and he also did an extensive theory test before doing 4 dives in open water at Capon Wrae. I seem to remember part of the theory involved depths, breathing time, surface time, floor time etc..and he had a little chart to work things out. Knowing how long it took Rob to be properly qualified, i wouldn't have thought you would of had time on holiday to complete the course and still do other things unless they intend on cutting corners ( as some do.. give you 20 minutes in the pool and away you go)

I am no expert ( i did a try dive and did the skills but had no interest in diving further as i am abit nesh) but i would suggest you do some try dives out there. I cannot comment on the safety as each diving school i sdifferent, but knowing what i know now, the one Rob did his diving with in GC was not safe ( he was just a holiday maker then who fancied diving and did his PADI when he got back home)

I can thoroughly recommend snorkelling as even I can manage that, but make sure you wear a t shirt or something as it is easy to forget how the sun is beating down on you when you are in the water. The visability is very good and you can still see all the marine life. However, the final decision is yours.. what ever you decide, i am sure you will enjoy it....

Hi there, going to Sharm week this coming Sunday, staying at the Grand Rotana for the first week HB then the Calimera Royal Moderna AI for the second, can anyone please tell me about these hotels and the location compared to Narma bay?

The main topic I wanna talk about is the price of the PADI Open Water Course, I've been on the net and I get prices around the £250 mark, now is this a good price or can I expect to get a good deal haggling when I'm out there? Also is it safe?

Some people have advised me that we could just do a spot of Snokling and thats just as good, can I get some impartial advice please.

Thanks in advance Demon_SaV

Hi

We will be staying at the Hilton dreams in Sharm at Easter and intend to complete our open water diving course while we are there, we have almost completed the confined water dives and theory and just need to complete 2 open water dives in Egypt to finish the course. Can anyone recommend a dive centre? We already contacted Sinai dive who wanted 50 Euros per dive which would cost around £400 for 3 of us, quite pricey. Any suggestions or recommendations welcome.

Thanks

Lara1

Hi lara1
My hubby dives (3rd year) with divers international, look at their website. If you book by email and pay a deposit they do not charge the local tax, saving around 15%, they also give a discount if you have dived with them before. In sharm they are at the Crowne Plaza hotel which is on the Far Garden Reef and hubby had a few shore dives including a night dive from the jetty, they are also at the Sofitel Hotel on the edge of naama bay.
I dont dive but always go on the boat to snorkel and we have a fab time.

Hi Elaine

Thanks for your help, I'll have a look at their site it's always reassuring to get a personal recommendation. This will be our first time in Sharm and I don't know what to expect, we dived for the first time in turkey last July and the language barrier made life very difficult we were the only English speakers on the boat! Is English quite widely spoken around the area and on the dive boats, I gather its quite a popular resort for the British?

Thanks

Lara1

Whoever you decide to dive with Lara you should be able to secure at least 10% off if you book in advance . English is widely spoken so no worries there and the dive boats are a lot posher than the ones in Turkey having said that my hubby has dived in both turkey and sharm and thoroughly enjoyed both, its just a lot easier in sharm as most of the decent hotels have a dive centre on site. my hubby uses sinai dive club http://www.dive-club.com who he thoroughly recommends. they operate out of the hilton fayrouz which I believe is opposite your hotel . according to their site they charge 50 euros per each referral dive before any discount you could get out of them for 3 of you booking in advance. Although they may of been who you contacted but there is sinai divers as well

lyn

I would recommend you have a look at werner lau. at the moment they have a offer called buddy weeks, so you pay for one, and your buddy gets it for free. worth a look! i think the website is http://www.wernerlau.com
hope you have a great time...i wish i was going!!!

Thanks for your help Elaine and sazzle, just need to work out the best deal for us, we're flying out on the 29th can't wait!

Lara1

Does anyone know of a good diving Centre close to St george, Three Corners Resort

Hi
just came back from sharm, I dived with Aquarius diving, out of the coral sea resort, we picked up a few divers from the 3 corners on the way to the boat, very good set up, give them a try

rob