Try UK.rec.scuba as well... they spend a lot of time around there. Sharm el
Sheikh sounds popular, and with the plane down there must be some
fainthearted worriers cancelling so prices may be cheaper for the next few
weeks/months

rhys

Sorry, no politics, no guns or religion or Bushwacking.
No DIR either.

Can't help that "dan mcgraw" asked:

The Red Sea is all about diving, diving and diving again.
O.K. you got lots and lots and lots of nifty resorts, but once out of
the gate, you've seen it all in 5 minutes flat.
I would not swap a minute underwater for an hour on dry land and I
always wonder what all those people from all over the world who do not
dive are looking for.
Ah yes, the sun. The blistering sun.

If you're never been tot the Red Sea, any location will offer a lot to
be discovered, because the fauna differs ever so slightly from what
you find in the Carribean. Or in the Far East.
Even if you find much the same collection of species, you'll see a lot
of different colours.

In fact all of the Red Sea offers terrific diving.
The question is more like 'Are you spoiled. And if so, how much?

And the rule of the tumb is: the more spoiled you are, the further
south you move. The Sinaï Gulf is nice, improving as you move down
until you arrive at Sharm el Sheikh, where diving is endemic.
If you want to see some really nice and well documented vintage wrecks
any liveaboard out of Sharm El Sheik will cater for your wildest
dreams.

A bit further south, and on a different shore you'll find Hurghada,
where diving has become a heavy industry. And to be perfectly frank I
would advise to give that a miss, but for the very, very new ones.
Still even there, there is some fantastic diving to be done, but it
has become all too crowded for my taste, and too dependent on sheer
luck.

Given the luxury of your choice, I would fly into Marsa Alam. From a
local resort I would visit such enchanting places as Elphinstone reef
-preferably on a slow day ;-) and 'the house of the dophins' Sha-ab
Samadaï.
Or rather I would book a live aboard that would take me to the deep
south, close to Sudanese waters. Or to the middle of the Red Sea and
the Brother Islands, where 'lost time' on the lengthy boattrip is
amply compensated for.
Mind you, heavey currents does not make this an easy site. Not
suitable for your dive-only-once-a-year Padi Open Water Diver ...

Take care. Have fun.

HES van Schoonhoven

Dan, Liveaboard is the way to go. Try booking a trip on a 'good'
liveaboard, such as the Hurricane or the Oyster.

My suggestion would be to go for a 'best of' trip, typically the
Brother Islands, Daedalus Reef and Elphinstone. Only a handfull of
boats are able to do this itinerary in 1 week because of the large
distances. I did this trip last year on the Oyster and we did 4 dives
a day.

Regards

Steven
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Try this British site... http://www.regal-diving.co.uk/ they specialize in
dive travel, red sea is one of many destinations they offer. Not bad prices,
but one needs to get to London first.

Milo