DAHAB

The diving is fantastic all year round. The water temperature rarely drops below 20°C, and rises to 29°C in late summer. The visibility is often over 30m; 10m is classed as bad!

Dahab is only an hour from Sharm airport (SSH) and easily accessible from Cairo by bus.

NO NEED FOR A VISA if you…

• Fly directly to Sharm (no transfer in Cairo or other Egyptian airport
• Stay in Sinai (don´t travel into Egypt mainland)
• Don’t plan to dive the Thistlegorm

YOU WILL NEED A VISA otherwise. You can buy your visa online or when you arrive at the airport.

Sunny, sunny, sunny… with around six days of rain a year. If you are coming to the winter or early spring IDCs, bring a couple of jumpers as the thermometer can drop below 10°C. If you are planning to come in the summer, prepare yourself for lots of ice-creams and fresh-squeezed juices with days that can go above 40°C.

Dahab is a very safe place with low crime rate, but of course follow usual traveller precautions. Most hotels have safes, though you are welcome to use the dive centre safe for cash, passport and your PADI hologram.

Your equipment will have its own locker at the dive centre, which has CCTV. Ibrahim, our gas blender, lives on-site.

Though the Sinai has had some negative media coverage in recent years, Dahab is in the South Sinai, over 400 km from the troubled north. Cairo has been cleared as safe for years now.

Travel insurance for the region can be purchased here

We are very lucky to have Dr. Heikel and Dr. Sadek to take care of our Dahab medical needs. These two doctors are able to advise on most issues that ail the locals and tourists alike and they have a vast knowledge of diving-related medicine. In the unlikely event that you need their services while you’re here, you’ll be in great hands.

Pharmacies are fairly well-stocked and usually you don’t need a prescription, but bring your preferred remedies from home to avoid stress. The mantra from May till October is ‘drink more water.’ If you don’t, it can lead to a dodgy belly which is easily fixed with locally-sourced tummy-bug-related meds.

We have an strict policy about walking in speedos when you’re not in your wetsuit. Just kidding. Kind of. In all honesty, Dahab is a tourist town, and the locals are used to seeing people in Western resort wear and swimming costumes on the promenade and in the hotels around the pool. We do however recommend covering up a bit more when you are in other areas of Dahab. Shorts and T-shirts are fine, but walking through the market in your bikini will raise more than a few eyebrows.

If you travel to Cairo, the dress is much more modest. Women will be most comfortable with knees and elbows covered, and some mosques will require female visitors to cover their heads. Sling a scarf into your bag to avoid disappointment if you’re doing some touring of religious sites. Men rarely wear shorts in Cairo, but if you choose to do so, longer ones are better.

You will be surprise of the variety of supplies and food you can get here. It will be easy for you to get nearly everything you may be looking for or might have forgotten. Sadly, you will not be able to find pork, marmite, brown sauce or very specific products from your home country, so bring what you absolutely cannot do without!!

If you are missing some dive gear for your IDC, think about purchasing it directly in the local dive shops. They are extremely well-equipped and IDC candidates can often enjoy special discounts.

The local beer is good, but if you want an special imported bottle or champagne to celebrate after your IE, then we recommend you to pop into the airport duty free when you arrive in Sharm.