Scuba Diving :)

[Ticktock]

Aren't the diving areas a few hundred kms away from the trouble areas though?

Well yes, the diving areas are out in the water, whereas the trouble areas tend to be more on the land.


Without being alarmist, however, don't forget that it's within the past few years that tourists and resorts were targetted in bomb and gun attacks. Generally safer than some other areas in Egypt, yes, but compared to other great places to dive in the world, no.

[cojak]

Luxor massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh what twaddle, get on a liveaboard and you'll have a wonderful time.

[Clare@InTouch]

Luxor massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aren't you a ray of sunshine!

I'm not planning on a dive holiday until next year, so I'll see how it goes between now and then. If it looks dodgy then I'll try somewhere closer to home until it's safe to go there.

[Clare@InTouch]

Oh what twaddle, get on a liveaboard and you'll have a wonderful time.

Now that's something that I really like the idea of, and it's not as expensive as I thought it would be.

Trouble is I'm not sure I'd want to come back home!

[Ticktock]

Aren't you a ray of sunshine!

I'm not planning on a dive holiday until next year, so I'll see how it goes between now and then. If it looks dodgy then I'll try somewhere closer to home until it's safe to go there.

I would definitely wait and see. Unfortunately, there have been a number of attacks specifically targetting tourists in Egypt:
2004 Sinai bombings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2006 Dahab bombings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[bobspud]

Also well worth a trip to the Maldives if you want to dive somewhere breathtaking.

[northernladuk]

I would definitely wait and see. Unfortunately, there have been a number of attacks specifically targetting tourists in Egypt:
2004 Sinai bombings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2006 Dahab bombings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These are a long time ago and alot has moved on there since all this. The country is changing every 3 months at the moment so wouldn't dwell on nearly decade old history as a sign. I have been to Sharm twice in the last 5 years and apart from the culture and attitude towards women and kids it was fine. I know quite a few people that have also holidayed there and have loved it.

Note : Avoid the Red Sea Diving College like the plague though. They took my 12 year old out with a reg that wasn't even drawing and I had to point it out to the instructor after trying to get my lad underwater 3 times.

There are plenty of other diving places apart from Sharm and Maldives. These are the very best places to dive. There is still tons to see at many of the Mediterranean resorts. If you are happy to dive in UK waters anything else is going to be be better to be fair.

My plan was to get to advanced open water qualifications before going on holiday so I could make the most while I was out there rather than waste a week on training dives. I actually shot myself in the foot as I gave up with UK diving before finishing it. With hindsight I would have qualified if I had done it on hols.

[Clare@InTouch]

That's kind of why I wanted to train in the UK. I passed lots of dive places in Java & Bali, but their Health & Safety is sketchy to say the least! I hoped that by learning here I'd be better able to know if something was wrong when I was abroad. Plus it gives me an excuse to go back to Bali.

[d000hg]

NLUK - I think you're right about the kit, I've still got full horsey gear from when I took up riding lessons a couple of year ago but didn't carry on with it. I keep thinking I'll go back to it, but never seem to get around to it. I just have random riding boots and a whip in my cupboard

Can you use the horsey kit for diving somehow? Put a scuba tank on a horse?


There are some beautiful, amazing bits on the UK coastline - other than the cooler water of course. Cornwall for instance has pretty clean water and about a gazillion ship-wrecks, although tidal currents are often a factor... you have to dive at slack water.

[northernladuk]

That's kind of why I wanted to train in the UK. I passed lots of dive places in Java & Bali, but their Health & Safety is sketchy to say the least! I hoped that by learning here I'd be better able to know if something was wrong when I was abroad. Plus it gives me an excuse to go back to Bali.

The reason I took up courses was after a dive in Cuba. I had only a couple of taster dives on the system but they took me straight out to 20m off a RIB with one guide for 7 of us. He had to hold on to one of the ladies as she was another nervous newbie. I hyperventilated at the surface so couldn't get down at first but they just disappeared so had no choice. I was ok once I got down but ran out of air during the dive due to not being able to get my buoyancy right so had to surface and wait for 10 mins. Bobbing about with out a boat or land in sight and couldn't see any of the guys below me.. I tulip myself big time. Booked myself in for courses as soon as I got home.