February 2008 Archives

Marsa Alam, Nuweiba, Sharm El Sheikh (Shark's Bay) are now BSAC Dive Training Centres.

Thirteen instructors from a selection of Emperor's dive centres descended on Sharm to carry out our crossover training to become BSAC Open Water Instructors. The aim of this conversion was for Emperor to become the main BSAC flagship company providing BSAC courses and catering to their members' needs in the Red Sea, and what a success it was.

Emperor Divers has invited a Platinum-rated Course Director to run their Instructor Development Courses at their Sharm El Sheikh dive centre in the Red Sea.

Steve Prior has been a PADI member for over 15 years and for the past seven has been teaching Instructor Development Courses. Steve has now reached the remarkable milestone of over 1700 instructor level certifications.

This is your opportunity to dive one of the Red Sea's must-see WWII wrecks, SS Thistlegorm, on our newly scheduled overnight trip.

The dive sites:

Shark & Yolanda Reef: - The most famous dive site in Sharm and one of the top ten dive sites of the world. Strong currents can make this an exhilarating drift dive along sheer walls leading to beautiful coral gardens and the wreck of Yolanda. The possibility of Black Tipped Reef Sharks swimming with spiralling Barracuda and shoals of Snapper, Batfish and Unicorn fish are not uncommon. Not to mention the Turtles, Rays, Napoleon fish and numerous Moray Eels.

Make it a family day out!

Do one guided beach dive for your orientation and then on the following days you can enjoy unlimited, unguided dives with your friends and family.

40 Euros per diver per day
Non-divers, friends and family are welcome to join you at the beach for an entry fee of just 20le.

Note: No solo diving allowed. All divers must have a buddy.

Starting from 1 April, budget airline EasyJet is now offering a route to Sharm El Sheikh from London Gatwick. They are also offering flights to Hurghada until April.

Baggage allowance is 20kg with an extra allowance of 12kg for diving equipment for £30 return. EasyJet charges £7.98 per item checked in the hold per flight.

Flights will run every day of the week except Fridays and Sundays. They will also take group bookings on line for up to 40 people.

Check out their website for prices and details: www.easyjet.co.uk

Under the supervision of Marsa Alam's 'Resident Instructor Dugong Spotter' (RIDS!), Mo, guests have had no less than 10 encounters this month including two dugong at the surface a couple of times.

The team is looking at the relationship of weather, tides and moon phase to see if there is a pattern that would allow them to predict when the sightings increase. So far, surface sightings seem to be in rough seas and almost all sightings are around mid day.

One strange idea was that they are attracted by singing underwater...however, this seemed to have had the reverse effect but if you have heard the guides sing you would completely understand why!