Dive instructor, Terry Axam, shares his past.
I remember a time when you could jump into the back of a pick up truck and go anywhere for 3LE (30p) regardless of how many people it was carrying. I remember living in an area called Hey El Nour thinking I was doing really well because I had just come from a guest house (if you could call it that!) called the Pigeon House. At the time I had opted for the slightly more expensive 50LE per night room because it was a proper room with fan, not a bamboo hut! I still had to use the communal bathroom, but even this I considered better than another area of Sharm called Hadaba. It had no roads, no lights and you really took your life into your own hands if you were taking a trip there. If you fell down one of the numerous holes, you'd never be found! I remember shouting up to the roof to my flatmate to give our satellite dish a kick just to get a fuzzy BBC world picture that we would watch because we were too broke to go out. I remember getting my guests on a Monday and diving with them for 6 days solid. A night dive and trips to Dunraven and Thistlegorm were regarded the normal itinerary for the week. Divers checked out on Saturdays and we blew the tip money in "Camel" that evening and recovered on the Sunday.
