Recently in El Gouna Category

In the last year or so our resort teams have seen a big increase in family and friends of divers booking snorkelling trips with our sister company, Oceans Red Sea.

We know there are lots of boat trips for non divers available but believe our expertise and love of everything Red Sea sets our trips apart. Our aim is to make these fun but also educational; what's more, the same great guides you dive with help non-divers master the art of snorkelling as well as teaching them about the amazing marine life.
 
Maybe you have family and friends who are thinking of taking a holiday in the Red Sea and, if so, we hope you might recommend Oceans Red Sea. Do tell them that, if they book their place using the website, they get a 10% discount.
 
All they have to do is visit www.oceansredsea.com to book a trip that many of our past guests say was the "highlight of their holiday".
 
Thanks for passing this information on. We feel sure your family and friends will enjoy a quality boat excursion whilst on their Red Sea holiday .

If you would like more information, please email reservations@oceansredsea.com

Here's what Abi Cleaver had to say about her recent Oceans trip...

"First experience snorkelling/scuba diving made extremely enjoyable and relaxing.  I felt very safe and the day overall was really good.  I would use this centre to learn the full techniques of diving."
 

It's great when saving money is so easy!

Our Low Season prices give you the most fantastic value Red Sea diving.

Just go to our online booking, select where to dive, what diving you want and the rest is done for you as our booking system is being rather helpful and clever and works it all out for you.

Prepare for a nice figure...

Or you can email info.reservations@emperordivers.com for more information and that personal touch!

Share your photos and you could be the winner of 2 dive packs worth up to £320 to enjoy at an Emperor Dive Centre of your choice.

You'll get 4 days of fabulous boat or shore diving (depending on resort) at any one of our five Emperor Diver Centres in the warm, clear waters of the Red Sea - probably the best diving in the world.

• Entries can be uploaded from 7 November, until 2 December. 
• Vote for your favourite photo between 3 and 8 December. The entry with the most votes wins! Get your friends involved and ask them to support your entry.
• The winner will be announced on 9 December.

Pictures can be from anywhere in the world but must include some aspect of people diving e.g. kitting up, on a dive, marine life or coral, wrecks, immediately after a dive, on the dive boat etc.
 
Enter today and you could be diving in El Gouna, Hurghada, Nuweiba, Marsa Alam or Sharm el Sheikh - the choice is yours.
 
Just click here, Like us on Facebook and enter the competition!

A new tour operator specialising in diving holidays has launched including a website featuring diving in El Gouna and Nuweiba with yours truly, Emperor Divers.

Aimed at dive travellers seeking the very best accommodation, dive centres and service, Holiday Designers, set up by Dan Lion and his team of dedicated travel professionals, has a specialist division, Dive Holiday Designers, which provides the same high level of customer service synonymous with Dan and his extensive experience. Says Dan, "The team prides themselves on service and we go out of our way to provide clients with the best advice to ensure the greatest holiday experience possible."

Contact Dive Holiday Designers on 020 3384 0024 to speak to a consultant who will tailor your holiday to suit you or email info@holiday-designers.com or visit www.diveholidaydesigners.com. Happy travels!

Dive Holiday Designers are members of the Travel Trust Association, U9341 and hold an ATOL, T7406, so travel arrangements are financially protected to give peace of mind and security.

El Gouna
Report by Mat Cotton, Dive Centre Manager

Luckily, the reefs that we focused on to clean had very little rubbish and trash to be collected! This means that after the few weeks of debris dives, we still had not collected much litter - rather a result we felt. This prompted the staff to undertake their own clean up of their local jetty area near the dive centre, which was in need of a clean-up!

Hopefully guests diving with us enjoyed their debris dives as well as being able to help the local environment here in El Gouna.

We also had a school group recently who did a reef survey and found the local corals to be very healthy. Emperor also arranged for HEPCA to come and give a talk during this time about the affect of tourism on the local environment and what we are doing to counter this.

Among the more obscure items we collected over the few weeks were:
A large car tyre
Fuel canisters
Various masks and snorkels which, if in working condition, were donated to local staff.

 

Marsa Alam
Report by Luke Atkinson, Dive Centre Manager with special thanks to Ian Clarke for this amusing photo of 'glove on head'. Possible contender for the Turner Prize?

71 people took part in our cleanup dives over four separate 'Debris Days'. Over 70 kg of rubbish overall was collected as well as 355 Euros raised for Project AWARE.

Some comments from our guests...

Mick Scott, "Well done guys, keep up the good work."
Big Blue Marble, "Great effort, it's good to see this sort of cleanup. Lets hope others follow."
Phil Mills, "I fully support debris dives. Well done."

They're back and we know you love them.

Our Dive Show Specials at the NEC, Birmingham, on 22/23 October this year include:

• Buy one get one half price on day diving
• Buy one get one half price on selected dive courses
• Take a luxury liveaboard on Elite or Superior - Reefs & Wrecks or Classic just 600 Euro pp
• How about South & St Johns - just 700 Euro pp
• Or Simply the Best - just 799 Euro pp

Book yourself a treat when you visit us at Stand 821

OR

BOOK ONLINE - ONLY from 1 - 25 October*

This year, you can book our Specials online from 1 October until 25 October (*except for El Gouna and Marsa Alam, which can only be booked online or at the Dive Show on 22/23 October).

Click here for the full details and how to book.

 

Report and photos by Georgina Cole

For a few years the daily dive boats from El Gouna and Hurghada have not been allowed to visit the 130m long British armed Merchant Navy ship SS Thistlegorm so the only way to dive this wreck from this side of the Red Sea is to book a liveaboard trip.

Occasionally we hear of day trips using safari licenses and on Saturday, whilst disappointed that a planned day trip had been cancelled, I was told by Mat Cotton at Emperor Divers in El Gouna of an overnight trip departing on Sunday. It sounded perfect so I took my kit over to Emperor at the Moevenpick Hotel and booked myself on. My fellow club members interested in the Thistlegorm had already rebooked a dive to the Rosalie Moller, which is a regular trip for us, so it was just going to be me departing on Sunday from our club.

On Sunday morning I was picked up and driven over to Abydos Marina, where most of the dive boats depart in El Gouna, and boarded the boat 'Sea Dream'. Whilst I was not expecting the usual luxurious Emperor safari boats just for an overnighter I was pleased to find out that myself and the other divers had ensuite cabins. Once the formalities of passport copies was sorted we were on our way around 9.30am. So just six divers in total, the crew and two guides.

It took around three hours to cross the bumpy Straits of Gobal to reach the mooring for the Thistlegorm off the Sinai Coast. When we arrived there was just one other boat moored there with another approaching from the distance. My buddies were Joel aged 15, a PADI AOW with 22 logged dives and his father Ned, both divers at home in Northern Ireland. They were on holiday in Makadi Bay and the non-diving wife had remained at the hotel to relax. Our guide was Mohamed and there were also three Russians diving with the other guide Tarek.

The first dive I was escorted down by two large bat fish probably hoping to find something good to eat in my mass of floating hair. We landed over the bomb damaged section where the ship was hit from the air by the squadron of Heinkels searching for a large troop ship. The two 450kg bombs struck her mid section detonating much ammunition and killing four crew members and nine sailors. With the Egyptian night sky lit up by the blazing ship she sank immediately on 6th October 1940. Hold 4 had been full of armoured vehicles, aerial bombs, cases of anti tank mines, ammunition, hand grenades. I remember when I last dived the wreck a few years ago seeing all the long black rubber Wellington boots which the troops would have used to cross the muddy terrain. All I saw now were the thick soles with the rubber eroded away. We dropped down to the seabed and the steeply listing stern to view the armed freighter's heavy fixed position machine gun and a 120mm anti-aircraft gun silhouetted against the surface. Rounding the stern to the massive propeller and then following the steep sides of the ship along to the bow we were joined by an enormous Napoleon Wrasse. We finished the 41 minute dive on the deck by the crumpled railway wagons with a large turtle resting nearby that we often spotted on the surface later as it came up regularly for air.

After lunch we began the second dive dropping down into hold no.2. This was also my 600th dive! The hold is full of rusting Bedford trucks and rows of BSA and Norton motor bikes. We swam through a hole into hold no. 1 full which was loaded with Lee Enfield Rifles, spare parts, camp beds, tires, more rubber boots, Morris cars and BSA bikes. We only saw our six divers and two guides on both dives unlike before when the holds have been full of divers torch beams and camera flashes. Sorry no underwater photos as no-one on our trip took a camera.

Our surface interval back on deck was spent watching the sunset and preparing for the night dive. Six dive boats were now moored up for the night around us.

This was my first night dive on the Thistlegorm and the plan was to explore the holds again. I was a little apprehensive thinking we wouldn't be able to see the light of the exits out of the holds in the dark but the bright lights of the dive boats on the surface shed a dull glow over the decks. We saw a huge scorpion fish and giant moray and lots of lion fish hunting in the torch light. Really enjoyed the night dive in the eery darkness. 20 meters max depth and 45 minutes dive time and back onboard for dinner.

Moored next to us overnight was a very nice liveaboard full of Italians called Desmondo. After dinner most of us retired to bed around 11pm as we would be briefed at 6am for the next dive. I went down to my cabin and discovered the windows had leaked during the rough crossing and my bed was rather damp at one end! Never mind and very nearly drifting off to sleep but the horrendous roar of the generator from Desmondo kept interrupting my approaching dreams. The boats bright lights were also filtering through my porthole windows and together with the heat of the still, windless night and with our generator switched off and therefore air conditioning and lights not working I decided around 1.30am that I would have to move and find somewhere cooler, quieter and less bright.

I went up to the sun deck but all the benches on the side away from Desmondo were occupied by the other five divers. The upper sun deck was completely soaking wet with condensation due to the high temperature and no wind. I went into the dark lounge and lay on the first seat not wishing to disturb the gentle snoring I could hear further in. Thought I would be fine here until Desmondo drifted round a little closer so now their strong deck lights were bobbing up and down like search lights right onto my face.

It was now around 2.30am and I was tempted to dive down to get some ammunition to sink Desmondo but decided instead to grab a small plastic mattress from a bench and took it down to the also soaking wet dive platform next to the rhib. Perfect as long as I stayed on my small plastic island and didn't let the blanket slip. I lay back and searched for shooting stars just a few feet from the water and then realised just how noisy the sea is at night. The fish were constantly jumping out of the water and splash landing. At least it was more pleasant than the relentless roar of the generator which was inescapable. It was beautifully cool outside and very humid so it wasn't long before my blanket and pillow were damp. Still wide awake at 4.20am it was worth a restless night to see the sky slowly turning pink and the red sun rising from behind the mountains just after 5am. The divers on Des had probably slept very well as they were all kitted up and jumping in the water at 5.40am.

Just two of our group kitted up at 6am for our fourth dive on the Thistlegorm and dropped down to the sea bed at 30 meters and swam about 20m away to one of the locomotives that was blown off the wreck during the forceful explosion. It was nice to have the time to explore the sea bed a little before moving round the outside of the ship and then up to visit the Captain's bathroom. I always think of my father when diving this wreck as the supplies were heading for the British 8th army in North Africa where he was an Officer.

After breakfast we crossed back over to Abu Nuhas to dive the wreck of the Ghiannis D and explored inside the engine room. The Ghiannis D is such a pretty and photographic wreck covered in colourful corals and beautifully lit in the morning sunshine and a regular excursion for our club from El Gouna. The sixth and final dive was at El Gilwa around 11am where we were joined by Emperor's day boat from El Gouna keen to hear the news of our expedition.

We were back early afternoon to a stifling 40 degrees on land but everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I have to say a big thank you to Emperor Divers and especially to Mat for letting me know about the trip and for the excellent service received from their staff, boat crew and guides.

I really enjoyed just doing a one night trip and will definitely organise another trip after Ramadan for our other dive club members and, of course, me to enjoy again.

If you would like to know more about this overnight trip, please email info.reservations@emperordivers.com

 

By Mat Cotton, Manager, Emperor El Gouna

Regular guests of Emperor Divers have more than likely encountered one or more of these fantastic creatures, riding the bow wave of your dive boat, or the really lucky have had the opportunity to spend some time in the water alongside them diving or snorkelling.

Dolphins are a common sight in all areas of the Red Sea, from Taba down to Sudan, but how much do you really know about these intelligent animals?

"We last stayed at the Movenpick in El Gouna two years ago, and chose to return to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. We had a wonderful holiday in 2008, and our return trip did not disappoint.

I emailed the hotel prior to our holiday and asked for a birthday cake to be delivered to our room on arrival, and to have a room close to the main reception area. Both of these requests were accommodated by the Customer Services team.

There has been a significant programme of improvement works at the hotel, which is still ongoing, but is not at all intrusive. Most noticeably, the man Palavrion restaurant has been given a facelift. The breakfast buffet is excellent; a wonderful selection of breads, cakes and pastries, yoghurts and fruits, cheese and sliced meats, cooked breakfast items and a chef to prepare eggs any way you want them.

We booked a dive package with Emperor Divers, who are based at the hotel. The dive centre used to be run by Dive Tribe, who were a great outfit. Most of the staff remain the same and the transition to Emperor has not changed the excellent service. There has clearly been some capital investment from Emperor. The staff are friendly and the boat crew are really good to the divers, helping them off with their scuba gear after a dive.

The resort was extremely quiet when we visited. It seems that the civil unrest in Cairo is keeping tourists away from the Red Sea resorts, but I can assure anyone who is unsure about travelling that El Gouna has been completely unaffected by the troubles in Cairo.

So, if you're looking for an incredibly relaxing holiday in the sun, I really can't recommend El Gouna or the Movenpick highly enough."

Read more from TripAdvisor here