Emperor Divers News

Emperor at LIDS Dive Show

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:57:59 +0000

Stand 400. March 27/28

Dive the Red Sea and enjoy Emperor's Value for Money diving. You get the best service added to the best diving at undeniably great value.

'In Resort' dive packages give you the complete holiday experience. There's the chance to win 4 x 5-day dive packs and when you book at the show, buy one dive pack and get one free.

This is the perfect year-round destination from the UK. Emperor covers more ground (and sea) than most with centres in Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Nuweiba, Sharm El Sheikh and Dive Tribe/El Gouna.

Take advantage of one-off show liveaboard offers on Emperor's luxury fleet - even more great value diving in fabulous surroundings from the Red Sea's top diving company!

Email today for more fascinating information info@emperordivers.com

Surprise Marsa Alam dive ends in tears...happy ones!

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:10:49 +0000

Bottlenose Dolphin encounter on 8th February 2010
By Sarah Iles, dive guide, Emperor Marsa Alam

Photo by Keith McKay

After two very nice morning dives, I was a little disappointed when the Captain said we had to move as the wind had changed direction. Due to an unusual south wind we headed to Marsa Mubarak South reef.

We jumped in on a site that I knew had amazing corals and there to greet us were lots of big red snapper and spotted sweetlips.

Suddenly I was aware of a diver getting my attention. I turned to look and above us were five big bottlenose dolphins.

They came down to inspect us, swimming very close. They surfaced for air and then came back, playing around us before disappearing off into the blue. Of course we were all elated, but it was time to turn back.

Swimming over a stunning hard coral garden we were still totally enjoying our encounter, when they came back! This time they started mimicking us swimming and coming even closer, right up to us as we made our way to the boat. WOW! An incredible experience, made even better by a guest who was an instructor with over 2500 dives coming to me with tears in his eyes, saying he had never had a better dive.

Just goes to show that when you think that moving dive sites is a bad decision, surprises can happen and make your day.

Go diving in Marsa Alam - a whole lot more information awaits you here.

New 'Palace Housereef' for Marsa Alam

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:21:38 +0000

The first official Palace Housereef dive took place recently. Now guests are just one giant stride away from one of the most amazing reefs in the area. Hawksbill turtles, barracudas and lionfish are seen on a regular basis.

Marsa Alam Dive Centre Manager, Vanessa Ronecker and Tom Bauer, Area General Manager for InterContinental Hotels in Port Ghalib, are pictured preparing for the giant leap!

Following his first diving experience, Tom decided to start his open water course straight away. During their dive they were accompanied by a little hawksbill turtle, lionfish and loads of anthias. Guests can choose morning or afternoon dives and even really early morning and night dives!

Click here for more on diving in Marsa Alam

Marsa Alam guests enjoy dolphins and eagle rays

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:58:42 +0000

Guests with Emperor Marsa Alam recently spotted a pod of dolphins in the bay at Marsa Shoni Kebeir. Snorkelling gear was donned quickly and the group enjoyed the privilege of being accepted by the dolphins for a while. But the adventure was to get even better as later, during their dive, they met a huge eagle ray leisurely passing by. All agreed, it was a magical day!

Then just the next day, the Zaher family from Switzerland went out on the speedboat for a one-tank dive in Marsa Mubarak. On their way out of the marina they spotted eight bottlenose dolphins and actually went snorkelling with them. What a fabulous family experience! Wait for it...on their dive in Marsa Mubarak south they found two eagle rays passing them on a sandy spot! Yet another magical Marsa day.

Save 20 Euros on Special Dive Trips

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:50:31 +0000

'20 Euro off' Voucher

This voucher entitles the holder to 20 Euro off Special Dive Trips
Valid until 31 December 2010

Valid for diving in Hurghada, Marsa Alam*, Nuweiba or Sharm El Sheikh

Trips include:

Hurghada: SS Thistlegorm, Abu Nuhas, Early bird tranquility
Marsa Alam: Elphinstone, Shouni Kebir, Marsa Mubarak
*excluding Abu Dabab and Dolphin House Reef
Nuweiba: Dahab, Ras Mamlach, Go diving by Camel to El Mazeriq
Sharm: Day trip to Dahab, Overnight Thistlegorm, Overnight Ras Mohammed, Hammerhead diver, One-day underwater photo trip to Nuweiba

To claim your trip, just print and present the voucher when booking in resort.

Sorry, only one voucher per person per holiday. Book in resort.

It cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offers on Emperor services or on third dives, shop purchases, course materials, certification fees, special tanks, lunch, drinks or Marine Park fees.

Marsa Alam trains diver on new Cavern Diver Course

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:07:29 +0000

Emperor Divers' Marsa Alam instructor, David Armstrong, proudly presents Peter Beverley with his brand new cavern diver certificate. Having done his Cavern Diver Course, Peter was immensely impressed with the caverns and enjoyed the adventure of his dives into a new underwater area of the Red Sea.

The cavern diver course is available to anyone with at least Advanced Open Water and aged 18 years or more. You can do the course over two or three days. The cavern system is reachable by day boat and speedboat.

Email info.reservations@emperordivers.com for more information.

Better 'Seasafe than sorry' - Emperor's new alert tracking system for divers

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:12:51 +0000

Although it is very rare in this day and age for someone to go missing at sea, unfortunately it can happen.

As Emperor Divers has always been at the forefront of safety in the Red Sea, it's reassuring to know that we will soon have a Missing Diver Location System on all Emperor Fleet liveaboards. It's hoped that other operators will also install this in order to help us give search cover for much of the Red Sea's famous dive sites.

The system is called Seasafe, whereby the diver wears a small compact tracking unit on either their arm or BCD. With just the touch of a button a missing diver at the surface with a problem can alert all boats in the area with the Seasafe system. This alert triggers a series of steps to co-ordinate a search using a powerful directional antenna to pinpoint the missing diver. During an Emperor training and demo session recently the system tested accurately up to 18km away.

Special offer - Marsa Alam 7 nights half board hotel & diving just 380 Euros

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:26:44 +0000

MARINA LODGE HOTEL (MARSA ALAM) SPECIAL OFFER

Exclusive with Emperor Divers

7 nights' accommodation on Half Board basis
PLUS 5 days diving or Open Water Course
PLUS Airport transfers

Hotel + Airport Transfers + 5 Days Diving = €380
Hotel + Airport Transfers + Open Water Course = €445

Prices are per person, based on 2 people sharing a twin room.
(Single Room supplement will apply).

Does not include equipment rental when daily diving, materials or certification fee.
This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer from Emperor and is subject to availability.

Valid for arrivals: 02/09/09, 16/09/09 and 30/09/09

Email reservations@emperordivers.com for more information

SAVE up to 28% OFF your DIVE PACKS & COURSES

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:42:07 +0000

SAVE up to 28% Dive Packs & Courses

Hurghada, Nuweiba, Marsa Alam & Sharm el Sheikh

Now - 30 Sep 2009

Offer applies to:

Daily Dive Packages

BSAC selected courses

PADI Open Water Course

PADI Scuba Diver Course

PADI Fastrack Course

PADI Referral Course + Advanced Open Water Course + Scuba Reviews

PADI Discover Scuba Diver Programmes

How to book online:

Select the Diving Package or Course you require.

Your 28% discount has already been automatically deducted

For more details contact reservations@emperordivers.com

Terms & Conditions:

Saving of 28% applies to Emperor Dive Centres in Hurghada, Nuweiba, Marsa Alam & Sharm el Sheikh

Offer is for diving services taken within dates shown and valid on bookings paid prior to arrival only.

Course materials and certification are additional, paid locally.

Diving includes 2 dives per day with tanks & weights.

Extras in resort (special trips, third dives, night dives etc), equipment, fees & taxes are additional, paid locally.

This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers.

Marsa Alam BSAC Dive Report - 03 to 17 June 2009

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:34:57 +0000

David McCall kindly wrote an entertaining and enlightening epistle about his recent trip to Emperor Marsa Alam staying at the Marina Lodge. No editing of any kind has gone on here - it's literally as David experienced it.

Photo by Martin Hammond

"My wife Christine and I just returned from two weeks at the Marina Lodge Hotel in Port Ghalib, Marsa Alam. We chose the Marina Lodge because Emperor Divers were sited at the hotel, and their day boats were moored about 30 meters from our hotel room!

Having dived the Red Sea at the usual resorts of Hurghada, Sharm, El Gouna, Soma Bay we decided to try Marsa Alam which is just a bit further south and within reach of Elphinstone without being aboard a safari boat. We booked the complete package with Longwood Holidays including a 12 day dive pack.

Thistlegorm and Abu Nuhas from Hurghada and Marsa Alam

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:10:37 +0000

Now you can visit the best of the Red Sea's wrecks on an overnight trip from Hurghada and Marsa Alam. For guests from Marsa Alam a transfer leaves at 7am to make the scenic drive through the desert to Hurghada. On the way you pass through the picturesque town of El Quseir. The town gives you a glimpse of real Egypt and you'll see the ancient fort built by the Romans and renovated by British and French colonial forces.

The boat (one of Emperor's luxury liveaboards) leaves from the Hurghada Marina at 10am (giving guests from Hurghada a pleasant lie in). You'll travel straight up to the mighty Thistlegorm for an afternoon dive (after the daily boats have left), followed by an atmospheric night dive on the ghostly wreck. There is time for an early morning dive (before the daily boats arrive) and then we head across to Abu Nuhas 'the ultimate reef for wreck-diving in the Red Sea' for two dives (normally on the Carnatic and the Giannis D).

FREE diving on us - and save up to 15% on the rest

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:53:24 +0000

July is usually the time for big things to happen in the Red Sea so book your diving with Emperor and enjoy a day's diving on us for FREE!

We like to stay ahead of the crowd and have been offering this great incentive since last October with lots of divers having already taken the plunge.

Just book anything from three day's diving and you get an extra day free. Book online and enjoy an extra 10% discount too! Dived with Emperor before? Then you get 15% off!

Pack your bags, book your flight and Emperor is ready and waiting to take you diving!

Choose from Emperor's dive centres in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada. Marsa Alam or Nuweiba; your choice.

Email info.reservations@emperordivers.com

Go now! Dive Hurghada, Marsa Alam or Sharm at great prices with Scuba Travel

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:24:52 +0000

Bay View & Emperor Oxygene Sharm - £595

Offer Price (£595) includes -

• Return flights Gatwick to Sharm

• Transfers to/from Airport

• 7 nights B&B basis

• 5 days diving (2 dives / day)

• Based on 2 sharing

DATES

20th June - 27th June 2009

27th June - 04th July 2009

UPGRADES

Diving Upgrades

• Open Water Course - add £120

• Open Water Referral plus 3 days diving - add £70

• Advanced Course plus 3 days diving - add £120

Accommodation Upgrades

• Single Supplement - add £40

• Half Board- add £30

• Take a non-diver - minus £100

Marina Lodge & Emperor Oxygene Marsa Alam - £495

Offer Price (£495) includes -

• Return flights Gatwick to Marsa

• Transfers to/from Airport

• 7 nights Half Board basis

• 5 days diving (2 dives / day)

• Based on 2 sharing

DATES

17th June - 24th June 2009

24th June - 01st July 2009

UPGRADES

Diving Upgrades

• Open Water Course - add £120

• Open Water Referral plus 3 days diving - add £70

• Advanced Course plus 3 days diving- add £120

Accommodation Upgrades

• Single Supplement - add £60

• Take a non diver - minus £75

Marriott Hotel & Emperor Oxygene Hurghada - £595

Offer Price (£595) includes -

• Return flights Gatwick to Hurghada

• Transfers to/from Airport

• 7 nights B&B basis

• 5 days diving (2 dives / day)

• Based on 2 sharing

DATES

12th June 2009 - 19th June 2009

UPGRADES

Diving Upgrades

• Open Water Course - add £80

• Open Water Referral plus 3 days diving - add £80

• Advanced Course plus 3 days diving - add £100

Accommodation Upgrades

• Single Supplement - add £100

• Half Board- add £55

• Take a non diver - minus £100

Email travel@scuba.co.uk or 0800 072 8221 or outside UK +44 (0)1483 271765

Frogfish in Marsa Alam?

Fri, 22 May 2009 09:55:51 +0000

Marsa is famed for its dugong, huge turtles, Elphinstone's sharks and the dolphins at Dolphin House. However, guests occasionally ask the Marsa Alam team what type of fish they have just seen and describe "a small blob walking very slowly". The guides normally smile politely and ask them to drink more water! But when dive guide, Mo, spotted one for himself he had to get proof otherwise he would never live it down.

Luckily returning Emperor Marsa guest, Tracey Heaps, was close by with her camera and got this great picture of a tiny Frogfish. Well done Mo and Tracey for a fantastic find! And we all believe you now!

Marsa Alam goes underground...well Sea Caverns anyway!

Tue, 05 May 2009 17:58:09 +0000

After many months of research, mapping and some very long dives by the Marsa Alam Emperor technical dive team, stage one mapping of the caverns means you can now do the PADI Cavern Specialty. For many years guides have known there were some caverns in the area and had guided a few highly experienced divers into them on occasion. Eventually, dive guide, Mo, finally found them again and started to draw a map of the entrance area duly named Mo's Cavern (The Simpsons' Mo's Tavern...get it?) in honor of its founder!

Emperor's technical dive team finished putting the final pieces to this puzzle and have so far mapped and permanently lined over 130 metres of cavern with some still to do!

Aaron Bruce of Emperor's technical wing, Tekstreme, said, "These caverns are beautiful and are a unique feature for the Ghalib area but divers need to be very well trained in the techniques to enter them and enjoy a part of the Red Sea only seen by a hand full of divers."

As luck would have it Emperor Divers has its own PADI Cavern Instructor and Cavern trained guides so now you can learn new diving skills and go on to enjoy the caverns with your guide the next time you are at Marsa Alam.

Email reservations@emperordivers.com and book your adventure today!

Course sizes are limited to just 2 students and take either 2 or 3 days so early booking is essential as this is already proving to be very popular. Contact reservations@emperordivers.com for more information and come and join us under the Red Sea and inside of Egypt!