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May 17, 2007

Bay closes to protect Dugongs

From 16 May, 2007, the bay at Marsa Abu Dabab (Marsa Alam area) has been closed to all water-based activities. This includes diving, snorkelling, boating and any other activities that could interfere with the natural behaviour of the resident dugong (sea cow) population. Concern over the harassment of these creatures, and the threat to their continued presence, has led to this decision by the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA).

Whilst limiting the activities of our daily diving and safari operations in the area, we are sure, like us, you can empathise with this this decision as a necessary means to protect this endangered species.

For more information, email reservations@emperordivers.com

May 09, 2007

It's Red Sea Bash party time again & Marsa Alam joins in!

Here's your chance to join in the annual Emperor Red Sea Bash and enjoy some great events throughout June. Win lots of prizes including places on an Emperor Fleet liveaboard!

Hurghada starts the Bash at the start of June, then it's on to Sharm and this year Marsa Alam are joining in the festivities.

Each week in each resort, you could win a liveaboard place as the top prize in the underwater treasure hunt. There are 3-day dive packs to give away, diving magazine subscriptions, Emperor T-shirts, dive accessories, free dives, free Nitrox, special reduced-rate trips, quiz nights and a special prize for the best dressed pirate!

Over the years, this has been such a popular event, so if ever you needed an incentive to book your diving holiday for June to Hurghada, Sharm or Marsa Alam, it looks like this could be it!

Email reservations@emperordivers.com for more info and to book your party place!

Nuweiba diving offers - Celebrate 6 years with Andy & Steffi

To mark their 6th year as Nuweiba dive centre managers, Andy & Steffi are offering up to 45 Euros off a selection of courses. Book yours today, make a saving AND celebrate with Emperor Nuweiba:

Deep Diver Specialty - ONLY 166 Euro
EANx (Nitrox) Diver Specialty - ONLY 66 Euro
Semi Closed Rebreather Course + EANx Diver (Nitrox) - ONLY 366 Euro*
(combined - 4 dives only)
EFR & Rescue Diver Course - ONLY 266 Euro
Offer only applicable on pre-paid reservations (prior to arrival).
Offer only applicable for bookings taken between 1st to 31st May for arrivals in 2007.

* Certification & Materials at an additional charge, payable locally

And many congratulations from Emperor Divers to Andy & Steffi - great team members and here's to the next 6 years!

A word from Steffi and Andy...
"After six years in Nuweiba we want to say thank you to Emperor Divers, our team and, of course, to all our lovely guests who have supported us over the years. We hope you are all well and that we will be seeing you in the near future here in sunny Nuweiba."

Hammerhead in Marsa Alam

Dive Centre manager, Phil Natural, reports...

Due to extreme excitement and no photo from the moment, we've used a stand-in model. Photo by Paul Vinten
"During our latest trip to Elphinstone Reef we had perfect conditions with little surface movement or waves and a slight southern current. We descended onto the north plateau and within 5 minutes, swimming up from the blue, appeared a young Hammerhead, approx 2 metres in length. Our first group was only able to stay for about 5 minutes, but the second group was lucky enough to swim within metres of the shark for about 10 minutes before it swam off again into the blue. 2 boats, 4 guides and a lot of happy diving guests!"

Ingrid becomes one of only 110 Gold Course Directors

Fewer than 110 people in the world have achieved Gold Course Director level in the Frequent Trainer Program, 2007, but Emperor Diver's team member, Ingrid Wittmann, is one of the elite!

Ingrid is from Munich, Germany and started diving in 1989 in New Zealand. In 1992, she became a PADI professional and in 1996 a PADI Master Instructor. She has worked as an instructor in Egypt, Israel, Seychelles, Comoros, Indonesia, Maldives and Germany.

In 1999, Ingrid joined Emperor Divers, Sharm, as an Instructor becoming Chief Instructor and IDC Co-ordinator in 2004 and PADI Course Director in the same year.

And here are some pretty impressive 'Ingrid' statistics:

certified about 1.500 PADI divers at all levels
logged around 6000 dives
taught close to 200 instructors in 3 years
certified to teach most PADI Specialties

"I'm also a DAN Instructor Trainer and teach in English and German," says Ingrid. "After 15 years of teaching divers I still love teaching, guiding and simply diving and helping people have a great time!"

When training new instructors Ingrid's primary focus is always on safety and fun.

Tekstreme Hurghada has a successful first year

Following on from the creation of Emperor Divers' own technical diving training centre in Sharm, Tekstreme Diving expanded over to Hurghada at the beginning of 2006.

In only its first year of operation on the mainland, Tekstreme Hurghada has rapidly grown into one of the biggest technical dive centres in the area with several technical guides, instructors and an instructor trainer amongst the full-time staff.

With stunning reef walls dropping to beyond 150m and more than 10 wrecks accessible by day boat in depths ranging from 20m to 110m, there is an amazing variety of sites on offer to all levels of technical divers.

Hurghada was also proud to certify 48 new technical divers in courses ranging from Advanced Nitrox up to Advanced Trimix and a number of Instructor courses.

Tekstreme Hurghada is also responsible for providing all the technical diving support to guests coming out on the numerous liveaboard trips with the Emperor Fleet department with more and more divers requesting rebreather support or open circuit technical equipment.

Facilities are of a high standard and include a booster pump, rebreather cylinders, sofnolime and enough twinsets and stage tanks to accommodate up to 12 open circuit technical divers at any one time.

For more information, click here for Tekstreme's website

May 07, 2007

NEW! Eco Safaris - sex on the reefs

Learn all about corals and reef ecology, fish and fish ecology, sex on the reefs, sharks and reef conservation. Emperor Divers has launched a new Eco-dive safari, which will teach guests the fundamentals of underwater ecosystems and why marine life behaves the way it does.

Why, for instance, are some fish monogamous and others polygamous - and why should that affect their colouring?

Click here for full details and photos