23 Jan 2022
After having to negotiate the price (which was far higher than the price advertised on their website) for two days diving on a PADI scuba diving course for my boyfriend and four dives (two from Hurghada shore to reef and two from boat the following day) for myself an advanced scuba diver we began our two days experience.
At times with the instructor Ahmed my boyfriend felt rushed to learn his skills and overall the environment of the diving school was hectic with lots of people giving different instructions of how to do things with lots of shouting. We had visited on an unusually cold week in Egypt even for winter and the centre seem to only offer shortie wetsuits so we both got very cold. There seemed to be a huge reluctance to give us more protection and it was only after asking several times my boyfriend was given a long wetsuit for the second day.
For our boat dives we had been told there would be a maximum of 15 people on the boat with us but this was not true as we believed there to be around 25 people. We noticed that everyone else on the boat was snorkelling so not a lot of respect was given for our diving equipment so at one stage we were entering the water trying to negotiate a women taking selfies at a safety critical moment for us walking with heavy equipment and fins. Clear communication was not given to the non divers so this again created a chaotic environment.
The positives were that our equipment was carried from the dive centre to the shore or boat each day and appeared to be in good order. The instructors were knowledgable about diving and Ahmed gave us a good briefing before each dive about what to expect and any skills we were to cover so it was clear. The Red Sea is a special place to dive with lots of incredible aquatic life to see.