Dive Review of Divers International/Sofitel in
Red Sea/Sharm El Sheikh

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Divers International/Sofitel, Aug, 2002, by David Bryan, Bucks, UK . Report 223.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Accomodation at the Sofitel was good. I live in the UK so travel was fairly easy. Decided to use dive operation on site as web site looked good and had own jetty at hotel. In reality had to be bused to town to get the boat. Logistics were poor and often it was an hour or two from meeting at the hotels dive center to the boat actually sailing. Two dive trip could mean meeting at 8.45am and not being back at the hotel until about 6.00pm - an appalling waste of time. Lunch and drinks on boat weren't too bad but cost extra. All gear has to be transferred into plastic crates and they look after it and take to the boat every day. They never lost anything but it never looked that reliable a system. Sometimes had to wait up to 45 mins after getting back to hotel before gear arrived so that I could rinse it. On one three dive trip we decided to sit out the second dive. After lunch we just sailed back to port. When I asked what was happening they said not enough people wanted to do the third dive. We had been at the dive center for 7.45 and got back at about 4.30 so all that for just one dive. Coral looked in poor condition in many places. Saw no large pelagics at all. Only large fish was a good sized napoleon wrasse. Smaller fish more plentiful but overall I was disappointed. On one occasion I counted 14 boats moored at the same site for lunch - each capable of carrying 25 divers. Its just too much. Ports are a zoo as well with too many boats for the jetty space. On the last day I wanted to just do a shore dive. I had snorkelled over the "house reef" and it looked quite good. Max depth about 25-30 ft but they wouldn't let me dive it without a dive master at a $30 charge because I didn't have advanced certification. A few harsh words were exchanged but they wouldn't budge. Overall a nice place with very friendly people but they need to get their act together with the diving or they are going to kill their main attraction. If you are going I would suggest trying Red Sea Diving College or Camel club or Ocean College - all were recommended to me by others as better run.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	USA (FL & NC, Carribean, Mexico, Hawaii
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	70-75°F / 21-24°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	40-70 Ft/ 12-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	All group dives with a divemaster and group all in buddy pairs. Mainly drift dives and depth restricted to 25m (81ft).
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Divers International/Sofitel in Red Sea/Sharm El Sheikh

Divers International/Sofitel, Aug, 2002,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Divers International/Sofitel in
Red Sea/Sharm El Sheikh