| For many Europeans, traveling to the Red Sea for | | | | wonderful ancient Egyptian sites such as the |
| scuba diving is like many North Americans going to | | | | pyramids. There are many things to see and do in |
| the Caribbean. For a scuba diver based in North | | | | Egypt in addition to the ancient ruins including |
| America or anywhere else outside of Europe or | | | | museums, markets and Nile river cruises. So it is |
| Africa, a journey to the Red Sea is considered one | | | | highly recommended to do some research and plan |
| of the more exotic scuba diving trips. Like other | | | | accordingly for any trip to Egypt as one would not |
| overseas travel, getting to the final destination is the | | | | want to run into the situation where not enough time |
| hardest thing. The Red Sea can be dived from ports | | | | was allocated to see everything one wants to see |
| in both Egypt and Israel but most international scuba | | | | there in addition to scuba diving.Many of the scuba |
| divers do so from the Egyptian side. There are two | | | | operators in Sharm El Sheikh are affiliated or close by |
| major scuba diving areas in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh | | | | to a hotel resort. Most of the dive shops are actually |
| and Hurghada. Sharm El Sheikh at the northern part | | | | owned and staffed by Europeans working in Egypt. |
| of the Red Sea is the more established center having | | | | This is similar to the situation in the Caribbean where |
| been a popular vacation resort area as both | | | | many of the scuba operators there are American |
| Egyptians and Europeans have been vacationing here | | | | owned. The Red Sea has a higher salt content than |
| for many years. The local scuba dive industry grew | | | | Caribbean waters so it is recommended to add 4 to |
| along with the overall steady growth of classy | | | | 5 more pounds to the amount of weight divers |
| resorts, shops and other tourist services in Sharm El | | | | usually use. Like most European diving, the scuba |
| Sheikh. Hurghada, once just a sleepy fishing village | | | | community here in Egypt uses the metric system so |
| along the west side of the Red Sea, is starting to | | | | weights will be in kilos while air pressure will be in bars. |
| grow as scuba divers discover this alternative to | | | | Most dive computers should be able to display both |
| Sharm El Sheikh.More than likely, travelers going to | | | | metric and imperial systems.Many scuba operators in |
| either Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada will have to fly to | | | | Sharm El Sheikh use a very interesting system for |
| Cairo before connecting with Egypt Air or taking a | | | | scuba tanks. Rather than using their own tanks, their |
| bus to their final destination. Many scuba divers turn | | | | dive boats go to a common central barge anchored |
| their Red Sea diving trip into a major extended | | | | in the harbor. |
| holiday in order to both dive and see the many | | | | |