News
Diving with…. Dive Urge, Dahab, Egyptian Red Sea
In a new ongoing series, we speak with the people who run dive centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the diving they have to offer
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What is your name?
Lynne Helal-Gillis.
What is the name of your business?
Dive Urge, Dahab.
What is your role within the business?
Owner and Marketing Manager.
How long has the business operated for?
Since 2001, 16 years this year.
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
I am a PADI MSDT and learned to dive in Dahab in 1998.
What is your favorite type of diving?
Low key, shallow, shore dives, impulsive.
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
We are the only dive center in the Red Sea that guarantees no more than 4 guests diving with a guide, for courses and guided. We are an Eco Centre, fully committed to responsible tourism. We are a family run club and offer a unique home from home experience. We are number one for our accommodation on Trip Advisor.
What was your favorite dive in your location and why?
Hard question. I do love Eel Garden which I have done literally hundreds of times but it never fails to move me; the light there from early morning to dusk is always amazing. I have seen everything from Turtles, Giant Morays and spectacular fish balls made up of billions of silversides on the reef being chased by Trevallies, which never fails to give you a wow moment.
What types of diving are available in your location?
Mostly shore dives, but with some sites that can be reached only by boat too, on day trips.
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
It’s our baby. Dive Urge is built with and shows the love of the area of Dahab. We are on every aspect of someone’s holiday from the first enquiry until they’re back home…and we all genuinely love making it the best holiday ever for folks.
What is your favorite underwater creature?
Another hard one eh? Of course we all get excited when we see a ray of any sort or a large moray sticking his head out of the coral etc.…but hands down it’s got to be the Turtle, so serene and majestic… love love turtles.
Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?
Yes, the British government will realize that they forgot to lift the ban on direct flights and take off the negative travel advice for South Sinai and let us all get back to work.
As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
See above.
Is your center involved in any environmental work?
Yes, loads, as I mentioned we only dive with 4 guest max and less if they are not compatible divers (i.e. different levels of experience or air consumption). This reduces the impact considerably as a guide can control 4 much better than 6, 8 or even in Sharm… 10 + per guide!
We do regular pickups on shore and anything we come across in the water too. This also creates a good habit for our guests. We teach buoyancy skills to everyone; our Advanced Course includes the Peak Performance Dive as mandatory for this reason. We make sure our guests’ equipment is well trimmed and no dangles.
We conserve water in our club using renewable well water for plants etc. We offer a bottle refilling service for our guests which dramatically reduces the amount of plastic bottles used. We re-cycle everything Inc fruit and veg which is given to the goats. We provide cotton bags for local shopping so our guests don’t have to use plastic bags.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?
I think it needs to take a much bigger responsibility for the underwater environment. I think some dive sites should be closed for a period of time i.e. a year to allow fish to re-populate it. All fishing should be stopped now, even by the indigenous population of Bedouins who see it as their right to do so, but the nets are the killers not the fish they take out.
What would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
We would like the world to know that Egypt is very safe, and please don’t believe the negative hype in the media which we have all suffered from since the revolution in 2010. As well as promoting Dive Urge we would like to promote Dahab too – I really love this funky little town.
Where can our visitors find out more about your business?
We have our own website, www.dive-urge.com and are long standing members of Responsible Travel too. We also have a Facebook page and you can find us on Trip Advisor.
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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