In this 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?

Tracy Leverett

What is the name of your business?

Emperor Divers Marsa Alam

What is your role within the business?

Dive Centre Manager

How long has the business operated for?

Emperor Divers are celebrating their 26th Anniversary in the Red Sea this year 2018.  We have been in the Marsa Alam region since 2004.

How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?

I have been diving since 2006, PADI IDC Staff Instructor.

What is your favorite type of diving?

My favourite type of diving is macro life diving, slow, no currents and the ability to take photographs and have time to do this.

If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?

Friendly and professional staff instructor and boat crews.  Easy, fun, ‘no current’ diving (except Elphinstone!). Beautiful reefs of the Red Sea. If you stay at our partner hotel you can roll out of bed, to breakfast and on to the boat.

What is your favorite dive in your location and why?

This is a tough one. Marsa Mubarak (imbarak) best site for possible macro nudibranch, seahorses, nudibranch sightings but also is visited frequently by our resident Dugong ‘Dyson’.

What types of diving are available in your location?

We are mainly day boat diving but we have a house reef also. The boat diving is 2 or 3 dives a day but we spend all day out at sea. We have some fantastic reefs with amazing and immaculate hard corals. We have Elphinstone, which offers drift dives and larger pelagic sightings. Most of our sites are perfect for the beginner or photographers.

What do you find most rewarding about your current role?

I get to spend my time 50/50 in the office and in the sea teaching and guiding.  A perfect mixture. I have been in the Emperor team for eight years now and I enjoy everything about the job. I have a fantastic team and we all have very high standards. We see many guests return time and time again – we are like one big family.

What is your favorite underwater creature?

Frogfish

Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?

We are celebrating our 25^th Anniversary in the Red Sea, both day diving centres and diving Safaris.  We expanded our company to the Maldives three years ago where we have six boats and very recently we have expanded to establish Emperor Indonesia with a sailing schooner, MY Emperor Laut, for diving safaris in Indonesia.

As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?

The perception that somehow the Red Sea is unsafe, which is simply not the case – certainly no more so than anywhere else in the world. Marsa Alam Airport does not have so many direct flights, so often people have to come via Hurghada road transfer.

Is your center involved in any environmental work?

We work closely with HEPCA (Hurghada Environment Protection Conservation Association) and try to support them with their training and activities, such as making sure all our guides are Samadai trained (dolphin code of conduct) and participate in clean-ups. We are also the centre doing the most for dugong conservation with daily tracking of our local dugong – who we identified and named as Dyson in 2009. We teach a PADI distinctive dugong speciality written by, and therefore exclusive to, Emperor Divers. We have also hosted many journalists and photographers to meet Dyson and therefore spread his image and story across the globe. He’s even a National Geographic category winner!

How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?

I believe, as an industry, it needs to reach out and make itself more attractive to the younger generation as the average diver is getting older every year. As a resort-based diving centre, we can deliver great training and service but we cannot advertise diving in general to the masses. This is necessary from the major training organisations, manufacturers and press industries related to SCUBA.

What would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?

The Red Sea has some amazing diving, from reefs to large pelagics. On our day boats, we are able to reach Elphinstone, which is in one of the top 10 dive sites in the world.  The drop in tourist numbers since 2011 has had a huge impact on the quality and quantity of life both big and small, which has just got better and better each year. Egypt is perfectly safe and the region we are based in is very quiet and relaxed. Come and try it and for sure you will love it.

Where can our visitors find out more about your business?

You can visit our website here

Find us on Facebook: Emperor Divers Marsa Alam

Email us at info.marsa@emperordivers.com or manager.ghalib@emperordivers.com

Whats app/viber/SMS: +20 122 737 2126