🌊 Welcome to the Red Sea! Your Ultimate Diving Guide
To help you get the absolute most out of your diving holiday, the team at SeaMax Sharm has put together this essential guide. Read through these tips to ensure a safe, seamless, and unforgettable underwater adventure.
🔍 How to Choose Your Dive Center
Do your research, check Google, and choose a dive center with a solid reputation. Look closely at the details in reviews, photos, and videos—this will easily help you judge the true quality of their service, equipment, and customer care.
🛂 Check Your Visa Requirements (Crucial!)
- The Sinai Only Stamp: This free stamp received upon arrival at the airport is fully sufficient for a complete diving package in Sharm El-Sheikh & Dahab (including Ras Mohamed, the Straits of Tiran, and the SS Thistlegorm wreck).
- ⚠️ Important Note: If you are planning to travel outside the Sinai Peninsula (for example, a day trip to Cairo or Luxor), you must buy the full $25 USD Egyptian Entry Visa at the airport arrivals hall before passing through passport control.
⚓ Boat Ownership Matters
Always ask if the dive center owns its fleet. When a dive center directly owns its boats, it guarantees full control over the quality of your experience—including strict departure timings, boat cleanliness, premium food & drinks, a professional boat crew, and the freedom to choose the absolute best dive sites.
⏱️ Don’t Waste Your Valuable Dive Time
We highly recommend booking your packages with a dive center that runs dedicated boats for certified divers, rather than mixed trips with snorkelers and non-divers. This ensures:
- No waiting around for long, basic briefings meant for beginners.
- Direct access to advanced, pristine dive sites that mixed boats simply cannot visit due to safety limits.
- A relaxed, professional atmosphere on deck surrounded by peer divers who share your passion.
🏨 Hotel Location Tip
Many divers try to book a hotel close to the dive center’s physical office. However, it is actually much more practical to book a hotel near the boat jetty (port). This ensures you don’t spend your valuable holiday mornings stuck in long, tiring daily transfers to and from the harbor.
🌡️ Water Temperature & Wetsuit Guide
- 📅 July to November: Shorties or 3 mm full suits are perfect. The water is beautifully warm, consistently staying above 25°C.
- 📅 December to June: We highly recommend a 5.5 mm long suit. Winter and spring water temperatures drop, and residual thermoclines (layers of colder water) can make you feel chilly on repetitive dives.
*(Note: We provide our divers with high-quality 5.5 mm Aqualung long wetsuits).*
🔄 The Refreshment Rule
According to local diving regulations in Egypt, if you haven’t been diving for more than one year, you must complete a Refresher Course before heading to the open ocean.
What is a Refresh? It involves a quick review of your dive safety knowledge and equipment setup, followed by a two-dive boat trip:
- 1st Dive: Reviewing basic safety skills in shallow water for about 20 minutes, then completing a beautiful guided tour along the reef.
- 2nd Dive: A fully relaxed, regular dive to enjoy the Red Sea marine life.
🧪 Is it Better to Use Nitrox on All Dives?
For standard day-diving at Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran, normal air is completely sufficient. However, for the legendary SS Thistlegorm wreck, it is highly recommended to dive with Nitrox (Enriched Air) to maximize your bottom time and enhance your safety margin on this deeper dive.
To use Nitrox here in Egypt, local rules provide two options:
- Local Application: Sign a Nitrox application form, and your dive guide will give you a detailed briefing on how to analyze and use it safely for your local trips.
- Specialty Course: Take the full PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty Course with us to become officially certified worldwide!
✈️ Flying After Diving: The Golden Rules
At SeaMax Sharm, guest safety is our number one priority. Because Sharm El-Sheikh offers world-class repetitive diving, managing your surface interval before your flight home is essential to prevent Decompression Sickness (DCS):
- Standard Diving: You must wait a minimum of 18 hours before flying after your last dive.
- Decompression / Technical Dives: If your dive profile includes decompression stops or technical elements, you must wait a minimum of 24 hours before flying.