Marsa shagra dive camp

I am off to marsa in less than three weeks. Anyone got any experience of the camp. Facilities, security, location?? would be good to hear from you.

We are staying in a ...........tent !!!!!

any advice on the resort/camp! or the diving would be much appreciated.

thanks

lou

It might be a touch warm at this time of year.

I haven't been myself, but plenty of (non-photographer) friends have and enjoyed it.

I would wait for someone with first hand experince of the place to answer.

Alex

Hi lou!

I've been to Marsa Shagra for the second time now this May and pretty much hope to be returning there this October again...

The tents are the best option I believe, all you want above your head in that heat is a piece of canvas You just flip it's enterance up the top and it vents quite well. I've been to one of the huts for a visit, well, I prefer the tent (have no info on the A/C-d chalets, but they are more expensive and hey, where's the magic of the desert then ). The sea is just a few meters off the tent area, cool...

The bathrooms are cleaned often, there is always someone to tidy up things (it seems that there is always someone around for any task, lots of people work there)

New to the grounds is a great restaurant building (with A/C) and cool terases to overlook the sea... (Last October there was only a straw-topped area with plastic chairs - I liked it as well)

The house reef is cool, both North and South provide nice marine life. You dive as much as You can and want, one can choose between various options of shorediving, zodiacing or the mix of the two...

If You have time, do visit Shaab Abu Dabbab and Sharm Abu Dabbab, one is a huge coral garden with barracudas at times, the other is a complex sytem of caves and caverns, coool. Nemo city is also a nice spot, I'll not give further info on that, guess... Baseem Mohammed was our guide the last time, I'd happily choose him again.

Regarding security, we were a group of photographers with lot's of gear, laptops and stuff and everything was safe in the tents and in the pools of the divecenter. It was usualy loaded with cameras, lot's of people come here to shoot (judging from the stuff I've seen in those pools).

Here's a link to the gallery of the visit in May, and here You'll find last Octobers pictures...

Hope I could help, have a nice time!

Zook

Dare I ask how hard it might be trying to get to someplace like this (or Wadi Lahami) from the U.S.? Going through Heathrow doesn't exactly excite me. I do need someplace to go sometime between October and December and it looks like it might be fun. It would appear that it is fairly routine for groups from the U.K. to wander on down. I've got a friend in Cairo so maybe I could combine this with a bit of other sightseeing. It's either something like this or Bonaire again.

Mike

We are flying from gatwick (as do most flights to egypt from here in the UK). you have a lot less chance of them loosing your luggage! any chance you could get a flight from the US to gatwick. Only hassle at that time of year, I think the flights only go to hurgharda and not down to marsa alam so you would have a 3.5 hour coach journey in Egypt (I think the flights only go to marsa in the summer but maybe someone else could confirm that).

check out oonasdivers.co.uk. They have arranged everything for us and were absolutely fantastic and helpful when doing it for us.

thanks everyone for your replies and thanks especially for the photos. I am just off to take a look now

Good luck

Lou

zook thanks the photos are lovely. Nemo City here I come!!! loved the pages of eyes too.

One thing I will say cause I know my husband will be reading this, seeing your room does not give him permission to be anywhere near that messy with all his camera gear!!! so you photographers are all the same then!! Glad they dont do dormitories for you all, imagine the carnage

Cheers

lou

zook thanks the photos are lovely. Nemo City here I come!!! loved the pages of eyes too.

 

One thing I will say cause I know my husband will be reading this, seeing your room does not give him permission to be anywhere near that messy with all his camera gear!!! so you photographers are all the same then!! Glad they dont do dormitories for you all, imagine the carnage

 

Cheers

 

lou

lou

I was in Marsa Shagra about 6 weeks ago and had a great time. The house reef, which you can dive as many times as you want (without having to pay ANYTHING extra) is great. Great for taking pictures and experimenting with your camera.

I am not keen on tents (stayed in the air conditioned rooms) so can't comment.

The one thing that I would like to point out, is that if you are using 15lt cylinders, you might want to buy a good adapter (DIN to international) and take it with you.

I have a picture gallery where all the photos taken were from Marsa Shagra. Let me know if you want to see them.

thx

DK

oh yes please DK would love to see your photos

thanks for the handy tip about the adapter.

cheers.

lou

We are flying from gatwick (as do most flights to egypt from here in the UK). you have a lot less chance of them loosing your luggage! any chance you could get a flight from the US to gatwick. Only hassle at that time of year, I think the flights only go to hurgharda and not down to marsa alam so you would have a 3.5 hour coach journey in Egypt (I think the flights only go to marsa in the summer but maybe someone else could confirm that).

 

check out oonasdivers.co.uk. They have arranged everything for us and were absolutely fantastic and helpful when doing it for us.

 

Good luck

 

Lou

Thanks, I sent Oonasdivers a note. Looks like there are a couple other bargain airlines (Condor? Air Berlin?) that fly to Marsa Alam from Frankfurt as well. I can get to Frankfurt easily from here on Star Alliance. They still have the draconian restricitions on hand baggage, however (I think my camera bag weighs 6kg EMPTY!)

Mike

oh yes please DK would love to see your photos

 

thanks for the handy tip about the adapter.

 

cheers.

 

lou

Hi lou

heres the url: http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/5944773

I took u/w all photos with an Olympus SP 350 / PT 30 / magic filters. Flash used very occasionaly. I don't own any external strobes etc.

Land photos taken with Samsung NV3.

thx

DK

Try to get out to Elphinstone reef, which is reachable with dayboat from Marsa Shagra. It is one of the most beatiful reefs in the Egyptian Red Sea inmo and offer nice opportunities for WA-photography. Usually have some shark action to offer as well. Sometimes oceanic whitetips, which are fairly easy to come close to for good quality images.

I've only done liveaboards in the area, so I have no experience from the camp, but know people who have and they have been satisfied. The housereef is supposed to be very good and of a descent size.

/christian

Certainly got Elphinstone on the list Christian. Been there twice before and its a must do dive. I love it there.

Thanks for your advice and help everyone and DK thanks for the photo link.

Lou

I am off to marsa in less than three weeks. Anyone got any experience of the camp. Facilities, security, location?? would be good to hear from you.

 

We are staying in a ...........tent !!!!!

 

any advice on the resort/camp! or the diving would be much appreciated.

 

thanks

 

lou

Stewsmith,

I'd like to hear about your experience at Marsa Shagra. How was the tent experience? How far of a boat trip was it to Elphinstone? Would you return to Marsa Shagra or would you recommend a Red Sea liveaboard instead?

Stewsmith,

I'd like to hear about your experience at Marsa Shagra. How was the tent experience? How far of a boat trip was it to Elphinstone? Would you return to Marsa Shagra or would you recommend a Red Sea liveaboard instead?

Hi AMW,

I know you asked Stew for his impressions, but I thought I would chime in since a couple of buddies and I decided last night to return to Marsa Shagra for our third time this coming September. Needless to say, I would recommend it highly. Elphinstone is about a 30 minute rib ride from the camp. I think it costs and extra 15 or 20 euros to make the trip, but it is well worth it as others have said. I've also stayed at the camp at Wadi Lahami. Fury Shoals are fantastic.

We fly from Amsterdam to Marsa Alam and then it's a half hour van ride to the camp. The tents are perfectly adequate. We plan to stay in them this trip as well. Earlier trips were in January and April. January is too cool at night for the tent, so we stayed in a hut. Red Sea Diving Safari is a class outfit. We've been well-satisfied with everything from housekeeping to food and of course, the diving.

Hope this helps and that you decide to make the trip!

Phil

PMFJI too... I have been a RSDS regular for years. Shagra is great but is losing its 'frontier' feel as it is now bracketed by resort hotels. The diving remains good though but I've noticed that there are fewer sites available for the truck dives. This is because most of the little 'marsas' and 'sharms' are now occupied by tourist resorts. Having said that, I'll be taking my son there again this year. He is just 10 years old and the safe, uncomplicated house reef suits his experience perfectly.

Hello,

Just booking a flight to Marsa Alam for the next Red Sea trip which will occur in february 2009. I'll stay in a hut at Marsa Shagra.

Anyone been there in that period of year? Any suggestions or specialties regarding the period?

Thanks and cheers.

Dejan

Hello,

Just booking a flight to Marsa Alam for the next Red Sea trip which will occur in february 2009. I'll stay in a hut at Marsa Shagra.

 

Anyone been there in that period of year? Any suggestions or specialties regarding the period?

 

Thanks and cheers.

Dejan

I was there in Feb of this year, your choice of a hut is good as it did get chilly of a night.

There is a wreck trip to an un-named ship about 90 minutes travel south; well worth it as the soft corals are stunning on her and she is very photogenic!

I didn't venture out on any of the RIB trips as I found there was more than enough to keep me occupied on the house reefs including some of the most colourful hard corals (south reef) I've seen. Most people ignore the entrance area to the reefs - and the viz can be quite poor there at times - but there are some great caves on the southern reef as you head out to sea with great light effects from the cracks above them - and I saw reef sharks there on several dives, I think they sleep around there.

I'm going back there next month to familiarise myself with a new camera & housing prior to Alex's liveaboard trip.

R