Dahab, Egypt and diving

Dahab is a small town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. We had to fly into Sharm el-Sheikh and drive about an hour to get there through the desert with small settlements scattered throughout.

Dahab used to be a Bedouin fishing village. In fact you can have dinner at night in the desert with traditional Bedouin food. The corniche along the Red Sea has many shops, restaurants, and dive centers.

Dahab is one of the best diving spots in the Sinai. That is actually why I’m here as I have wanted to learn to dive. My dive center is H2O Divers.

Along the Red Sea eating vegetable Curry on a lunch break from dive classes.

At night there are many wonderful restaurants. In this area a lot of fish are caught illegally and you should not go to many restaurants to eat fish. There are a few that are reputable and eco dive centers can tell you them.

We ate at night at Shark. It is set up like Bedouin. Carpets, chairs with cushions… The food was wonderful but so were the cats. As is usual with people who know me, I attract animals. The cats would come and sit on my lap here. So funny. The grey one just wanted to relax and

Lebanese bread with assorted dips as an appetizer that is brought automatically to your table.

We are staying at the Sheikh Ali Dahab resort. It is beautiful and quiet and not too far from the corniche along the Red Sea.

The resident dog became my friend too wanting belly rubs and pats on the head. Well, and my breakfast…

The skills for dive certification are challenging for me as I have a serious fear of the water. I have yet to swim under water for one minute with just the regulator in and no mask. But I accomplished many of the skills and I’m very proud of myself for that. But that skill had freaked me out. In the end, I completed 36 of the 60 seconds. If I could have calmed myself down I would have tried again but had made 4 attempts. I am still not comfortable under the water so as a result getting the verification was not important for me. I did do two other dives and was able to see cornetfish, coral, Moray eels, pufferfish, lionfish, rockfish, and many others that live along the reef. Even though I wish I could get the certification my level of discomfort under the water was a barrier and I’m pretty proud to have conquered my fear that far. I also realized that I was not having fun and even on the dives I was not comfortable. Even though I cleared my ears in the dive, I have swimmers ear and that problem made it miserable after the dives.

Outside one of the restaurants there was a large amount of cats congregated. The poor dog stood in the back. He doesn’t stand a chance if any food is given.
Nicole took this picture of a black cat sitting amongst cat statues. It is the Where’s Waldo of kitties.
Nicole also took this picture along the Red Sea. Beautiful!

I went shopping for caftans. I remember my mom wearing them in the 70’s and lately I think they would be really comfortable for lounging. I found a long sleeve one and then found this short sleeve that was very pretty.

Now that I am not diving anymore it have me the afternoon and next day to do other things.