rickshaw92 wrote:Whats your opinion of diving in the Red Sea? Easy Jet or one of the other cheapies outta LGW services Sharm and I am thinking of a 2 week dive trip. Worth it? I think the open water beginner course is 5 days and then you can go on week long tours.
Sharm El-Sheikh is definately one of the best dive locations in the world. No question. Would I recommend it to you? No.
One thing I have always found to be true is the foks that learn to dive in paradise (Phils, Malaysia, Sharm, Fiji, Thailand etc) are much poorer divers than folks who have learned to dive in an arduous environment. All the above locations offer swimming pool like conditions that don't prepare you for cold water, low viz, strong surge, currents and big waves at the surface. In addition, when you learn to dive in one of the best dive sites in the world it is hard to ever be satisfied again with a "normal" dive site. Add to this, resort dive sites are nearly always "factories" turning out as many divers as they can as quickly as they can...
As you are in the UK I recommend learning to dive in a quarry. Do it in the winter if you can, then progress to the North sea. Do it with a BSAC club or a PADI club that is willing to spend at least a month making you an entry level diver.
No shit, that is really what I recommend you do if you want to become an outstanding diver.
A final note. I have had many folks come to me that did cut price courses in paradise. For one reason or another their C-card never turned up. Why? Either they weren't really certified instructors (common as muck) or they decided to pocket the $60 they would have paid to PADI for your licence. Why not? 99.99% of folks aren't coming back anyway.
I am a dive evangelist. Learn to dive. Do it. It will change your life. But chose the hard route, it will reward you.