Singular experience: Marsa Alam, a virgin diving spot in southern Red Sea
Published: Aug 25, 2010 02:24 Updated: Aug 25, 2010 02:24
The southern Red Sea area in the Egyptian lands had for years remained deserted. This was at least until some explorers and nature lovers found potential in the area called Marsa Alam, which is now one of the fastest growing holiday resorts in Egypt, especially popular with divers and sun lovers.
Although previously a small fishing village, the construction of an international airport in 2001 established Marsa Alam as an upcoming and exclusive holiday resort.
With a host of tourism projects planned for the near future, Marsa Alam is set to rival the popularity of established Egyptian resorts such as Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.
However, what makes it unique is the rich marine life under the Red Sea, which is one of the youngest and warmest oceans in the world. The untouched reefs of the southern Red Sea are bursting with life. Almost 20 percent of fish species there are not found anywhere else in the world.
Hossam Helmy, the founder of Red Sea Diving Safari (RSDS), said his passion for Marsa Alam began when he first visited the deserted land when he was only 12 years old.
Helmy saw potential in the land to make his dreams come true. He described his experience as landing on the moon.
“There was zero infrastructure, that’s when we came up with the idea to explore this area by launching remote camps and moving from one place to another,” he said.
He started the camp by setting up tents for people to stay in, as well as one for diving equipment and another for the kitchen.
“We used to have only 12 guests, which was our maximum capacity. We kept moving our camps from one place to another until we found the best areas for diving,” Helmy explained.
Helmy established RSDS in 1990 with a vision of becoming a leading provider of diving excursions in the southern Red Sea. Over the last 20 years, the company has grown into a world-class diving provider and their eco-diving concept has been internationally recognized as a model of tourism development.
Coming to the remote area allowed Helmy and his crew to pick the best three spots for diving. “We have a house reef which allow us to practice unlimited diving. You can do up to five dives a day anytime but it’s according to standards and schedules,” he added.
Three villages, Marsa Shagra Village, Marsa Nakari Village and Wadi Lahami Village, offer the chance to experience what has famously become known as “The Eco-diving Adventure”.
Their diving program covers more than 60 shore-based and offshore dive sites that are extremely rich in marine life and offer stunning underwater landscapes from cave systems, drop-offs, and plateaus.
“The southern Red Sea is one of the biggest developments in Egypt. We were alone years ago, now there are 42 resorts operating and almost the same number is under construction,” Helmy added, claiming they were the lone operator in the area for 12 years.
“The area has become alive since the Tourism Commission took over in 1995. With an international airport and Port Ghalib marina, the area is expanding.”
Helmy decided to start the diving villages project along with his Saudi wife Ibtisam, who he married in Cairo before the start of the project. Ibtisam was a typical city girl coming from Jeddah and living in Cairo. She didn’t know what to expect.
“When we came here she decided to learn diving. She lived with me in a tent with no electricity,” Helmy said.
“As a city girl back then I didn’t know what to expect but I had to be tolerant and believe everything could be achieved with love,” Ibtisam said.
“When I first came I used to cook for the customers, then I decided to learn diving because I had to know what’s under the sea and to communicate and speak the divers’ language, which is the sea. I wanted to know the product we were selling.”
Ibtisam joked about how the tents and the caravan she lived in were so small that if she and her husband were moving around inside the tent, they had to suck their stomachs in.
Now Ibtisam is helping serve food and beverages in their large traditional eastern style dome architecture restaurant, which stands out as soon as you walk into the premises.
“We have a very high percentage of return guests. All the people who come here return because they fall in love with the place,” she said.
Ibtisam also said she is proud that they have reached this stage after years of struggling.
The three villages offer a variety of diving possibilities, including unlimited diving near the house reef, truck dives, night dives, and boat dives to world-famous dive sites such as Elphinstone and the Fury Shoals.
However, the villages have kept their traditional tents and even offer royal tent upgrades, as some visitors prefer to experience the whole diving safari experience as the company’s founders did all those years ago.
Standard chalets with traditional eastern style dome architecture are also available for people who prefer air-conditioning.
“Although the lands are huge, our villages are small because we maintain a minimal-impact policy toward the environment and our guests take advantage of an exclusive experience,” Helmy said.
The Red Sea has more than 1,200 fish species, the highest number in any ocean or sea around the world. “Even today, we are still discovering new kinds in addition to the 1,200 species we already have. The coral reefs have over 800 species of soft and hard corals,” Helmy explained.
The Red Sea has 12 species of sharks out of the 14 discovered in oceans all over the world.
Bottlenose and spinner dolphins, as well as a host of other pelagic species regularly visit Red Sea Diving Safari house reefs. There are also white tip and black tip reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, napoleons and hundreds of other marine life species. If you are strong hearted enough to dive next to sharks, then the Elphinstone is a must-see as they offer hammerhead, mantas and white tip sharks around the year. If you are lucky, you will also see dolphins at the National Marine Park Dolphin House.
One of the most amusing species to be seen around Marsa Abu Dabab is the dugong, which is a large rare marine mammal.
Abdelrahman Abdelmoneim, marketing manager of Red Sea Diving Safari, said this sort of beach tourism can be found anywhere in the world, but the southern Red Sea’s rich coral reef makes it unique.
“There is a lot of development going on in the southern Red Sea, but what makes the company so unique is that we have been spearheading this initiative without much help. All the work has been done in-house,” he said.
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