Sea Not the Way There

For Dahab, the four days in Hurghada was a great act to follow. Hurghada is on the Red Sea, and diving is done there, but the reefs have been poorly cared for, reportedly leaving poor diving. It is a large, strung-out coastal city that has been recently developed, and consists mainly of large, package-tour resorts, none of which had any particular charm. Amongst them sits large, undeveloped swaths of land, and half-finished buildings where nothing seems to be happening. It was kind of eerie, and depressing.

We went to Hurghada primarily to catch the ferry to Dahab, only to discover once we were there, that the ferry was broken down, and would not be operating for several weeks. The frustrating thing was that before we departed Luxor, we had found on one web site (for lodging in Dahab) that the ferry was not operating. However, as the website did not have a date attributed to it, and the website for the ferry gave no indication that it was not operating, but rather continued to show the times of departure, we thought that other website just contained old information. Just part of the challenge of traveling in Egypt. Thus, we had to scramble to find another way to get to Dahab. The distance from Hurghada to Dahab is not long by sea. By bus, it is a 12 hour slog. In the end, we opted to spring for the 35 minute trip by air.

Once in Dahab things really turned around and I quickly fell in love with the town. It is fairly small, and is an old fishing village on the Gulf of Aqaba branch of the Red Sea. It is primarily a tourist town, but it has retained its charm. A long, paved pathway winds its way along the beach, with outdoor restaurant seating lining the water’s side, and hotels and shops on the other. The setting is gorgeous; in spots the mountains come down to the water and the Saudi Arabian coast on the other side of the gulf is quite visible, also with mountains. It is desert, so the days are followed one after another with blue skies, and warm temperatures. In the early morning and at sunset the colors really come alive; beautiful golds, reds, and oranges. We are staying for 11 days, but I’m afraid it will not be long enough.

We had our first day of diving on Thanksgiving. It was a bit disappointing, to say the least. Much of the coral was dead, and much of the site was simply sand. Some of the site selection may be attributed to the fact that Emma and Bjorn are young divers, and they wanted to do an easy dive to see how they did, though I wish it had been at a more interesting site. We are going to give it another try tomorrow, as we have been assured that there are much better sites to be had. We will see.

-Mitch