Dahab is a small settlement on the Sinai Peninsula of the State of Egypt. Located on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. The town stretches along the coast for three kilometers. Around are hilly-stony deserts with a minimum of vegetation.
There are no big hotels and super-amusement parks aimed at mass tourism. Mini-hotels and guesthouses randomly scattered near the sea are interspersed with pleasant restaurants and small cafes with quiet music. Here you will not hear loud night screams, and walking around the city at midnight you can not meet a single person. But in the morning the city comes to life early enough: local natives and vacation divers rush to collect equipment, dive into cars, and go to diving or skiing places before the midday heat. There are few local residents in Dahab, and the majority of visitors are divided into those who are engaged in any activity on the water – kiting, windsurfing or diving. On the coast around the city there are about 15 dive sites of various distances from it.

How to get there
The easiest way to get to Dahab is to fly to the city of Sharm El Sheikh, which is only an hour and a half away by bus. From Russia, this can be done from most major cities. From Sharm El Sheikh Airport, you can take an inexpensive taxi and get to the bus station, from where buses leave for Dahab every hour. Tickets and flights are always available, even during major public holidays. You can try looking for charters. You can also get to Dahab by flying to Cairo and taking a five-hour bus from the Abasseya bus station. There are five flights per day (8:30, 13:00, 17:00, 19:00, 23:00).

Dahab Dive Centers
Here, the location of dive centers is closely related to places to stay. Diving in its various manifestations is available in all hotels and in many guesthouses. This creates a very comfortable environment for planning dives, discussing them, as well as comfort in terms of collecting and storing equipment. Many and individual dive centers are located near the coastline.
Choosing the right one can be a long time if you do not take into account the factors necessary for this group of divers. If this is a cost, then you need to spare no time and go around as many centers as possible. Prices vary sometimes very significantly and for one and the same the same service may differ by 1.5 times. Of course, when you come here, you can dive only a couple of times, but it’s better to take more days from your vacation and take a dive package. Firstly, this will reduce the price for each specific dive, and secondly, it will allow you to use the same equipment if you rent it. The more days the package is taken, the cheaper each dive. The package can be two days with two dives per day and up to 10-15 days by agreement. Having your own equipment will also nicely reduce the cost. If it’s not the price that matters, but the quality, you should talk in more detail with representatives of a particular dive center. Sometimes 10 minutes is enough to evaluate the quality and professionalism of workers and instructors. We have a strong feeling that because of the high competition, everyone here is trying to work at the highest level. This applies to European, Russian, and even Arab dive centers. Usually all completed dives are recorded at the end of the day on a special form. A pleasant surprise may be that the calculation for diving in some places is made not before, but after the perfect dives.

Diving Equipment
Each dive center in Dahab has a wide range of equipment. At the same time, you can rent it both individually and as a whole set for diving or snorkeling. Renting is inexpensive, but if you plan to dive often, it is better to bring your own. Wear of equipment is at a low level, you can always pick up something more convenient and comfortable. The shut-off valves on the cylinders are mainly of the Yoke type, the cylinders themselves are in most cases aluminum. Technical divers also use steel. Usually available and three – and five millimeter, long and short suits. In the off season, when trying on a suit in a dive center, you should be more careful, as it can be very dry. At the same time, when soaked in water, it can become too large, not according to the size of the body.
Weight belts of different lengths, with good fasteners. The loads themselves are one and a half and two kilograms. The salinity of local waters is quite high and this should also be taken into account. The extra weight on the first dive should not be neglected. And even better, ideally “hang out” (pick up the exact amount of cargo you need directly in the water) in shallow water.
Also in several places offer to rent a camera with an underwater box. But you should use this service only if you have confidence in your own abilities and your buoyancy. In the city itself, there are several service centers where you can fix broken equipment or, for example, replace a battery in a computer. Diving shops offer a wide range of equipment and spare parts.

General Diving Conditions
Dahab, like anywhere else in the world, has its own seasonality. Particularly for divers, here it depends on the water and air temperatures. There is no pronounced rainy season here, so transparency practically does not change throughout the year. The largest number of people come here from the end of summer to late autumn. At this time, the exhausting summer heat is no longer there, and the water temperature is kept at the highest levels of the year – 27-29 degrees. In winter, it can drop to 22. Then diving ceases to be very comfortable without underwear and thick five-seven millimeter suits. Divers working here at this time prefer to use dry suits.
The tectonic fault, which is part of the Great Rift, is characterized by sharp cliffs to great depths, very close to the water’s edge. To dive sites, if they are outside the city, small jeeps are usually taken. All pre-selected equipment and cylinders are stored there in advance in convenient baskets.
Several dive sites are located right in the city and to reach them you just need to walk from the dive center to the water’s edge. You should also pay attention to the presence of a large amount of sand around, because there is a desert around. Its sticking to neoprene, mask silicone, and especially getting into any part of the regulator or cylinder, can deliver many unpleasant minutes under water. A thorough check of the equipment of yourself and your “buddy” (partner) will help to avoid this.
There are usually two, less often three dives per day. Not far from each of the Dahab dive sites, on the shore, there are small Bedouin cafes where you can spend time between dives. Of the pluses – a pleasant atmosphere, shade, the ability to lie down on soft pillows, minuses – expensive prices, the likelihood of the presence of noisy package tourists.
Diving in Dahab differs from other places in its composition of participants. Enough you can easily find a partner for any dives requiring special qualifications. There are two pressure chambers in the city, which is also important from the point of view of safety in this place.

Dahab is a small settlement on the Sinai Peninsula of the State of Egypt. Located on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. The town stretches along the coast for three kilometers. Around are hilly-stony deserts with a minimum of vegetation.
There are no big hotels and super-amusement parks aimed at mass tourism. Mini-hotels and guesthouses randomly scattered near the sea are interspersed with pleasant restaurants and small cafes with quiet music. Here you will not hear loud night screams, and walking around the city at midnight you can not meet a single person. But in the morning the city comes to life early enough: local natives and vacation divers rush to collect equipment, dive into cars, and go to diving or skiing places before the midday heat. There are few local residents in Dahab, and the majority of visitors are divided into those who are engaged in any activity on the water – kiting, windsurfing or diving. On the coast around the city there are about 15 dive sites of various distances from it.

How to get there
The easiest way to get to Dahab is to fly to the city of Sharm El Sheikh, which is only an hour and a half away by bus. From Russia, this can be done from most major cities. From Sharm El Sheikh Airport, you can take an inexpensive taxi and get to the bus station, from where buses leave for Dahab every hour. Tickets and flights are always available, even during major public holidays. You can try looking for charters. You can also get to Dahab by flying to Cairo and taking a five-hour bus from the Abasseya bus station. There are five flights per day (8:30, 13:00, 17:00, 19:00, 23:00).

Dahab Dive Centers
Here, the location of dive centers is closely related to places to stay. Diving in its various manifestations is available in all hotels and in many guesthouses. This creates a very comfortable environment for planning dives, discussing them, as well as comfort in terms of collecting and storing equipment. Many and individual dive centers are located near the coastline.
Choosing the right one can be a long time if you do not take into account the factors necessary for this group of divers. If this is a cost, then you need to spare no time and go around as many centers as possible. Prices vary sometimes very significantly and for one and the same the same service may differ by 1.5 times. Of course, when you come here, you can dive only a couple of times, but it’s better to take more days from your vacation and take a dive package. Firstly, this will reduce the price for each specific dive, and secondly, it will allow you to use the same equipment if you rent it. The more days the package is taken, the cheaper each dive. The package can be two days with two dives per day and up to 10-15 days by agreement. Having your own equipment will also nicely reduce the cost. If it’s not the price that matters, but the quality, you should talk in more detail with representatives of a particular dive center. Sometimes 10 minutes is enough to evaluate the quality and professionalism of workers and instructors. We have a strong feeling that because of the high competition, everyone here is trying to work at the highest level. This applies to European, Russian, and even Arab dive centers. Usually all completed dives are recorded at the end of the day on a special form. A pleasant surprise may be that the calculation for diving in some places is made not before, but after the perfect dives.

Diving Equipment
Each dive center in Dahab has a wide range of equipment. At the same time, you can rent it both individually and as a whole set for diving or snorkeling. Renting is inexpensive, but if you plan to dive often, it is better to bring your own. Wear of equipment is at a low level, you can always pick up something more convenient and comfortable. The shut-off valves on the cylinders are mainly of the Yoke type, the cylinders themselves are in most cases aluminum. Technical divers also use steel. Usually available and three – and five millimeter, long and short suits. In the off season, when trying on a suit in a dive center, you should be more careful, as it can be very dry. At the same time, when soaked in water, it can become too large, not according to the size of the body.
Weight belts of different lengths, with good fasteners. The loads themselves are one and a half and two kilograms. The salinity of local waters is quite high and this should also be taken into account. The extra weight on the first dive should not be neglected. And even better, ideally “hang out” (pick up the exact amount of cargo you need directly in the water) in shallow water.
Also in several places offer to rent a camera with an underwater box. But you should use this service only if you have confidence in your own abilities and your buoyancy. In the city itself, there are several service centers where you can fix broken equipment or, for example, replace a battery in a computer. Diving shops offer a wide range of equipment and spare parts.

General Diving Conditions
Dahab, like anywhere else in the world, has its own seasonality. Particularly for divers, here it depends on the water and air temperatures. There is no pronounced rainy season here, so transparency practically does not change throughout the year. The largest number of people come here from the end of summer to late autumn. At this time, the exhausting summer heat is no longer there, and the water temperature is kept at the highest levels of the year – 27-29 degrees. In winter, it can drop to 22. Then diving ceases to be very comfortable without underwear and thick five-seven millimeter suits. Divers working here at this time prefer to use dry suits.
The tectonic fault, which is part of the Great Rift, is characterized by sharp cliffs to great depths, very close to the water’s edge. To dive sites, if they are outside the city, small jeeps are usually taken. All pre-selected equipment and cylinders are stored there in advance in convenient baskets.
Several dive sites are located right in the city and to reach them you just need to walk from the dive center to the water’s edge. You should also pay attention to the presence of a large amount of sand around, because there is a desert around. Its sticking to neoprene, mask silicone, and especially getting into any part of the regulator or cylinder, can deliver many unpleasant minutes under water. A thorough check of the equipment of yourself and your “buddy” (partner) will help to avoid this.
There are usually two, less often three dives per day. Not far from each of the Dahab dive sites, on the shore, there are small Bedouin cafes where you can spend time between dives. Of the pluses – a pleasant atmosphere, shade, the ability to lie down on soft pillows, minuses – expensive prices, the likelihood of the presence of noisy package tourists.
Diving in Dahab differs from other places in its composition of participants. Enough you can easily find a partner for any dives requiring special qualifications. There are two pressure chambers in the city, which is also important from the point of view of safety in this place.