Scuba Holidays |
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9th September | ||
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C-Life Ltd invite you to an exclusive weeks diving holiday in Marsa Alam (5km from Marsa Alam International Airpot built 2001), is the paragon of the paradisiacal seafronts in Egypt on the Red Sea coast. Marsa Alam is the gateway to the exciting Southern Red Sea and its myriad pristine reefs. The daily diving from our Marsa Alam Dive Centre is the perfect way to spend a diving holiday. The dive sites are close by and are suitable for all levels of divers, from the beginner to the deepest Technical diver. We enjoy uncrowded sites and dive from day boats. Included in your package is; | |
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Iberotel Coraya Beach 5* Resort | ||
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Iberotel Coraya Beach 5 Star resort, sits on the Coraya Bay with an 800 metre stretch of beach.
Entertainment
Restaurants & Bars Night & Day Bar Margherita Bar Palmito Bar Dar-El-Hawa Zuzu's Bar
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Built in typical Nubian style the lush gardens contrast beautifully with the surrounding desert. The bay itself is just 10 minutes north of the airport and Port Ghalib. The 364 rooms have either sea or garden views. (Sea view upgrade @£75) Each is fully air-conditioned, en-suite, hairdryer, refrigerator, safe, telephone, satelite TV with a balcony or terrace. Breakfast is served in the main restaurant, while there’s also a selection of bars & al a carte restaurants. There are two swimming pools and a gymnasium.Whatever you choose to do with your time, Iberotel Coraya Beach Resort is certainly the perfect getaway for a relaxed and carefree holiday like nowhere else!|
 Our advertised package is 7 nights in a superior twin garden view room on a FB/HB basis with a 5 day diving package including the hire of tanks and weights, transfers to/from your hotel, to/from Dive Centre and international flights from UK to Marsa Alam. Emperor Divers are based in the Marina Lodge at Port Ghalib. We expect the air temperature to be 35C and the water around 27C. Daily hard boat diving where cooked lunch is provided at an extra LE45 = £5.60/days.
Emperor Divers has provided top quality diving holidays in the Red Sea since 1992. Superior customer care is our ethos and you can relax knowing that all your diving needs will run smoothly and that the instruction from the training arm of Emperor Divers -Emperor Scuba Schools - is second to none. The Schools include PADI 5 Star CDC (Career Development Centres), which means we are certified by PADI as providing the highest standard of education and professionalism, born out by the 'PADI Excellence in Dive Centers Award'.  Marsa Alam has many great and varied prestine dive sites from shallow seagrass Turtle havens at Abu Dabab, Pods of Dolphins at Dolphin House, to drop offs from Elphinstone Reef. The week will comprise of a variety of sites to cater recretional and technical divers from a hard boat.  Elphinstone Reef
lies close to Egyptian mainland, however it has all the characteristics of an offshore marine park. Then north plateau drops down to around 50+m. Strong currents can run through this dive site which bring in numbers of white tip, grey reefs, occasional hammerheads and of course most famous for the Oceanic white tip. As well as the big palegics there is plenty to see on the reef walls. Anthias, squirrel fish, masked butterfly fish, scorpion fish, cornet fish and napoleon wrasse all inhabit the reef. At the south plateau there is a deep archway at 55m. Threshers are often seen around the arch. Elphinstone has become famous for the Oceanic white tips that are there throughout sept-april. A fantastic dive site but has a tendency to get busy from the day boats.  Dolphin House A large horseshoe-shaped reef creates a shallow, turquise lagoon that is frequented by a pod of around 60 spinner dolphins. The diving here typically takes place between 10-15m on the southwest tip of the main reef. There is a fantastic network of caves and tunnels and a carpet of seagrass that hides moray eels, leopard groupers, goatfish, lionfish, masked butterflyfish and more including Dennis the Dugong at one of the shore dive sites.  Abu Dabab Is an area of mainly seagrass at a depth of 12-20m. Giant Turtles happily eat away and do not usually shy aawy form the occasional diver. If you are lucky the Dugongs also feed hear and sitings are possible. But these creatures more camera shy. 
Example Recreational Dive Schedule - Collected each day at 0740  Day 1 - 2 dives on the house reef Day 2 - 2 dives Day 3 - 2 dives Day 4 - 2 dives Day 5 - 2 dives Day 6 - FREE DAY for an excursion Day 7 - Fly home in the evening, leave hotel 4pm -Includes 2 dives per day with guide, tanks, weights and weightbelt, and guide-
Special Trips booked and paid Locally Full Day Elphinstone € 35 supplement (extra to daily diving rate or pre-paid diving min 10 divers. Min 30 logged Dives and Adv Open Water cert, due to depth and current)
Dolphin House, Samadai € 45 supplement (extra to daily diving rate or pre-paid diving min 10 divers) *Incl. Park Fee* Abu Dabab (Shore Diving) € 20 supp (extra to daily diving rate) *Incl. Park Fee & lunch* *Dolphin House National Park Entrance Fee €15 per visit
Example Technical Dive Schedule - Collected each day at 0740 -Includes 1 Tech Dive & 1 Rec Dive per day with Twinset, stage, weights, and guide- Marsa Alam Daily Diving Sites
Marsa Mubarak Marsa Shouni Kebir Offering some of the most picturesque dive sites in the southern Red Sea, the "Large Bay of the Market" is probably most famous for the massive variety of rays that call its sea grass plane home. Eagle, leopard, feather-tail, grey and thorny rays are all regularly spotted alongside a large school of golden trevallies and a menagerie of different snake eels. Turtles are abundant here and there is a great chance to meet "George", a giant green sea turtle who sleeps in the same spot most mornings on the South Reef. Ras El Torfa (Abu Syel) A protected area for mooring along the dynamic fringing reef offers three very different dives with incredible topography and stunning corals, the highlight being and enormous ball of rock and coral perched at the end of an enormous coral tongue. Its location encourages pelagic and schooling fishes in enormous schools and white tip reef sharks and even mantas have been spotted here.
Other Things to do from Marsa Alam |
| The desert: ferociously blazing, deeply silent, apparently empty. Majestic and imposing in its simplicity. The sea: crystalline, with its million hues of blue, its fertile, healthy marine life, unpolluted, a triumph of nature. A holiday in the area isn’t complete without a visit to the desert, whether to a natural location; to one of the unexpected, hidden historical sites scattered throughout this crossroad of civilisations that has been for centuries the Red Sea, or to the natural marvels of the sea itself. In Marsa Alam, many excursions can be done to some outstanding sights. Here is a selection of the most interesting places in the area. Ancient Emerald Mines- The emerald is the oldest known gemstone. Uniquely green in color and widely used in jewelry, emeralds were prized and cherished as symbols of eternity and power during antiquity. It is believed that Egyptian Pharaohs began mining emeralds in the mountainous area in the Eastern Desert southwest of Marsa Alam.  Later identified as the Cleopatra Mines or Mons Smaragdus (Emerald Mountains), the area became the most famous mining complex throughout the ancient world. The mines at Wadi Gimal, Wadi Sikeit, Wadi Nuqrus and Gebel Zabara were energetically exploited during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The mines were also worked during later centuries until left deserted after the Spaniards discovered emeralds in Columbia in 1545. Today the ruins of the Zabara and Sikeit mining settlements are still evident as well as the remains of temple structures and some old caved in mine sites. |
Bir Umm Fawakhir- A little to the north of Wadi Hammamat in the central part of the Eastern Desert lies a Byzantine gold mining settlement from the fifth and sixth century known today as Bir Umm Fawakhir. Around 1,000 Coptic Christians lived in this town of some 200 buildings. The gold extracted from the surrounding mountains was washed and transported to the Nile Valley for refining. Bir Umm Fawakhir's largest mine extends horizontally approximately 100 meters into the mountain and is about two meters high. Today, you can visit the site and examine the neatly laid out buildings and the ancient inscriptions etched into granite boulders at the towns guard posts. |
Mons Claudianus - In the parched desert between the Red Sea and the Nile lies the fascinating ruins of a Roman settlement. For over two centuries, from 68 AD to 282 AD, Mons Claudianus used the surrounding mountains to produce high quality columns and building blocks of grey granite known as granodiorite for the sole purpose of beautifying imperial Rome. Today, you can witness these magnificent objects in the Pantheon, in Hadrian's Villa and in the unfinished Temple of Venus. The largest and best-preserved Roman site in the Eastern Desert, Mons Claudianus, was once home to one thousand quarrymen and soldiers. You can still see remnants of the fortress, dwellings, workshops, stables, baths, broken granite columns and slabs. One column is an impressive 16 meters long and 2.4 meters wide, weighing 209 tons. Mons Claudianus is definitely well worth a day trip from Hurghada, Safaga or Quseir. |
| Quseir Fortress - This Ottoman fortress in the town center of Quseir is certainly worth a visit. It was built in the 16th century during the reign of Sultan Selim to protect trade links with India. Napoleon's troops occupied the fortress in 1799, fortifying it with cannons mounted high on the walls. They also added a new viewing platform. A few years later, British forces ejected the French after a fierce battle and added a new gate to the fortress. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 led to the decline of Quseir and its fortress.  Recently, restoration work on the fortress has been completed. Cannons are once again pointing seawards from their original gun ports. The viewing platform was also restored with the help of illustrations from the Déscription de l'Égypte that had been commissioned by Napoleon. The fortress now houses the new Visitor Center containing displays on local history, archaeology and culture of the surrounding region. |
| The Temple of Seti I at Kanais - Located in Kanais, east of Edfu along the desert road to Marsa Alam, lies a small rock-cut temple built by Seti I (1305-1290 BC). Unfortunately, you will only be able to view the entrance of the temple. The chamber inside the cliff, which has magnificent drawings of Seti I slashing at his enemies and offering a gift to the god Amun, is closed to the public to protect it against defacement.  Not far from the temple there is an ancient well. Superb rock art from pre-dynastic times about 6000 years old up to the period of Seti I decorate the wadi's steep walls with rowing boats, dancing goddesses, long-horned gazelles, fat hippos and hunting scenes. Closer to the main road are the remains of a Roman fort; an indication of how important this area was in ancient times. |
Wadi Hammamat - About midway between Quseir and Qena is the legendary Wadi Hammamat. Through this valley runs an ancient road, the shortest from the Red Sea to the Nile. Hundreds of rock inscriptions adorn the wadi's walls. Some drawings, like the ancient Egyptian reed boats, date back to 4000 BC. What made Wadi Hammamat famous during antiquity was the Bekheny stone; a beautiful green ornamental rock that was considered sacred. The stone was actively quarried from Pharaonic until Roman times for the production of bowls, statues and sarcophagi. A large number of Bekheny stone monuments have been found in pyramids, graves and temples of these periods. Today you will not only marvel at the rock drawings of the distant past, but you can also admire the ruins of the quarries, mines, fortresses, watchtowers and wells that lie scattered along this principal route. |
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Myos Hormos - Two thousand years ago Myos Hormos was the Roman Empire's principal gateway to India and East Africa. Only recently have archaeologists been able to identify the exact location of this ancient port, just eight kilometers north of Quseir.
The Marsa Alam area is a place rich in historical sites and natural beauty. Your hotel will be able to organise for you guided or non-guided visits to some of these sights. Here is a selection of interesting excursions from Marsa Alam. |
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| Outbound - Departing from Gatwick to Marsa Alam; Airline Thomsonfly inc 25Kg luggage Allowance TOM 3071 departs Gatwick North on 9/9/09 at 10:15 to arrive Marsa Alam at 17:35 |
Return - Returning from Marsa Alam to Gatwick; TOM 3072 departs Marsa Alam on 16/9/09 at 18:35 to arrive Gatwick North at 22:10 |
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Diving Includes: Tanks, weights, belt, guide and transfer between boat / hotel.
Resorts and Dive Centre accept credit cards and money exchange service is available in the Hotels and from ATM machines.. Flights are with Thomson and offer a 25kg Luggage Allowance. Visa forms and confirmation of the flights will be sent in return. *Extras Paid locally
NOTE:-Full balance required 2 months before departure. It is the sole responsibility of the passenger to pay in full by this date. If cancelling it is your responsibility to find an alternative passenger to take your place, or loose your money. Additional costs may apply with name change on documentations. The Balance is due 9th July Minimum diver qualification; Open Water Diver, Elphinstone Reef requires Advanaced Open Water with 30 logged dives Specialy courses can be taught on this trip such as Deep, Wreck, Enriched Air, Peak Performance Bouyancy, Boat, Drift and many more. Plus Advanced Open Water. Please request information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||