If there’s one thing I love about Dahab the most, it’s the snorkeling hands down. Many people come here from around the world to dive in the Red Sea, more specifically right here in Dahab, Egypt!
Diving is… overwhelming!?
Both Liz and I tried diving on our first trip to Dahab and thought that it was a slightly overwhelming. I’m guessing we felt this way about diving because of the fact that it seemed so much more complicated than we had originally thought it would be.
Could it have been our instructor that just wasn’t up to par? Maybe? I don’t know enough to be able to determine that.
The most overwhelming part to me was the whole breathing part. I didn’t have any panic attacks or anything but I found it difficult to keep myself level, while concentrating on reserving air, while keeping an eye on my instructor, while trying to remember all of those weird hand signals that we had talked about before we jumped in the water, worry about how Liz was doing, all while trying to catch a glimpse of some of the amazing sea life that the Red Sea has to offer. Wait, that’s what I’m down here for, right!?
In conclusion, I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m “done” with diving. I’ve just simply haven’t given it another shot…
Snorkeling in the Red Sea Rocks!
Since our first nightmare of an intro dive, I’ve happily resorted to snorkeling. To be honest I’m totally content with heading out into the Red Sea with a set of fins, a mask and spending two or three hours exploring. The water temperature is damn near bath water and not to mention crystal clear. How could you not love this place!?
On my first trip to Dahab, I published a pictorial titled “Snorkeling at Eel Gardens“, if you have yet to see the photos, do me a favor and take a minute to check them out. At that time I was shooting with a Canon SD960IS wrapped up inside of a Canon WP-DC32 waterproof camera housing. I received a lot of great feedback on that pictorial which I thought totally rocked by the way.
What about the Blue Hole?
Many people will say “You’ve been to Dahab three times and you’ve never visited the Blue Hole? Are you crazy!?” Yes, as a matter of fact I must be crazy! I actually signed up for a trip to the Blue Hole at one of the Dive Shops (wish I could remember the name) and at the last minute they decided to tell me that they were bringing me to “Three Pools” instead. I was frustrated to say the least because I was really looking forward to checking out the Blue Hole. Maybe next time…
Why I love Eel Gardens…
Since then I’ve visited Dahab twice and I’ve snorkeled down at the Lagoon, Three Pools and a few other spots along the coast. None of them have yet to top my snorkeling experiences at Eel Gardens. That’s right, not even Three Pools which is an extremely popular dive/snorkel area along the coast of Dahab.
What I love most about snorkeling at Eel Gardens is that there’s a nice restaurant at the edge of the entrance which has a small beach, sun terrace, and lounge area that you can chill out at before and after you snorkel. They serve great food, have friendly wait staff and FREE Wi-Fi to top it off!
Plus, how can you resist a view like the one shown above? You’ve got the beach, the beautiful water, the mountains in the distance. Sigh… makes me want to set up shop there right now!
The snorkeling here is top notch as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always had the best time cruising along the edge of the reef. This time I thought I would take my GoPro HD along with me and here’s some of the footage I captured below… (be sure to watch in 720p full screen if possible!)
Time to head back to shore…
I must have been out there for two hours swimming along the edge of the reef. By the time I started to head back I started to think that Liz was probably worried about me since she hadn’t heard from me in a couple of hours. Once I got to shore I found Liz sprawled out on a lounge chair just where I left her.
It was only when I returned to shore that I realized my back was burnt from lying face down in the water for so long! There was one big red spot on my back that was pretty much exposed to the sun the whole time. Oops!
I was too exhausted to go back out and explore more of the reef so we decided to head back to the hotel. I shot this cool wide angle photo on the walk back. The sky looks like it’s painted in a way…
Have you done any diving or snorkeling in the Red Sea? Leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences.
wow you’ve been to dahab three times? i always thought that the same place might get boring if you visit it too much but good to know that that’s not always the case. the video is pretty awesome. thanks for showing the type the camera and the waterproof case suggestion.
Yeah, three times. It’s an excellent place to go when you want to escape the chaos of Cairo. You can relax on the Red Sea, chow down on great food, cruise the coast by bicycle, check out the canyons, go quad bike riding, kite surfing and so much more. Thanks for the feedback on the video by the way!
Cool! I was wondering about this exact area for swimming. I’m kinda thinking about doing a Swim Trek somewhere cool and they listed the Red Sea and the Blue Hole as one of the destinations I’m interested in. Good to know there are tons of stuff to look at, clear water and fun to be had there with a week long swim trek. Would you say there were lots of waves and those jelly fish type creatures? Would hate to swim face first into one of those. Ouch.
Thanks for the comment Christy! I would highly recommend you check out Dahab when you get the chance. It’s a great place to lounge and to snorkel of course. The first two times I snorkeled here, there were no signs of jellyfish. This last time around though I encountered hundreds of them. Not sure why but on my way back to shore I had to carefully zig zag my way around a ton of them. Could have been the time of year? I’m really not sure.
I’m dying to dive in the Red Sea! Diving can definitely be overwhelming, but don’t give up on it just yet.
You NEED to get there Andi! You’d love it, for sure. Thanks for the comment!
hey .. ryan , sure the blue hole one of the most exciting areas for snorkeling and divining as well but i would like to talk about another area , its in red sea also 80km south of hurgada its amazing for diving its called sharm el naqaa still corals still pure and the colors and different kind of Marine organisms
next time hope to enjoy it
Awesome, looks beautiful. Did some scuba diving in the Red Sea as well and it was nice but not quite that nice. Always knew you were a fan of Dahab, need to make it there sometime. Hmmmm
Such a great place Rob. You have to check it out!
How beautiful to see the beauty of nature by you’r eyes.amazing video.thanks Ryan
Thanks my man!
Diving is totally overwhelming! After our Open Water we were left a bit flabbergasted but we are going to take Advanced in hopes that more training will help.
I agree 100%. I’m going to give it another try in the future though.
It’s it awesome!!!! we loved Dahab and would definitely return one day.
Yeah, how can you not love Dahab!?
The red sea looks amazing! I definately want to dive there one day!
Can you find great snorkel ing straight off the beach/coast at Dahab or do you need to take a boat every time? I am looking for somewhere to stay where you can walk into the sea and have great snorkeling.