Do Before You Die: Diving In The Red Sea

Before you consider the popular resort of Sharm El Sheikh, instead cast your mind about 85km, to the little town of Dahab. Backed by the glorious, barren mountains of the Sinai Desert, the best dive locations are located just off the beach. The Eel Garden is accessible from the Lighthouse dive area, and is a gentle curve of about 10-15 metres down where a forest of eels will slowly emerge from the sand. Golden Blocks, just to the south in it's own bay, is a more complex dive, where you will pass over beautiful reefs of coral and descend over the side of a huge, gut-churning wall, where shoals of glassfish swim.

Most people come out to Dahab to dive into the Blue Hole, a chasm that seems bottomless carved out of the wall near the shore. This is a difficult dive as the hole quickly falls into a 300m drop and then seems to fall into eternity. The safest way is first to take a short trek over to the Bells, which is a narrow, somewhat shallow pool. Once you reach the top, there's only one way down; a headfirst dive into 30m of darkness. For a moment, you won't be able to see anything, but soon you'll see a shaft of light and emerge in the sea, with nothing but endless ocean all around you.

From the base, you can see coral reefs, sea snakes, conger eels and shoals of brightly coloured fish. As you round into the Blue Hole, it is advised to continually keep an eye on your depth gauge, as many divers have been drawn downward into oblivion.

From the peacefulness of Dahab to the many dives you can do, this is perfect for a totally relaxing holiday to get away from it all, and a nice alternative if you don't want to lie on the beach all day.

Experience Egypt offer dive packages in Dahab, via the Orca Dive Club. Prices are good and the instructors are excellent, so it's ideal for even the beginner divers who want to take the plunge. The basic qualification lasts 5 days and lets you dive to 20 metres.

Egypt Air fly direct to Cairo, and from there, you can transfer to Dahab.