The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) awarded Elite Diving with DIVERS UNITED a 20 years service Trophy, which is in the shape of a Diving Cylinder.

Left is Hossam, who apart from Alun and Moyra, has worked for Elite longer than anyone else. He started in June 2011.
Center, holding the award is Alun, the founder of Red Sea Elite Diving.
Right is Gwyn (mostly known as G), who is the Dive center manager.

Our Cruise and Stay week has proved to be so popular we have had to add another week to accommodate the interest. We now have another week starting on May 11th 2025, where there are a few spaces left as our initail week, a week later in May is now fully booked for the Safari portion of that week.

Still Available. 11th May 2025. "Cruise and Stay" Daily Diving from our very own Elite Dive Boat and a three night Mini Safari on a Liveaboard to visit the amazing World War Two wreck of the SS Thistlegorm, also dive the wrecks off Shag Rock and at the same time look for the pod of dolphins that live there. Have the best of both worlds with three days diving form a Liveaboard and three days diving form our daily boat to help us celebrate our 20th year Anniversary.- LIMITED PLACES LEFT

Not only will we be exploring the Iconic World War Shipwreck SS Thistlegorm, but we will also be seeking out the amazing marine life that the Red Sea has to offer, including the Pod of Dolphins that frequents Shag Rock near the wreck of The Kingston at Shab Alley.

If you and your Buddy are interested in taking up the last few spaces, please contact us by email to register your interest.
email: [email protected]

A Message from our Founder.
PADI Instructors are the most employable Recreational dive professionals in the world.
I became a PADI Instructor so I could work in the diving Industry abroad and I have now been teaching SCUBA Diving in The Red Sea for 22 years after moving here in September 2002.
Many people also become Instructors as part of a Dive Centre or Dive Club where they live. Some work full time and other's part time and they love helping others learn to dive so they can enjoy the underwater realm as us qualified divers do. 
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After experiencing several Dive Agency Instructor Training courses, I am of the opinion that PADI has the most thorough and professional Instructor Development Course there is. It gives you a great grounding to develop further as a professional dive educator.

Our Next IDC (PADI Instructor Development course) commences on 1st February 2025 which coincides with the PADI Instructor Exam which comes straight after the IDC. You need to be a minimum of a Divemaster or equivalent to be able to enrol on the IDC and also an EFR Instructor which you can book with us.
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There is study to do before the IDC commences, so although it is a commitment, it gives great satisfaction to become a fully qualified PADI Instructor to be able to teach others how to dive safely and correctly.

Step 1
INDEPENDENT STUDY
PADI eLearning
PADI eLearning makes it easy to fit your IDC eLearning into a busy schedule. 
 
Study offline, or online using a computer or mobile device. Connect with one of our Course Directors if ever you have a question or concern.

• eLearning time commitment: approx 18-25 hours

Step 2
With our Platinum Course Director at our Dive Center

The IDC is a life changing and unforgettable experience.  You will actively participate in classroom-based workshops to hone your instructional skills, curriculum presentations to deepen your understanding, written papers to demonstrate your dive theory and PADI standards knowledge base and dry presentations of in-water skills to ensure you're truly comfortable and confident in their delivery before heading underwater.
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• Time commitment: 5 days

Step 3 
​IN WATER with our Platinum Course Director and Elite Staff Instructors.

You will participate in at least two comprehensive pool sessions and two days at open water, where you will practice many teaching presentations, in addition to completing workshops and skills circuits to broaden your own dive skills and give you the toolbox you will need to be a first class instructor.
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• Time commitment: 3 days

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• Total time commitment for IDC: 8 days.​

Step  4
PADI Instructor Exam Invigilated by PADI Examiners

• Time commitment: 2 Days

If you are interested in becoming a PADI Instructor or if you know someone who is interested please email the following address email:  [email protected]

We are now in our 20th year and we are still going strong despite many outside influences where we have seen other dive centers come and go. We are told that our family atmospheare along with amazing diving around Sharm and our efforts to have as much fun as we can has been the main reason that so many divers and their families keep coming back again and again.

We have decided to have a few special events to mark our 20th year. Below is a list of planned events and more will be added throughout the year.

Special Events.
* 9 Jan 2025. Liveabord to the shark infested waters of Cocos Islands off Costa Rica. - FULLY BOOKED.

* 1st March 2025. "UK Dive Show Party" at The Holiday Inn, Kenelworth. Nr Coventry. Contact [email protected] Subject "Dive Show Party" for more details.

* May 2025. "Cruise and Stay" Daily Diving from our very own Elite Dive Boat and a three night Mini Safari on a Liveboard to visit the amazing World War Two wreck of the SS Thistlegorm, also dive the wrecks off Shag Rock and at the same time look for the pod of dolphins that live there. - LIMITED PLACES LEFT

e* June 2025. "The Great Aggregation". Come and wintess the amzing transrormation of Shark and Yolanda Reefs during the Summer months. Thousands of fish gather there to spawn

* 27th August 2025. "Red Sea Elite Diving" Actual Birthday. We will have some amazing diving and a party to top it off.  

* 6th October 2025. Dive on the Anniversary of the sinking of SS Thistlegorm. You need to be here a few days before to have a few orientation dives before we dive SS Thsitlegorm. Limited Spaces

Come and help us celobrate our 20th Birthday at one or moe of these events. We already know of over a dozen people that will be at least three of these events.

A massive thank you, to our staff and our divers alike for being part of The Elite Diving Family and for your continued support so we can deliver the standard of diving and service that you've come to expect from us over the past 20 years.

We look forward to hearing from you.
email: [email protected]

We have recently had an encounter with an Indian Ocean Humback Dolphin.  This was a single dolphin that found us in Ras Mohamed.

The Indian Ocean humpback dolphin is a social delphinid that typically lives within a group. Group size is, however, highly variable. Some specimens have been found to be isolated individuals, although the average group is composed of around 12 individuals and some of the largest observed groups have been in excess of 100 individuals.

This type of dolphin like coastal waters where there is an abuncance of fish, hense Ras Mohamed is an ideal location for the speciese, so it's surprising that we haven't seen any previously.

This one was a lone dolphin but was very interested in the divers and came back and forth a few times to check them out. It was described by one diver "like a playfull puppy", but this dolphin was not a junivile. 

You can see from the map below that the blue area is whre the Indian Ocean Humback Dolphin inhabits. 

Click on the video above that G took of the Humphead Dolphin as it kept coming back to check out the divers. You can even hear G's excitment as the Dolphin keeps swimming past.

​Cruise and Stay
Have you ever thought that a full week on a Liveaboard may be too long for you?  We have teamed up with a Safari Company to offer you the chance to try a Mini Safari for three nights and get to dive the wrecks of the Sinai which are the world famous Thistlegorm, SS Dunraven and The Kingston at Shag rock (weather permitting). Also to spend 4 nights in a hotel where you can go out in the evenings and try different restaurants and enjoy everything Sharm el Sheikh has to offer you .
We have availability on a Liveaboard that we have chartered to do just this with one of our top-class Instructor Guides to accompany you.
We have limited space for this trip, so it will be first come first served who gets the places.

Here is the Itinerary.
Sunday           18 May. Arrive at Sharm Airport. VIP transfer to your hotel.
Monday          19 May. Dive from our daily boat.
Tuesday          20 May. Dive from our daily boat.
Wednesday    21 May. Dive from our daily boat and transfer to Liveaboard in the evening.
Thursday        22 May. Dive from Liveaboard.
Friday              23 May. Dive from Liveaboard.
Saturday         24 May. Dive from Liveaboard and transfer to the hotel in the afternoon. 
Sunday            25 May. VIP transfer to the Airport for departure.
 
Flights not included.

Contact [email protected] for more information.

It all started when we thought it would be a good idea to form a Dive center with more of a personal service. A daunting task when there were so many very big Dive Centers in Sharm, but we gave it a go, and it worked, and us still operational on our 18th Birthday gives testament to what we provide the new and experienced diver is what they want and what you want if you are reading this.

27th August 2005 Elite Diving was born. The logo and websites have all been created by Graphic Designer Greg Bottle, and he still works with elite diving today, and designs our art work for adverts and promotional items.

Meet our first ever Divers who dived on our first dive trip out of Sharm

Graham Morgan from Bingley West Yorkshire, pictured above in the blue shirt was a very talented footballer in his youth and also loved diving in his later years. He was one of the first ever to dive with Elite Diving on a boat trip out to Ras Mohamed out of Travco on M.Y. Sabeel. There were two brothers also on that trip. Do anyone recognise them? Of Course the photo above of the two young brothers with me, Alun, is Gwyn and Huw AKA G&H, Moyra and my son's. H worked with us at elite later for a spell and G is now our dive center manager and works in Sharm still, with Elite Diving.

,Top left. H and myself in the early days. After the boat we would go for a beer (much as we do now) As we didn't have a dive center as such in the early days, we went to a beach bar to socialise, have some light refreshments and talk about the marvelous day we just had on the boat. Also we used to finish any paperwork, so that beach bar was nicknamed "The Office".
Top middle.  Alec listening to one of my briefings, when he was a mere apprentice. He soon progressed to Instructor and delivered accomplished Dive briefing's himself.
​Top right. The Count. Also called Alin, but spelt different. He work with Elite for several years before moving on to be a technical guide using his rebreather. We nicknamed him the count as he had a distinctive accent coming from Transylvania. He also taught us all about Vlad the Impaler!
Bottom left. Alec. supposedly working at the 2010 NEC Dive show for Elite.
Bottom middle. Walid was the only asset worth having when Elite Diving took ownership of Divers United. Walid learnt to dive and did his Divemaster course with us before leaving to join the petrochemical industry.
Bottom Right. A coming together of two Tiger sharks on our South African Shark Safari in 2008.

 Our Success over the years has been down to many factors, namely our dedicated staff that enjoy what they do so much and delivers a great but safe service to our faithful divers. Then there are our faithful Divers themselves, that keep coming back much of that due to our dedicated Dive and Boat crews. 

There have been many epic trips and there are so many groups and individuals that come and dive with us on a regular basis and now we have resumed business as usual after non direct flights and the pandemic, we have welcomed so many old and new faces recently.

A special thank you must go to the divers that kept coming when there were no direct flights and kept us motivated enough to keep going where many dive centers folded. That's a big factor in us reaching our 18th Birthday.

The photos above give you a taste of the fun that we have had with a bunch of clowns, boarded by pirates, a safari full of flower power divers, wear your Tutu Days, a Pink Safari and so many night dives. One even with a naked diver on her 100th dive (no photographic evidence, we're a family business LOL)

A Big part of our identity was having our own boat where we could hand pick our crew. The stories of why the crews came to us will have to be kept for the book, but all who dive with us will agree that Captain Yahia and his second in command Zenga forms the basis of one of the best dive boat crews in the whole wide world, without even mentioning Zenga's chocolate cake.

Our several Worlds best Dive center awards are attributed to all our Dive center staff from the office, tank personnel, boat crew and dive instructors alike.

Most Divers would like to see sharks and we have been very lucky running several Shark Safari's.
Top Left. Hammerhead Shark Cocos Islands 2015 Shark Safari.
Top Middle. South Africa Shark Safari 2008.
Top right. Red Sea Shark Safari 2017
Bottom Left. Cocos Island trip 2015. Dressed in our Elite Diving shirts for dinner. We have 22 divers booked on the 2025 trip. Will they be as smart I wonder?

It has been said that Cocos Island is the world’s most remote diving destination with regular liveaboard service! It also has so many big shoals of fish and even bigger fish to feed on them.

Lying approx 340 miles off Costa Rica's Western coastline in the Pacific Ocean, and due North of Galapagos, Cocos Island is notorious for it different species of sharks that frequent the waters around the Island and masses of sholes of fish. 

The Island along with a few small Islands around Cocos including the waters, are a designated National Park and they charge 490US$ plus 13% VAT to be able to dive there. The wardens come on the boat the day we arrive to collect the money from each individual.

Also there is an Evacuation fee that they collect on the boat of 30 US$. This is an insurance in case anyone needs to be taken back to the mainland early due to illness or accident and saves the whole ship going back. There is also a fule surchage of 200 US$ as security if the is a fuel increase all of a sudden.
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After our recce a good few years ago, we intended to run this trip earlier, however as you all know things got in the way. Now it's on again. There are a few people going this time who have been before with us and who are coming again and will have seen all the following creatures on the dives there previously. Who can blame them for wanting to go back again.

Although the sharks on every dive is spectacular, the schools of fish that gathers in their thousands is also very impressive. 

For some this is a Once in a lifetime trip. We are estimating for the liveaboard which is ten nights and six days diving will cost for the Full Board Liveaboard approx £5265 depending on the Exchange rate at time of paying. Flights not included.
All the more expensive Master Cabins on the upper deck have now all been filled.

There is the National Park fee to pay the Park Wardens on Arrival at Cocos. They will board our boat and collect the money.
This is 490 US$ plus 13% VAT which is approx £432. Best to have Dollars handy 
Fuel surcharge is 200 US$ approx £160 and Evacuation policy is £24.

It is highly recommended that you have travel insurance that also covers diving in case of cancelations or diving accidents.

To Book your space on this Liveaboad, you need to pay a non refundable deposit of £500.

You will need to book your own flights to Tobias Bolanos International Airport San Jose Costa Rica.

You will need to be outside Park Inn by Radisson, San Jose, Av6, Bosca. phone: +506 4200 1100, on Thursday 9th January 2025. There will be a transfer from there to take us to the boat and back again on the 19th January. Times of pick up to be confirmed at a later date.

This time last year, we were showing you photos of our boat in Dry Dock. It's surprising how soon a year has passed. 

We need to have our boat inspected each year at dry dock. We could leave it 18 months but then we would be in our busy season and we know how much our regular divers enjoy being on MY elite with Captain Yahia, Zenger, Hamada and Ahmed.

Captain Yahia and Zinger are the only members of the crew that work on the boat when in Dry Dock. They organise the local craftsmen, parts and paint etc. We always get a warm welcome form Yahia and Zenger when we arrive to see how they are getting on, and they take so much pride in showing us what they are getting done. This year there are some structural ribs on the starboard bow that need to be renewed and in the middle photo above you can see captain Yahia showing  and telling me all about it. He's also breaking it to me gently that it's going to cost loads.

The middle photo is of M.Y. elite after it came out of Dry Dock last year, and on the right is a photo of the new ribs that were replaced on the port bow two years ago.

​We look forward so much to getting her back on the water for our divers to enjoy when they come to dive with us.

By Road
From London / M40. Leave the M40 at junction 15 and head onto the A46 towards Coventry. Follow the signs to Stoneleigh Park main entrance or NAEC on the B4113.
From the M6/M9. Leave the M6 at junction 2 and head onto the A46 towards Warwick or at the end of the M69, head onto the A46 towards Warwick and the M40. Follow the signs to Stoneleigh Park main entrance or NAEC on the B4113.
From the M1 (Northbound). Leave the M1 at junction 17 and join the M45 heading towards Coventry. Pick up the signs for the A45 Coventry (NOT Daventry). Stay on the A45 heading towards the A46, follow the signs to Stoneleigh Park main entrance or NAEC on B4113.

By Bus or Coach
Coventry bus station is 6 miles (10km) away from Stoneleigh Park. Warwick bus station is 9 miles (14km) from Stoneleigh Park.

By Rail
Royal Leamington Spa. Warwick and Warwick Parkway rail stations are situated on the main London Marylebone line. The Birmingham line stop for the Virgin West Coast Mainline.
London Euston – Coventry services every 30 minutes weekdays.
London Marylebone – Warwick Parkway services every 30 minutes.
Birmingham – Coventry frequent services from Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International and Coventry.
From these mainline stations you will need to take a short taxi ride. Taxi ranks are based at both Warwick Parkway and Coventry stations, which are approximately 5 miles from Stoneleigh Park.

We hope to see you there.