We know we will probably get some hate mail, but at least we have proof of the whale sharks that has been hanging around Sharm providing a thrilling dive! Following this playful Whale Shark, we counted 9 Eagle Ray's and Derek got up close and personal with a Turtle. Just take a look at our facebook page to see how regular we have been seeing Whale Sharks over the Autumn and Winter. Previous years we saw them occasionally from late Spring to Early Autumn as they travel North into the Gulf of Aqaba at the end of Spring, and then passing back travelling back down South in Autumn. We have had the odd one during the winter months, but they are few and far between in the winter usually. This year it has changed. Either us or our friends from other dive centers have been seeing whale sharks consistently every week throughout the winter this year, and they are not the same one, as there have been a variety of sizes spotted.
Whether they have changed their migratory pasterns (which we doubt very much) or maybe they are staying around Sharm for longer periods due to the reduction of pollution from boats in the area during the very quiet Covid period, making the feeding so much better, or perhaps it just falls on a rotation pattern of areas they choose from time to time, we just can't say, but they are a very welcome sight to see so regularly. Long may it Continue. Six Years ago on 25 February 2015. Gwyn (AKA G), the eldest son of Alun and Moyra, become a PADI Instructor, which transformed his life. Since then, he has gone on to gain invaluable experience and become a Staff Instructor helping and teaching other divers to become Instructors. He's also a Technical Instructor, teaching deeper and longer dives. ![]() G got Married to the lovely Valeria who is also a Staff Instructor and works alongside G at Elite Diving in Sharm. They met on their PADI Instructor exam here in Sharm.
G has been the Technical manager of the dive center since 2018 one of his rolls is being responsible for maintaining the safe running of all diving and water activities. Make sure you come and visit G & V and the rest of the team in Sharm as soon as you can get here. Alun and Moyra are also still here and can't wait to have you all back enjoying the world class diving here in Sharm with the Elite experience and the famous apre-diving social events where memories are refreshed and relationships are forged. We can't wait to have you back. DIVE AND STAY PACKAGES * 7 Nights in a Superior Room at 5 Star IL Mercato Hotel and Spa * VIP Airport Transfers. Your own personal transfers. No stopping at other hotels. * 5 Day Dive Package. * Free Upgrade to All Inclusive. Total package until the end of June 2021 £360 per person when sharing a twin or double room. Total Package from 1 July 2021 until the end of October 2021. £430 per person when sharing a twin or double room. For differnt number of nights and diving days contact info@elite-diving.com and book a tailor made stay with us. For the third year in succession, we have been voted in the Top Ten Dive centers of the world.
This time we were sixth Overall but Still Top Dive center in Red Sea and Egypt thanks to our loyal band of divers and supporters. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH for your votes and continued support. Also a big thank you must go out to our loyal staff for their tireless efforts to give you the divers the very best service possible to get you underwater for you to see the very best there is to see in Sharm El Sheikh beneath the sea. Another remarkable achievement is that we are the only Dive Center to be in the recognised Top Ten Dive Centers in The World for three years in succession. No other dive center has achieved this. Once again this is down to the divers that voted for us and of course our Team in Sharm who consistently do their very best to make sure everybody get the best they possibly can out of their visits to Sharm with us. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible very soon over in Sharm when this Pandemic is in decline. Thanks again and stay safe. Best wishes Alun and Moyra It has come to our attention that many people who think they have voted for us in The DIVE Travel Awards, had only voted in the 1st round. What is happening now is the final round and people need to enter a vote in that also. The one in the 1st round does not get carried forward.
Please click on the link below and check you have voted. It won't let you enter the same e.mail address if you have voted in the final already. Only a few days left to vote so please vote now. We need all the votes we can get. Thanks During this unprecedented time of COVID 19 travel restrictions, this idea of a digital Dive show really fits the bill.
You can attend on line without leaving your home. This way you stay safe, save on travel costs, highly priced food costs at a venue, car parking, the list goes on. Just for the price of a ticket you can have unlimited access to three whole days of dive show on line. This is a new concept but something that our team are very excited about. There are two hundred exhibitors including, Liveaboards, Destinations, Equipment, Resorts and many other areas as a usual Dive show, along with many presentations. Many of the divers that dive with us enjoy traveling to different destinations but they always come back at some point and dive with us, so we are happy for people to see other options in different parts of the world. Mr Alun may also be doing a talk on Thistlegorm during the show at some point so watch this space. We urge you to support this digital Dive show, it could be the future. I know we will miss meeting people face to face and our usual get together's after the show, but for now we all need to stay safe so we can once again travel freely in the future. Click on the link below to get your ticket for the #1 Online Dive Show. We have to thank everyone who nominated us for the DIVE Travel awards again this year. We have made the final cut once again. Now it's time to cast your vote in the final leg. You're entitled to one vote per e.mail address.
We know most people haven't been able to go diving abroad, but we have a group of ten British divers with us at the moment and we've had some of our faithful regulars over recently as we are now open for business. Even though most dive destinations have been on lockdown for much of the year. Dive Travel Awards still decided to go ahead with the awards for 2020 and we would love to keep our Number one in The Red Sea spot, again this year. This would make it three years in succession. If you feel you'd like to vote for us in this years Resort and Dive Center award, please click on the following link and vote. Click here to Vote Many thanks. Out of all the problems we have had to cope with in the Tourism industry here in Sharm since we started 'elite diving' back in 2005. This Corona Virus is the most serious, as it not only effects us here in Sharm but everybody in the Whole World.
From 19th March until 31st March, Egypt has closed its doors to any International flights. We at Elite actually closed our doors on Friday 13th for two weeks initially but now Egypt has increased that for us. We decided to close our doors on Friday 13th March after seeing what was happening in other places in the world due the rapid spread of the disease and the number of fatalities in those countries, and with so many people traveling to Sharm it was always going to happen here also. Some of our divers agreed that we were doing the right thing and others were very disappointed. Those who carried on with their Holiday and came to Sharm are now risking being stuck here. As you can imagine, the tour operators who have brought the tourists here are inundated with inquiries. I took three days to get hold of my agent and that was eventually by getting up at 6.00 am when their call center opened and waiting in a queue for over an hour. We hope this Pandemic can get resolved soon and we can all get back to normality. All our Staff in Sharm are on Self Isolation. Myself (Alun) and Moyra are in UK and had planned to fly back to Sharm on 20 April. Elite e.mails are manned every day from staff's own home. You can contact us on info@elite-diving.com Keep following your government directives. Usual service will be resumed as soon as possible. Keep Safe and help other to keep safe. Many Regards Alun, It's been a while since we've had a stand at a British Dive Show, but with direct flights now available again from UK to Sharm, we thought we'd participate in this new show in Coventry even if we only had a skeleton crew compared to previous shows. It's only the second year for this show, run by SCUBA Diver Magazine. We are hopping to see new divers coming to Sharm, but it was also good meting many of our divers who has kept traveling to Sharm even during the period where there were no direct flight. Many were sporting their elite diving shirts. Do any of you recognise the young lad with the black Suunto short on in the front in the photo below? It's Taffro, AKA Alec (with a bit less hair), who worked in Sharm with elite for years and now works for Suunto in The UK. At the end of the show, the draw was made for the winners of our Dive Show Prize draw. The first prize was for a 5 Day Dive Pack for two people to be taken in Sharm El Sheikh with us at Elite Diving. There were also two runners up, who both won a 5 day dive pack each to be taken anytime during 2020. There was an an amazing coincidence among the three winners. They were all Diving Instructors. I think it's a first time we have ever had a winner who is a dive instructor let alone three of them. Here are the winners in the order they were drawn out. John Smallwood from Rotherham was the first name out of the draw. John learnt to dive back in 1994 and his keen enjoyment of Diving prompted him to pass that enthusiasm on to others, so he followed the instructor route and became an instructor back in 2005. Soon after, John formed Dream Divers in Rotherham where he's still an instructor and runs an active club. John won first prize which is a 5 day dive pack for him and a buddy to dive with us in Sharm El Sheikh anytime during 2020. John has dived in Sharm previously, but not for a while, so he's looking forward to returning and claiming his prize with us. Dave Keany from Leyland was the second name drawn out. Dave learnt to dive in November 2011 and picked up the dive bug badly. By May 2014 he was a PADI Dive Instructor and he still climbed the ladder to become a Staff instructor and then a Master Instructor who can teach other divers to become Instructors. Gilly Barbour was the second Runner up to be drawn. Gilly is also a dive instructor living in Oxford, with over ten years experience as an instructor. Most of her instructing has been for the pupils of her school. Gilly is a Physics teacher but teaches SCUBA as an extra curriculum activity for her school's students. Gilly has already set aside dates to visit us in Sharm, and is very excited to be diving with us there soon. Congratulations to all three winners. We are sure you will enjoy your time diving with us in Sharm El Sheikh.
This Summer will be our fifth consecutive year for our very popular Shark Safari's. There are not many spaces left, as the people who have been on the previous Shark Safaris, have snapped up the places. However there are still a few. The Available Safari starts on 4th July 2020 from Hurghada for a week, and will head for Shark waters, namely Brothers, Elphinstone and Daedalus. Some tour operators call this itinerary "Simply The Best". If you want to see sharks, you have a great chance of seeing them in the Summer months at the locations we will be heading for. We haven't failed to spot at least five different species of shark during our week long Sharks Safari's. We even got to see Whale sharks, Manta and Dolphin in the water. There's even a FREE Shark Awareness Course you can sit on while on the Liveaboard. If anyone would like to take up the last few spaces, please contact us on info@elite-diving.com reference Shark Safari 2020.
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Alun EvansOwner of Elite Diving with Divers United, has a wealth of diving experience and has been diving since 1984. Archives
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