3 OCTOBER 2015
DIVING SAFARI EXCURSION
This excursion was for two snorkelling destinations, a coral reef diving experience and a stay at the beautiful Orange Bay Island and also the chance to watch dolphins.
We met on the beach at 8.30 AM, we watched as the various tour guides warmed up the speed boat motors and prepared the boats ready to leave, we were soon on board with another couple from our hotel. The journey over the bay was very fast and only took about 15 minutes, we climbed off the boat and on to the small harbour area where there was multiple cruiser boats waiting.
As Amanda is pretty much terrified of the water, and this is the first time she has been out to sea, I quizzed the sales man about every detail of the trip, then once I was happy with the details, I mulled it over for around 6 hours before purchasing the excursion.
We realised this was primarily a diving trip, but we were both more than happy to sit it out on the boat and watch the others diving and snorkelling.
GETTING READY TO BOARD AND SPEED ACROSS THE BAY TO THE WAITING CRUISER
LEAVING THE DOCK TO START THE CRUISE
One thing I never thought about asking was entering and leaving the boat, in Sharm el Sheikh when I last did it there was a professional metal ramp with built in handrails, and we simply walked over and onto the boat.
In contrast this trip was a little different, there was what looked like 2 planks of wood screwed together with some cross braces every 18 inches or so, no handrails, and it was about 2ft wide, also the harbour was a lot higher than the back of the boat therefore entry on to the boat was at quite step decline over the sea, I would say the planks were about 8 feet long, so not a huge distance to walk.
Generally all the men seemed fine with this, and boarded without drama, a few of the ladies however, including Amanda, were quite worried by this, but to fair, the staff did all they could to help with the boarding process, they held her hand as she left the dock and another guy immediately grabbing her hand from on the boat, for someone who is terrified of water it shook her up quite a bit.
I was a bit surprised by this because everybody onboard seemed concerned about everyones welfare and obviously their fleet of boats, you weren’t even allowed to wear footwear once on the boat, it had to be removed and stored away, maybe different people took care of the boarding and speedboats because I don’t think these really cared about safety.
STARTING TO SETTLE DOWN AND ENJOY THE EXPERIANCE
OUR SPOT FOR THE DIVING AND SNORKELLING
Once on board she was a little bit apprehensive about the journey, but soon realised it was fine and immediately became relaxed and really started to enjoy the experience, She even made friends with a lovely couple named Christina and Jacob from Tennessee, USA.
We booked this trip primarily to see dolphins in their natural habitat, we both love nature and wildlife, obviously there are no guarantee’s to see anything, we fully understand this and it was explained to us.
Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be on this occasion, and also, I'm not really sure at what point of the trip we were supposed to see them, there were no announcements to say this is the Dolphin area or anything like that. So yeah, we were disappointed but it definitely didn’t spoil and amazing day trip and we will definatly try again next time we visit Egypt.
PREPARING TO DIVE
JACOB LOOKS ON AS CHRISTINA MAKES A SPLASH
CHRISTINA AND JACOB
JACOB MAKING A SPLASH
WE PASSED THIS ISLAND ON OUR WAY TO ORANGE BAY
ORANGE BAY ON GIFTUN ISLAND
We stayed on this island for just over an hour, this beach is simply stunning and was definitely my favourite beach, the resort beach is lovely too, but this is something else, the colour of the water and even the sky is more turquoise in colour to the other parts of Hurghada, its a very unique shore line and it really had the paradise vibes.
The island is in a stunning location, but there isn’t really a lot to do on here, we chose to relax on the strategically placed sand bags in the shaded area of the island, which sounds nice, but we was actually a bit crammed in, everybody seems to sit on top of one another with hardly any space to walk, I also found these to be quite uncomfortable and quite grubby and it just didn’t seem very hygienic to me.
We didn’t eat any food so I can’t comment on the quality or price, we both had a drink of coke and I also had a bottle of beer, prices were expensive for Egypt and cash only.
I feel this island is a bit of a tourist trap and wouldn’t be surprised if the boat operators have a little cash kickback for bringing tourists here.
Amanda had a paddle and sat for a while on the beach, while I had a quick walk around and snapped some photos, there are plenty of little areas for to sit and soak up the sun, if you had more time to spend, that would be perfect.
Whilst it is beautiful, it lacked any kind of atmosphere, and the whole experience seemed a little rushed, In general, it is a island worth visiting for the views, the sea, and the feeling of being in paradise, keep your expectations low and don’t believe the sales hype and it should be a good 5 hour Island destination, take plenty of cash though.
ENTERING ORANGE BAY FROM THE BOATS
AMAZING PLACE TO SIT AND DRINK BEAR, THE TURQUOISE COLOUR OF THE SEA IS INCREDIBLE
STUNNING COVERED SWING AREA RIGHT NEXT TO THE BAR TOO
PURE PARADISE
On the way back we saw a really small rubber speedboat trying to mount the back of the ship, time after time he unsuccessfully bounced of the back of the ship, we were laughing at him initially and thought god help whoever gets on there with him if he succeeded to land.
To our horror he did land, and we saw three of our hotel guests board the speedboat, I said let them go, I wouldn’t get on that thing anyway, then the captain came running upstairs to us and said come on hurry your boat is waiting, Jesus, never rushed about so much, left my hotel towel behind in the panic.
Now the speedboat has only got 3 seats and there is already three people on board, the captain tells one person to squeeze on the back which leaves one seat for me and Amanda to share, the captain gestured to me to sit on the side and hold on, I was having none of that and completely refused, so we are both facing backwards as we are on the front of the boat, which in not ideal, and to add insult to injury the captain in a complete lunatic who thanks it’s funny to go as fast as he can, bouncing up and down on the waves, and laughing at us, to be fair, I suppose it was safe enough for Egypt.
HAPPY AND VERY RELAXED
Thoughts on “Diving Safari Excursion"
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