I have been working with 3 Turtles Diving Center in Safaga for around 8 or 9 months now and during that time the owners, Tam Tam and Adham have moved beyond clients and into good friends. Yesterday I finally got the opportunity dive with them at their facility in Safaga (something I have been intending to do since we first met).
Safaga is about a 1 hour drive from Hurghada, so with equipment prepared I made an early start and began my road trip. Road trips are supposed to be exciting, but early in the morning there is not really a great deal happening in Egypt. Although driving through the desert on empty roads was quite nice.
I was greeted at the diving center by Adham and after loading equipment into the pickup we headed to the marina. The boat we would be using was FOX SAFAGA which has been the boat for 3 Turtles for the last 10 years. The boat is nice, well organised and with a very big salon to relax between dives if you don’t want to sunbathe!
Dive one would be at Tobia Arba (7 Pinnacles) which is not too far outside of Safaga and made for quite a fast trip. Apparently this can be quite busy due to the combination of how nice the diving is, and the fact that it is close to shore but we arrived early and we were the only ones there. I was in a buddy team with 2 of the French guests. It was nice to explore somewhere new and the 7 reef pinnacles were full of aquatic life. As most of you know, beyond the usual aquatic life, I don’t really know which fish is which…but there was a lot of them 🙂 It was a nice 70 minute dive, maximum depth of 14m but most of the good things to see were at around 10-12m. Maybe one of the most relaxing dives I have done for a long time.
Lunch on the boat was exactly what was expected. Good food and more than enough for everyone. I certainly have no reason to complain!
Dive two would be at Gamul Kebir North. This would be a bigger buddy team, guided by Adham. Again it was great to be diving somewhere new and being guided meant that it was amazingly relaxing. Just exploring the reef and seeing the sights with nothing else to worry about…perfect. A lot of variety here. Reef formations, channels through the reefs, sandy bottoms, coral walls – really a bit of everything. Maximum depth of again 14/15m with most of the good stuff in the 12m range.
Back on the boat for the short journey back to port and a chance to get some sun. Well to be honest, for me it was a chance to catch up on some emails but still nice to do it sat on the sundeck of a dive boat.
The day then ended with a brief stop at the diving center to collect my car and a deco beer with the guests at Divers House, the place to be if you are a diver in Safaga apparently!
Overall it was an excellent day. Organisation and logistics are perfect at 3 Turtles. The boat crew are helpful and not intrusive and there is a really relaxed feeling about the whole day. Not “lazy relaxed” like some places are in Egypt but relaxed because everything has been organised and planned effectively.
Tam Tam and Adham are great hosts and I am annoyed that I left it 8 months before finally visiting. I think I will be becoming a regular Safaga diver 🙂
If you are love diving in Egypt and want to try somewhere a little bit different than the usual Hurghada, El Gouna, Sharm El Sheikh areas, I would certainly recommend visiting 3 Turtles in Safaga. They even have their own guest house to accommodate you!
Learn more about 3 Turtles at: http://www.3turtles-red-sea.com
