Index of Red Sea Pictures

[Pictures] [Travelogue] [Useful bits] [Conclusions]

	JPEG 1024x768x16M [199 KB] The endless expanse of the egyptian Sahara is an imposing view from the airplane window.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [195 KB] The banks of the mighty Nile river provide the only relief. Today as five thousands years ago, they shelter life in the desert.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [197 KB] Finally, the Red Sea. From the plane's window, the coast shows a variety of colours, from the light blue of sandy patches to the deep dark waters.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [220 KB] Our hotel is the Flamingo Beach Resort, close to El Quseir.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [248 KB] Inside the hotel.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [254 KB] What the touristic brochures never say, is that the Red Sea coast is swept almost every day by strong winds from the North...
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [227 KB] ... enough to make waters too choppy for most people. Our hotel had this long pier, which provided an excellent entry point directly over the reef.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [202 KB] At the first jump in the water, the bottom is already between 8 and 15 meters.
	jpeg 1024x768x16M [203 KB] A sunset view of the beach, with El Quseir on the horizon.
	JPEG 1024x768x16M [200 KB] For those who prefer more sheltered waters, a small beach is available a few chilometers away.
	JPEG 1024x768x16M [243 KB] The intrepid free-divers taking a rest from their hard life.
	JPEG 1445x1015x16M [127 KB] Corals abound, expecially in the shallow waters such as here. At less than 10 meters' depth, their colors are spectacular and vivid.
	JPEG 1600x1137x16M [148 KB] Spoiled by tens of tourists feeding them every day, reef fishes beg shamelessly the intrepid free-diver.
	JPEG 1600x1117x16M [163 KB] An underwater disposable camera of inferior quality doesn't give justice to the beauty of this lion fish...
	JPEG 1409x986x16M [142 KB] ... or to this impressive this moray eel, with a head the size of a melon.
	JPEG 989x1379x16M [181 KB] Intrepid free-diver number two, checking out the rope at fifteen meters before measuring himself against the reef wall. Bottom depths of fifty meters and more are within a short distance.

[Pictures] [Travelogue] [Useful bits] [Conclusions]

I visited in September 2002, together with Tore, my friend and partner of many free-dives. I readily admit that I came to the Red Sea spoiled by a many other dive sites visited previously, and with some fear of the effects of the large tourists crowds. Equally readily I admit that I have seen nothing of the Red Sea except the place pictured here. However, after a visit of one week my judgement is now quite positive, at least for the coast near El Quseir. The visibility in the water does not even come close to the fantastic clarity of other places, expecially in the Pacific. However, with an average of about 25 meters, it was sufficient for at least the more moderate dives. Also the marine life and the corals are not outstanding, but they are nevertheless sufficiently beautiful to make every dive interesting. From these point of view, the Red Sea is probably superior to most dive sites I have seen in South East Asia, and similar to the Philippines. On the plus side, I was certainly happy with having the chance to jump from the pier directly into depths between 25 and 50 meters, and to be able to do so at anytime of my choice without having to group up with scuba divers. Not to be forgotten, the advantage of constantly blue skies: in stark contrast with most tropical islaqnds where diving often suffers from torrential rains. The strong winds ruined at least one day in our stay of one week.

[Pictures] [Travelogue] [Useful bits] [Conclusions]

The unit of currency in Egypt is the egyptian pound (1 Euro was 4.604 EGP on November 2, 2002). Here is a site where you can find an updated table of currency conversions.
Here is a map, collected from the excellent PCL map collection:

General map of Egypt (shaded relief) (JPEG 1138x1402x16M [267 KB]).

Here are some useful links:

The CIA World Factbook (scary as it may sound) is a useful summary of information on the politics and economy of world nations.
This is the web page of the Flamenco Beach Resort .
This site has a good collection of informations for those oriented towards diving near Marsa Alam, in the southern stretch of the egyptian coast of the Red Sea. Here are a table of air and water temperatures throughout the year, and a map of dive sites .

[Pictures] [Travelogue] [Useful bits] [Conclusions]

Thanks to Tore for company and support, as well as for the pictures. Regards to all the friends we met there, expecially Joy, Maartje, Fabio, Anna, Patrizia.
This page was created with images from a digital camera, as well as from scans of pictures obtained with an underwater disposable camera. On top of that, some freeware and lots of patience. Click here for a list of details and acknowledgments.

Created by A. Richichi, last modified: 16-Nov-02. Here is my homepage. If you want to know more details (such as places to stay, to eat, to avoid, and other travel tips) send me an e-mail, but first make sure to remove nospam_ from the address. If you liked this page, wouldn't you send me a postcard from the place where you live? Thanks!