Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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Environment:
The local environment comes second only to the safety of our guests. We continually work towards a cleaner Dahab both in and out of the water.
Land - We encourage our guests to be energy friendly regarding the use of air conditioners, lights and laundry etc. In the hotel. In non public areas, such as staff accommodation, store rooms and kitchen, we use energy saving lights and have movement sensor switches in many public areas, increasing energy efficiency.
The hotel gardens are watered using the water from both the rinse tank and water generated from air conditioning units. We do not have grass lawns which use unacceptable amounts of precious water and we grow only indigenous desert plants in our gardens. All organic waste from our kitchen is given to the local Bedouin to feed their goats and camels and we pay monthly for all our non organic waste to be collected by Hemeya, the EU funded cleaning company, which is then taken to Cairo for recycling.
Sea - We support the local government initiatives both financially and physically to help keep our beaches and reefs clean. We also host reef conservation courses twice yearly run by marine biologists . To reduce the amount of batteries used in torches on night diving activities, we have upgraded to LED torches. Our instructors visit the local schools working with and teaching local children about the importance of conservation of our reefs and we involve the children and locals in our regular community clean up days.
Our dive groups are set to a maximum of 4 unless a group requests otherwise, at which time we will take a maximum of 6, still allowing our guides full control of their divers, whilst maximising safety and minimising negative reef impact.
Hotel - The hotel’s water supply is fed by two working wells, but we use fresh water which we buy from St Katherine’s for the showers and swimming pool. The pool run off is then used for rinsing the dive equipment.
We can't do anything with the waste (sewage) water for the gardens as the set up costs are unaffordable. We also would like to use solar panels for the hotel and are currently looking into the costs with the hotel owners. We do however have a policy of ensuring our guests are responsible with the use of their A/C units and lights and we have timed switches as well as some movement sensor lighting to keep the energy output levels down to a minimum. Kitchen lights and non public area lighting have energy saving bulbs which we bring down from Cairo as they are not available here in Dahab.
Community:
We have always worked very closely with the local community in Dahab and our hotel is leased from a family of Bedouin. Our policy has always been to train and employ local dive guides, many of whom are now Instructors and Divemasters working with our guests. We encourage our guests to join our weekly camel safaris and Bedouin evenings in the mountains, both of which help contribute to the local economy and are mutually beneficial to locals and guests alike.
We sponsor the local community in many areas, including community work such the production & sales of hand crafts. We are also involved with the Dahab children’s circus (Circ Bon Boni), an annual event that has been running for five years and we also host kid’s fun days every week for foreign and local children to join together in activities such as dance, music and general mayhem.
All our food is bought in Dahab for the hotel. We also decorate the place with locally crafted Bedouin fabrics and furniture and use only local craftsmen for all work undertaken in the resort. We ensure every effort is made to support the services and products available in Dahab.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
