Family scuba diving holidays for certified divers, Red Sea. Helping Dreamers Do

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7 Days excluding flights

More info:Price is per person. Includes Freshly prepared breakfast of your choice & airport transfers. Family of 4 either in a Family Suite sharing or 2 Garden Rooms. Includes 10 Guided Dives (not equip) Must already be certified divers.

Tailor made

“This family diving trip is a really fun and safe way to learn to dive in the safest of hands as well as giving your children the gift of diving which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

Highlights

Enjoy the luxury of unrushed personalised guided diving to suit you. Tailored dives | Max 4 divers to one PADI instructor | PADI 5* gold palm, family-friendly resort | Daily beach breakfasts | Bars & restaurants of Dahab within easy reach | Options for boat safari, Ras Abu Galum national park visit, safaris organised upon request.

Description of Family scuba diving holidays for certified divers, Red Sea

So you are all divers already and would like to just dive together, as a family. For this we offer you your own PADI Instructor, as long as you are a family of 4+.
Join us for the ultimate, individually tailored Red Sea diving holiday where dives are scheduled to fit in with what you and your family want to do/experience. Our PADI instructors are selected based on the length of experience they have as well as their eco outlook; they will make sure you get the best out of your experience, spending time working on the areas that you wish to improve - from buoyancy and air consumption to building your confidence at depth.
We also offer several PADI course options, including the PADI Advance course, PADI specialities (including photography, night, and deep dives), PADI Rescue course and PADI EFR course which will teach you all the most important aspects of first aid. For our individually tailored dive holidays, you can let our instructors know which elements you are most interested in and they will focus on those.

Your base throughout your holiday will be a home from home, in our beautiful boutique family-run resort. We are on the beach of the famous Eel Garden site in Dahab, Red Sea. Just 10 minutes’ walk from the restaurants and bars of the main bay of Dahab, we are close enough to enjoy the vibrant bustle but far enough away to enjoy the stars.

While staying with us, there are several accommodation options available within our grounds including sea-view rooms, garden chalets and two family and friends’ suites. All rooms are fitted with air con, wet room style showers and include breakfast which can be enjoyed on the beach (we highly recommend trying the lemon sugar pancakes)! Our restaurant is open all day, serving freshly cooked local delicacies to satiate post-dive hunger.

All dive holidays can be supplemented with additional activities which we are more than happy to arrange. From boat safaris to explore un-spoilt reefs and expeditions to the remote national park of Ras Abu Galum to unforgettable candlelit Bedouin Dinners at the top of the Wadi where you’ll get the chance to make fresh Bedouin bread and enjoy post dinner fireside games.

Please get in touch with us for the latest prices and flight advice.

Travel Team

If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.

01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com

Map

Departure information

This is a year round destination and we tailor courses to suit your arrival times

Our top tip:

Don't worry about high temps in August - the wind and water will cool you down!

Trip type:

Family activity.

Activity level:

Moderate.

Accomm:

6 nights 5-star Gold Palm Resort.

Solos:

This is a family trip - rooms are based on two sharing.

Meals:

All breakfasts.

Included:

Accommodation, transfers, PADI Open Water Course, bottled water.

Single use plastic-free:

We feel in many ways that scuba divers and even snorkellers are most aware of the impact of plastics on our oceans as they see the effects for themselves first-hand. We have been aware of the issue for quite some time and as such have put a number of plastic reduction and eradication schemes into place at our resort.

preserving food:

We use re-useable tubs for our food and try to use paper for preserving food stuffs. Glass pots are used for our jams and butter at breakfast and ceramic dishes for our ketchup.

Bags:

We provide cotton bags in guests’ rooms for local shopping, so they can say ‘no’ to plastic shopping bags. We also use these and cardboard boxes to transport the shopping we do for the club.

Tea & coffee:

Our rooms also feature a coffee and tea making tray without any plastic in sight. We offer coffee in a jar and a carton of milk, rather than the single use plastic pots.

Straws:

We have been plastic straw-free for more than 3 years now. We have also persuaded many cafés and restaurants in Dahab to follow suit and go ‘straw free’ too….and our 3 kids 11,14,19 are all committed to this and regularly make sure the cafes are on track.

Water bottles:

We use glass bottles with purified, filtered water throughout our club. Glass re-fillable water bottles are provided in the guests rooms and we have water stations available 24 hours a day for re-filling. We do ask guests to bring their own re-fillable water bottles for their own personal use but do also sell vacuum cooler bottles 500 ml if they forget or don’t have any. Even our restaurant will only sell water from glass bottles and we also provide a fill up service for a small fee, for guests not staying with us.

Rubbish:

As well as picking up rubbish whenever we see it, in or out of the water, we also are heavily involved in many local schemes to improve Dahab. One of these, ‘Plastic Free Planet’, is run by a Sea Shepherd member and involves the local kids being paid to pick up rubbish. This scheme means that the kids who would have been fishing for money are now employed to pick up rubbish. This raises awareness of the problem with the next generation as well as keeping the beaches super clean.

Education:

We continue to look for ways to reduce our impact on the environment, both with reduced plastic use as well as energy saving techniques. Our biggest goal alongside these is to raise awareness, not only amongst guests, but also our team who are both Egyptian and Bedouins….and the effect of this growing awareness is starting to show.

Change Making:

In response to Responsible Travel's call to reduce no single use plastics, we conducted some research and are pleased to say that we have managed to eradicate plastic drinking bottles at our resort. We now provide glass water bottles both in the guest rooms and our restaurant, have re-fillable steel bottles for sale and offer refill stations throughout our club.

Vouchers

Accepted

Responsible tourism

As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

We have implemented many ideas to avoid plastics...especially the dreaded single use plastics and look for every opportunity to reduce or even eradicate our footprint and also from our guests too.
We have managed to STOP using plastic water bottles! This is huge as the impact of literally millions of single use water bottles is a worldwide problem. We now provide both glass bottles in the guests rooms as well as only providing water in glass bottles for our outside guests. We offer a free re-fill for any guests and a small cost for outside guests...any profit goes back into supplying more water stations.
All our left over vegetables and trimmings are fed to our own goats and rabbits. We encourage environmental behavior via some recommendations posted in the rooms e.g. reduced use of Air Con systems and ask customers to limit the temperature and to switch them off when not using the room; otherwise we will turn them off when the guests are out. We provide cotton shopping bags to all our guests to reduce plastic bag use. These bags are also used by our team when shopping for groceries.

All watering of our garden is done with recycled water from the dive rinse pool. We use fish, line caught, in deep sustainable waters only. We post environment advice in all our rooms of how to reduce your impact on the environment whilst you are here in Dahab. For example shorter showers, re-chargers not plugged in.

We strive to ‘make a difference’ to the environment with our diving. With a MAX ratio of 4-1 divers to guide, this is possible as it means that we can control our guest divers and improve on buoyancy techniques to help them make sure they do no damage to the precious reefs, thus dramatically reducing the impact our guest divers have on the reef.

All our instructors are aware of the importance of protecting the reef and they habitually remove rubbish from underwater during every dive, if they see any. This doubles the effect as customers see us taking care of the environment and follow suit.

We believe you will come as a guest and leave as a much more relaxed, confident diver, better informed, more responsible, and more environmentally aware diver.

The Impacts of this Trip

How do you see responsible tourism in action on this trip?
Everywhere from the rooms encouraging less waste of water, less electricity on air con, to cotton bags provided for shopping locally.
Does this trip visit or show support for one of our projects or any local projects?
We support local initiatives such as beach and sea clean ups, providing help and biodegradable bags for clean ups.
We have encouraged many cafes etc to stop using single use plastic esp. the dreaded straw which we have not used ourselves for years.
Does the trip visit anywhere where the fees paid will help with restoration/conservation/
Fees are paid locally to everyone we use, all our drivers are Bedouin for example, we pay for use of tents and shelters and tea making by our Bedouin friends on every safari.
local economic development? Do you use local leaders on this trip? Have they had training?
We use local Bedouin guides and drivers for all our safari and dive work. We have Egyptian instructors too.
Do the leaders give a Responsible Travel briefing?
All our guides are eco friendly and all encourage rubbish pick ups on the shore and in the sea, leading by example.
Do travellers receive a Responsible Travel Code of Conduct?
We suggest ways that guests can follows our eco guidelines via a ‘How to be a responsible tourist’ leaflet in their room.
Is the accommodation locally owned? Do you use local restaurants/shops/markets/transport etc.?
We encourage our guests to use the local facilities; when they are diving we take them to local cafes to rest and have shade between dives and we also recommend other places than our own for eating out in the evening.
What does the accommodation do to minimise its impact? Has it got good environmental/social practices? (eg. with regard to conserving water & energy, recycling, composting, organic gardening, purchasing of food locally, local employment etc.)
We conserve water by using well water to water our plants. We ask guest to have their air con set higher so it does not use as much energy. We recycle all our food scraps to our ducks and goats. All our food is purchased locally. Every item in the club is sourced locally if possible too, allowing small local businesses to flourish i.e. bedding, towels, food, supplies etc.,
What is the group size and how does this impact on the community and environment?
We are the only dive club in the Red Sea which stipulates a maximum number of divers to Instructor of just 4-1…this minimizes any potential for damage to the precious reef as well as enhancing the divers experience and making them better divers, for everywhere they might go afterwards.
As a company, what is your environmental policy in your office?
Refuse, Reuse, Recycle
As a company, do you support any charities or projects?
We support Responsible Travel as a company. We offer help to any local groups needing it for clean ups etc., we are always on the lookout for projects which need our help…for example we are currently looking at the St Catherine’s area and how we can support one of the may garden/Bedouin projects running there.

Environment

Community

The Impacts of this Trip

Climate

11 Reviews of Family scuba diving holidays for certified divers, Red Sea

4.5 out of 5 stars

SHOW

Reviewed on 04 Nov 2019 by Maggie Carruthers

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Having read all the previous fantastic reviews about this operator we booked a
diving holiday for our family. At the time of booking 1 year ago, there were
no direct flights from London to Sharm, so we flew via Istanbul. However from December 2019 flights will be direct again, and I'm very happy for the community of Dahab that this will encourage more English people to a very unique, hippyish, multi cultural town. Thanks also to Injie, patiently answering multiple emails from me before we came on holiday over safety issues etc. Everything that previous reviews have mentioned is all true. We felt in very safe hands whilst learning to dive (thanks to Nadia and Hadi' s calm, patient and thorough teachings). We saw all types of fish from stingrays,eels, clownfish and lionfish along with larger shouls of silver and glass fish, which swarm around you in large numbers. Gopros were made available for us so that we could have all our underwater adventures photographed by the very capable Nadia. For non divers; the small family run hotel directly faces the beautiful beach which looks out over the gulf of Aquaba to Saudi Arabia:-simply beautiful...whilst the centre of Dahab 10 minutes walk away can get busy; by contrast the hotel is in a very peaceful quiet location nearby. Nothing was ever too much trouble to arrange, and I felt thoroughly spoilt by each and every one of them,from the chefs right down to the boys who ferried our dive gear around. Thank you team for a fantastic holiday, I will be telling lots of people about

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Don't worry about safety issues or political events in the middle East as
this little corner of Dahab, felt safer to me than any big city in England. In
addition the security around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh is very tight, and has been for quite a while but it has taken the British government a long time to get round to to allowing direct flights there. Wether diving or relaxing I would 100% recommend this holiday. They are a small quality family-run hotel and by far the best place to go go because the level of care from all the staff was amazing.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Lyn and Halal have worked very hard over the years to make the environmental impact a top priority. There were no plastic bottles and we were able to top up drinking bottles daily for free, there were no plastic bags and we were encouraged to use rucksacks or cloth bags in local shops. We were educated about the importance of not touching or taking anything from the coral reefs

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

A full five stars from us!

Reviewed on 20 Feb 2018 by Kelly Pawlyn

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Diving over the reef from Lighthouse bay with my teenage children. Feeling that we have only just touched the surface of a beautiful and fragile environment. Enjoying the gentle, humorous hospitality of the local Egyptians. Watching the light change on the water and land on a moment by moment timeline.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Don’t hesitate to book with the tour operator we used. Plan to stay at least a week as there is a lot to do especially if you are diving. Take time to get in sync with Dahab as things happen according to a local schedule that is fluid and relaxing.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Definitely. Lynne and Helal run a friendly, family orientated operation. All the staff, including local employees and their own daughters and son, have been with the company for many years. The staff clean the beach daily, it is a no single plastic use operation and there is a genuine interest and effort to support local conservation and reduce impact on the environment.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Fabulous. My kids didn’t want to leave and have been planning how to get back and continue their diving adventure as soon as possible! Our only niggle would be with the Padi online accreditation which was a real pain to access but nothing to do with Lynne’s operation on the ground. Mamdoo, our Dive instructor, was totally brilliant, fierce but in the best way - he wanted us to learn, to be aware and to appreciate the very special environment that we were privileged enough to be able to explore.

Reviewed on 15 Apr 2017 by Nita Wood

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Its hard to pick one thing. The diving was spectacular but also the hospitality, food, rooms, people! Loved everything.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Book now ??

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Yes many local people are employed, local products and produce are used. Water conservation and recyling are done. Dive instructors are knowledgeable and passionate about conserving the reef and careful not to damage the underwater environment.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Everything was perfect for us, we were taken care of so well, the kids had a lot of fun (no electronic devices either). Happy kids & happy mum and dad! Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this trip. We had so much fun.

Reviewed on 23 Aug 2015 by Jackie Vale

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The diving - seeing turtles, octopi, sting rays and a whole host of underwater life. Closely followed by an evening in the nearby desert mountains watching the Perseid Meteor Shower and eating Bedouin food.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Do it if you are looking for a warm welcome, really organised and friendly centre with excellent service and great food. Everyone is welcome whatever age and in whatever state of fitness - where we were either too small or our knees didn't work our kit was carried for us.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Absolutely - there were cotton shopping bags in the room to discourage use of plastic ones from the shops. We were encouraged to re-use water bottles and refill them from a central water dispenser. Local staff are employed and we were encouraged to provide tips centrally that would be shared equally amongst all of the staff. We were at all times asked to dive responsibly and not walk across or damage the reefs.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Absolutely brilliant. Excellent service, accommodation fine, food good, beach close, great picnic in the mountains. So good we are going back in a few months.

Reviewed on 18 Apr 2014 by julie griffiths

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Becoming a scuba diver and my son becoming Open Water PADI certified

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Do book it - I was nervous about the FCO advice on travelling to Dahab but it was so lovely and businesses are suffering as people are staying in Sharm which is so over-commercialised and missing the BEST

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

This was a wonderful, locally run small hotel and it was like being at home, the food was fabulous, the diving instruction was wonderful and the staff were fabulous - the owners made you feel very special.
There was no sheets and towels changed everyday (as if we do that when we're at home!), if you wanted new linen and towels you just had to ask and you were positively discouraged from harming the habitat whilst diving and from using plastic bags etc. Everything was local - no big multinationals here!

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

10/10 - you must GO!!

Reviewed on 15 Oct 2013 by Nicky Smith

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Getting the children snorkelling and seeing their excitement at seeing all the pretty fish!

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

You can relish experiences through the eyes of your children, it reopens perhaps jaded eyes to the delights of travelling and seeing different cultures and ways of life.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Definitely provide support to the local tourist industry and the local people employed directly as drivers, camel drivers and diving instructors. I don't think we helped to reduce environmental impacts or support conservation, but I don't think either that our footprint adversely affected the local environment as perhaps a package tourist staying in a large chain hotel would.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

I would say it was brilliant. The childcare arranged was of an ad hoc nature and unorganised, i.e. no children’s club and activites as would be provided by a large hotel perhaps, but the children were happy to enjoy their surroundings at a very basic level, and the odd camel ride helped, while mum and dad remembered how to scuba dive again!

Reviewed on 31 Jul 2012 by Mary Souster

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Completely relaxing. Met some lovely people. My sons completed their open water and advanced diving courses, and enjoyed themselves without the aid of modern technology.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Relax!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Yes. The staff and drivers were all local. We were encouraged to conserve water. There were recycling facilities for cans, plastic etc. We were encouraged to turn off A/C and electric appliances when not in use. When diving and snorkelling we were reminded to be aware of impact on the reef.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Best holiday for many years!

Reviewed on 05 Jan 2011 by Margreta Jose

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Walking with bare feet on the fine white sand in the White Canyon with our friendly guide Ibrahim.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

If you go on a diving holiday, don't forget to go into the mountains and the Sinai desert if it is a cool time of year to experience the desolate landscapes, beautiful rock formations, the stillness, the starry skies at night, the Bedouin food and way of life.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Yes, there was a large team of local staff present who created a lovely atmosphere and a warm hospitality, they were clearly happy in their employment. The Egyptian dive instructor was careful at the coral reefs and made people aware of how to prevent damage. It would be even better if the food would be organic, waste would be separated and biodegradable soaps would be used, but I am not sure how much this was the case.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Us adults as well as our late teenage kids thoroughly enjoyed the holidays. The only minus was the way in which we were pushed into a certain diving programme without much discussion, sometimes resulted in exhaustion which is not always a good thing when diving.

Reviewed on 01 Nov 2010 by Julie Grigg

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

I can’t decide! The place or the diving! Diving.
1. Diving through a coral maze, just me, my husband, daughters and the wonderful Kayla from the dive centre. The coral corridors were truly stunning. As we emerged into the deep blue we saw a huge shoal of small barracuda. It was the best dive out of the 60 I have done. My daughters had just passed their PADI. To be in a small group of our own made it very special.

2. Kayla took me and the two girls on a night dive. As well as eels, fish with fluorescent eyes and watching a hunting lionfish there was an enormous shoal of Fuseliers. Kayla had briefed us to cover our torches and the fish would be curious, then uncover the torch and they shoot away. There were 100s of them. Brilliant. All the groups at the dive centre are 4 or less (our daughters were in their own group of 2 for the PADI tuition and ended
up very competent divers.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Like most places in Dahab payment is in cash. We paid for most of it before we went by bank transfer but would have transferred enough to cover all the diving if we had thought. Use the restaurant in the hotel. It is great. This morning at 7 as I went for my last snorkel Bokham the chef was up making all the bread for breakfast. We tried other places in Dahab and were unimpressed. The tripadvisor ratings are totally out. The boat trip is 50 UK pounds per person and is worth every penny. The girls saw turtles and giant barracuda. Try a short camel trip, about £5 UK for 1 hr and everyone speaks highly about the mountain dinner but we didn't go. If doing a diving course sign up for the e-learning and do the learning at home. Excellent childcare was arranged for other families while we were there including a beautiful 5 year old who had some speech difficulties enabling parents to go diving.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

The majority of the fantastic staff were Egyptian, including the better paid jobs such as Divemasters. One girl we spoke to said they have a low turn over of staff and treat everyone well. All the staff were outstanding. I have never stayed anywhere quite like it. For example, on our last night we were chatting and our daughter said next time she would like to ride a camel. On the morning of our departure two camels turned up. She was gobsmacked! The divemasters are very aware of the environment, provide cotton bags to save using plastic for shopping and do recycling.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

We all said it was the best holiday we have ever had. We plan to go back next year and will be booking before long. The diving, scenery, staff, local people food, relaxation, all brilliant. If you want flash night clubs and all influences stay in Sharm. If you want a place with local culture visit Dahab. I would highly recommend this dive centre for diving, as a restaurant-even if you are staying somewhere else, as a hotel to stay in and completely chill out.

Reviewed on 01 Nov 2010 by Claudette Waugh

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

My son being happy to be left on the beach with the lady that provided the childcare - allowing us to focus on our diving.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Pack everything you think you need and then remove half of it and eat at the dive centre all the time.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Yes.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

10/10

Reviewed on 20 Aug 2010 by Mrs. Nethercott

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Seeing my sons (aged 11 & 13) become Open Water Divers & get all the pleasure from the underwater world that I do-swimming past blue-spotted rays, goatfish, moray eels, scorpion fish, squid, shrimps, pipefish & so much more. Opening the window each day to be greeted by an empty beach , a blue sky & a turquoise sea.............

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Don't worry about the 40 C temperature in August-the wind which is usual at this time of year makes it wonderfully warm but not unbearably hot. Also, much better to go in the quiet season-less divers-more attention!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

The operator is obviously run by a combination of Europeans & Egyptians/Bedouins & our guide as a marine biologist was understandably very keen to minimize any impact on the environment.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Very good-an excellent place to learn to dive- very unhurried, very relaxing-plenty of time to unwind. Although, saying that the week still flew past! Yvonne our guide was just SUPERB. I felt so very safe in her hands & the boys warmed to the ever smiling Ahmed, their guide.