Sharm El Sheikh 2001 - Sonesta Beach
We decided we would give Sharm a go despite having mixed feelings. We had been reluctant to go as it is now considered a mainstream tourist resort and sure enough it has all the trappings. McDonalds, The Hard Rock Cafe etc, in fact one local described the Na'ama Bay area as Disneyland! Compensation is by way of a good selection of restaurants and we have never eaten better in Egypt.
We booked our accommodation at The Sonesta Beach Hotel which was very pleasant indeed. It is not the most modern of hotels in Na'ama Bay but has fared very well. The hotel has a "Moorish" theme extending to the air-conditioned rooms that are not quite up to the quoted 5 star rating. The Sonesta Beach is at the opposite end of Naama bay to the retraunts which meant a 15 minute stoll for food - great in the evening but hell in the midday sun.
Our diving was booked with TGI following our good experience in El Gouna. The dive centre is not as extensive as the facility at El Gouna (a new centre is due to open in June) and we were the only guests for the duration of our six days diving. This meant that we shared a boat with another dive centre that were also low on guests. This was to our advantage as we had our own personal guide for each and every dive enabling diving at our pace. Both the guys we met from TGI were excellent hosts and dive guides. The diving did not disappoint, Ras Mohamed was great but our favourite without any doubt was Tiran. We completed five dives on the various reefs at Tiran from where several of the pictures in the gallery come.

Sharm El Sheikh 2002 I - Ocean Club
Despite the fact that we had barely recovered from the Maldives trip, the deal to the Red Sea was to good to pass buy, or so we thought.......
The offer was sent to us by Explorers who are involved with the Ocean College diving operation at Ocean Sands Hotel in Na'ama Bay. We were to be based at their NEW hotel, the Ocean Club, which we accepted was out of town, half way between Na'ama Bay and the old town of Sharm.
Unfortunately the hotel was appalling. We were prepared for a basic hotel but not for an unfinished one. We actually had a better deal than the friends we travelled with, but I have still walked out of better hotels in the UK. Plumbing, electrics and general service were the main problems. Plumbing fittings were not secured, up to and including the toilet in our friend's room where the shower drain was also blocked with rubble causing a flood on the first night! Bare live wires protruding from the wall at almost every light fitting and mains socket provided further hazard. Lastly the service was atrocious to the point where we would not bother ordering food from the bar after three instances of waiting over an hour for fast food! To compound matters the management were unsympathetic to complaints giving pathetic inexcusable defence for a hotel that was clearly not ready for guests.
OK, enough moaning, and on to the diving. In stark contrast to the hotel the diving was very well organised, we would have no problems recommending Ocean College as a good dive store. Despite the group being quite large, up to twenty divers per day on our boat and two slightly smaller boats, facilities and diving were great. We dived many of the sites that we visited last year including favourites like Tiran and Ras Mohamed as well as a trip to the Thistlegorm.

Sharm El Sheikh 2002 II Naama Bay Hotel
OK so we can't keep away! We figure we are getting to know the place now so we carefully selected our hotel and dive operator for our second trip of the year to Sharm.
We booked with Explorers again, but this time stayed at the Naama Bay Hotel and dived with Ocean College which is now based on the Naama Bay Hotels private beach just a short walk from the main jetty.
We also took a flight "upgrade" from the regular charter to an Egypt Air flight from Heathrow, this effectively gave us one less day as the return flight left Sharm at 09:00 as opposed to 22:00, but it got us back to the UK at lunchtime as opposed to 03:00, useful as we both had to work the following day. The legroom didn't look that much better although we were fortunate enough to get emergency exit seats in and outbound, but the service was a great improvement.
What a contrast the Naama Bay Hotel was compared to our last visit to Sharm, not only is it centrally located in Naama Bay it was also everything you would expect from a modern 5 star hotel in Egypt! Spacious, well furnished bedroom and bathroom and all the facilities associated with a 5 star hotel. The buffet breakfast was always really well stocked from 06:30 (early to Tiran) to 10:00 (on the last day following a late night!) and the staff were only to happy to make up breakfast boxes for people leaving for the Thistlegorm etc before breakfast started. There were several restaurants on the complex which looked nice although we didn't use them.
Diving with Ocean College was up to the same well organised standards as we experienced before, diving sites that we are starting to become familiar with still provides a thrill especially Tiran where we again encountered Sharks, Turtles and Octopus.

Sharm El Sheikh 2003 Naama Bay Hotel
We enjoyed this trip so much last year we did it again, same operator, same hotel, same dive company, even the same week. So Explorers arranged everything, including diving with Ocean College.
Naama Bay was really busy for the whole week and the decent restaurants were often full and taking bookings - a new experience, we still prefer to eat in the old town.
Thankfully the dive sites were not as busy as Naama Bay although Ocean College alone sent four boats to the Thistlegorm on one day!