Diving in Hurghada -
every question, every answer.
Over 40 questions across five clusters · beginners, courses, equipment, safety, booking. Useful even if you won't dive with us.
Diving in Hurghada for beginners
Everything you need to know before your first ever scuba dive.
Yes · exceptional for beginners. Warm water year-round (21°C in winter, 28°C in summer), high visibility (often 25 m+), and sheltered reefs that suit first dives. The Red Sea is one of the world's top entry-level destinations.
Yes. Our Discover Scuba Diving program is for first-time divers · no certification required, instructor at arm's length the entire time, max depth 8 m. Two dives of about twenty minutes each, on a full day out on the boat.
10 years old for the PADI Bubblemaker (children's intro program, max 2 m) and PADI Junior Open Water Course. Discover Scuba is also from age 10.
For an intro dive, basic swimming ability is enough · comfortable in water, can float for 1 minute. For the Open Water Course, you need to swim 200 m unaided and tread water for 10 minutes.
Cooler than people expect in winter (21–22°C, 7 mm wetsuit) and very warm in summer (27–28°C, 3 mm wetsuit). Wetsuits are included in all our prices.
The Red Sea has very few aggressive species. The most common 'big' encounters are reef sharks (shy and harmless), turtles, and Napoleon wrasse. We brief you on what you'll see and how to behave.
It depends. PADI requires a self-declaration medical form on day 1; some conditions need a doctor's clearance before diving. WhatsApp us beforehand with details and we'll tell you exactly what's required.
You equalise (gentle exhalation against a closed nose) every metre or two on descent. We teach this on day 1. If you can't equalise, you don't go deeper · there's no shame in calling a dive.
PADI courses in Hurghada · FAQ
Times, prices, prerequisites for every PADI course we run.
€330 with us, including e-learning, instructor, all equipment, four boat dives, lunch and hotel pickup. Range across Hurghada operators is €290–€410. Compare what's included before judging by price alone · some quotes don't include the certification card or e-learning.
3–4 days in-water with us, plus 6–10 hours of e-learning you do before arrival. Days 1: confined water skills + theory recap. Days 2–3: four open water training dives. Card issued day 3.
Yes · we teach in English, German, French, Italian, Polish, Czech, and Romanian. Other languages on request if our team can cover it.
Only if you mark 'yes' on any of the medical questionnaire items. Most divers don't need one. The questionnaire takes 5 minutes on arrival.
Yes · many do them back-to-back as a one-week package. We give a free day in between if you'd like to rest or dive for fun.
All three are recognised globally. PADI is the most widely used (easier to find your next instructor anywhere). We teach PADI by default; SSI on request. See /compare/padi-vs-ssi-vs-sdi for the full breakdown.
Yes · we issue a temporary card on the spot and submit your details to PADI immediately. The plastic card arrives by post 2–3 weeks later, addressed to your home country.
Equipment and what to bring · FAQ
What's included, what you should bring, what to leave at home.
Just your swimsuit and a towel. We provide BCD, regulator, wetsuit (3 mm or 7 mm seasonal), mask, fins, weight belt, tank. If you have a personal mask you prefer, bring it · better fit reduces flooding.
In courses the wetsuit is included. On daily dives it's part of the equipment rental (€15/day). We keep both 3 mm and 7 mm in stock for the season and size you on arrival.
Recommended but not required. We rent dive computers for €5/day. If you have your own, bring it · you'll be more comfortable with familiar settings.
Yes · limited stock, available on request. Useful for first-timers who feel claustrophobic with a regulator. Add €15 to your day rate.
We don't rent cameras (too easy to break, hard to insure). Bring your own. We can mount a GoPro on your tank if you like.
Boots: yes if you bring open-heel fins (we include closed-heel fins as default, no boots needed). Hood: optional, December–February if you feel the cold.
Yes · €5 per fill, EAN32 standard, EAN36 on request. You need Nitrox certification (we teach it as a one-day specialty for €120 if you want to certify here).
Safety in Hurghada diving · FAQ
Equipment maintenance, emergency procedures, limits we don't cross.
Statistically · yes. Hurghada has decompression chambers (Hyperbaric Medical Centre at the Sheraton hospital), an active dive emergency network, and most operators including ourselves run conservative dive profiles. The Red Sea has warm, clear water that reduces most risk factors.
Regulators: every 6 months or every 100 dives, whichever comes first. BCDs: annual full service plus pre-dive visual check on every trip. Tanks: pressure-tested annually, visual inspection every 12 months.
Every dive starts with a pre-dive safety check (BWRAF). The instructor or guide carries an alternate air source for buddy breathing. We have surface marker buoys, oxygen on board, and the boat captain has the dive emergency hotline on speed dial.
4 students per course, max 5 divers per guide in the water. Smaller numbers mean better supervision and more enjoyable dives.
We strongly recommend DAN (Divers Alert Network) membership before diving anywhere. Costs €40–€90/year and covers chamber treatment, evacuation, and travel insurance. We don't sell it · just enrol direct on dan.org.
PADI Open Water = 18 m max. We respect that limit absolutely. If a site has options below 18 m, we structure the dive to keep Open Water divers shallower while Advanced divers go deeper as a separate buddy team.
Hyperbaric Medical Centre at the Sheraton hospital in Hurghada · about 15 minutes from our marina. Fully equipped, English-speaking medical staff, 24/7.
Booking and payment · FAQ
How booking with us works. Spoiler: we don't take a deposit.
No. We don't take a deposit and we don't take card details before you arrive. You confirm by WhatsApp, we hold your spot, and you pay cash or card on the boat.
Three options: (1) the booking form on /book, (2) WhatsApp us directly, (3) email. We answer in your language, usually within an hour during business hours.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the dive. Same-day cancellation is also free if it's for genuine reasons (illness, weather, family emergency). We trust adults.
Yes · Visa and Mastercard accepted. Cash in Euro, USD, or Egyptian pound also accepted. We charge in EUR by default; happy to invoice in your currency on request.
We cancel and reschedule for free if weather makes the dive unsafe. If you've already left Hurghada and we cancelled, we refund any pre-paid courses (rare; usually e-learning only).
Yes · 10% off for groups of 4+, multi-day discounts negotiated by WhatsApp when you book 5+ daily-dive days at once, 20% off your second course if you do two consecutive (e.g. Open Water → Advanced).
We wait 10 minutes. After that the boat has to leave to make the dive site on time. Send us a quick WhatsApp if you're running late and we'll do our best to catch up.
Question still unanswered?
Send us a message · usually within an hour during business hours.