Scuba Diving with Mirage Divers in Dahab, Egypt
I never thought in a million years I would ever scuba dive, let alone think my first experience would be in Egypt. We dived with Mirage Divers in Dahab, which are known for being one of the best diving companies in the country. Dahab is a small, laid-back, beach town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula and only an hours drive from Sharm el-Sheikh. It’s the perfect place to relax for a few days and to ‘get happy’.
Every year, Dahab attracts thousands of tourists and backpackers looking to dive and snorkel in the Red Sea - an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. Bordering the countries of Saudi Arabia and Yemen on the east side. Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti on the west side. The Red Sea has some of the clearest waters in the world with incredible, untouched, healthy coral and marine life.
The whole experience was incredible. We saw endless tropical fish and stingrays in just one 45 minute dive. I also cannot praise Mirage Divers enough. The trainers were incredibly thorough, professional, patient and fun! I couldn’t have had this unforgettable experience without them!
We arrived at Mirage Divers where we were given health and information forms to fill out. We were also given a quick introduction to diving and a safety brief by Sara - one of the diving instructors. She demonstrated different skills we would have to perform underwater including hand signals, mask clearing and regulator purging.
After checking our health forms, we were all given the green light to get kitted up. We were given a wet suit each, water shoes, mask, flippers and of course oxygen tanks. We walked down to the beach which felt longer than just a few minutes away - the equipment was HEAVY!
We set off from the Lighthouse Dive Center which is next to the Shells restaurant. As there were five of us, we were split into two groups. I was going second which gave me more time to accumulate nerves - eeeek!
One of our friends was terrified of water and had zero swimming experience. However, watching him nervously wade into the sea and then suddenly be submerged under the water for 45 minutes was incredible. I knew then I could do it!
Meet our instructors Sara and Youssef! We were given time to practice breathing with the oxygen tanks. When you’re underwater, you should only breathe in and out of your mouth and basically ‘forget’ about your nose. Which was definitely something I wasn’t use to!
It was then our turn! Before submerging completely under the water, Sara helped me practice the different skills we had learned earlier on. I found clearing the mask and regulator purging easy however I was struggling to breathe only from my mouth! It took three attempts until I was completely comfortable. Sara told me to keep holding my nose and breath slowly and deeply from my mouth. I soon found a rhythm and it became natural.
Before I knew it, we were already a few metres under the surface! Every few minutes Sara would ask me for an ‘ok’ hand signal - I think I was giving her one every 30 seconds out of nervousness haha!
Only a few metres away from the shore, incredible marine life and corals awaited us. I had never seen anything so beautiful. Tropical fish zoomed past our faces as we swam in between the colourful rocks.
We dived down to 12 metres! This was way deeper than I thought I’d ever go. There were certain times during the dive where I couldn’t ‘pop my ears’. Sara would have to raise up a metre or so until I felt relief. I now know that this was probably due to having a cold the week prior. The best way to equalise your ears is either by swallowing or holding your nose and blowing out gently.
Before making our way back to the surface, a beautiful, blue stingray swam directly underneath us. It was only a baby, however, it made the experience even more special.
Ahh, such an incredible moment! We were reunited after 45 minutes and couldn’t believe what we had just experienced. A memory I will never, ever forget! Next stop: PADI LICENSE!
