In the late eighties the number of divers coming to Sharm
El Sheikh was growing as was the number of people coming over
to learn to dive.
The 5 existing centres were geared to cater for the diver,
but diving education was not really an issue.
There was a gap that could be filled with a centre focused
on people that would like to
learn to dive.
On August the 5th 1991 the idea became reality :
the Red Sea Diving College opened as the first diving centre/school
dedicated to the student diver.
The College was purpose built, starting with a blank piece of
paper, enabling a design that would fit exactly to the needs of
diving courses. The search for reliable partners started and the
project team was completed.
Sinai Hotels and Diving Clubs were approached as an Egyptian company
to join in the project to be partners, by providing the location
and construction .
As a diving partner Scubapro came in to handle that side. With
a giant diving equipment manufacturer and a large Egyptian landowner
as partners, the project got off the ground.
Within a couple of weeks of opening, the College was already beyond
all expected demand, with courses starting nearly every day and
stretching an operation that was still sorting out its system.
As the administration department together with the instructors
and the technical side sorted out a procedure, the College gelled
into a smooth operation; capable of providing high-class courses
for all levels.
The word was out, and more people came to be trained at this five
star location.
Nowadays over 2000 PADI divers are trained each year, all the
way up to instructor level.
The biggest
instructor
course in Egypt was conducted in 1994, with 36 candidates
in a single course. Even with these logistics the College ran a
smooth course with 8 staff assisting.
1993 saw the introduction of
Nitrox
to Egypt.
The first courses were conducted with the theory and blending being
done in the College and the dives done on
The Thistlegorm.
The first few years of Nitrox was conducted under the affiliation
of ANDI (American Nitrox Divers International) and later under PADI
when they introduced their course in 1995.
With the emerging technology available to diving the College has
included the use of
rebreathers
to its curriculum, both for certified divers and for guests wishing
to learn.
So there are now available the
Dräeger Dolphin Semi-Closed
rebreathers and the
Fully Closed Buddy Inspiration
rebreathers on site, as well as extra tanks and equipment for them.
The College quickly grew to be the main centre in Sharm for PADI
courses and became one of the first
Career Development Centers
in the world.
At the time the College was not conducting any
dive trips,
only courses.
One of the turning points for offering dive excursions was initiated
by one of our really committed students.
He completed all his training at the College and insisted to also
enjoy dive trips with the same operation.
Being told at the counter "we do not do dive trips" he
decided to book two refresher dives per day, which worked out much
more expensive than any other centre that was offering daily diving
excursions.
The need for the College to offer dive trips was discovered, if
only to keep the people who had completed courses happy.
From this, the number of dive trips operated from the College grew;
starting with an extra boat to take the divers and then growing
to its present level of between 6 and 9
boats
a day, catering for 50-170 divers a` day.
The courses are still going on and the College is not forgetting
its roots as boats are going out with guests completing their
Open Water Courses
and
Advanced Courses.
New
courses and services are always being evaluated and introduced at
the College.
With DSAT, a division of PADI, introducing the
Tec Rec Deep
Diver
program, the College will again be one of the first centres in Egypt
to offer this course.
With many repetitive guests there is also the opportunity for them
to go out diving on
liveaboards
boats, naturally
high standard ones.
Looking
back over 10 years of operation the College is reflecting the development
and specializations of the dive industry.
In the late eighties the number of divers coming to Sharm
El Sheikh was growing as was the number of people coming over
to learn to dive. 
