is based on the shores of breath-taking
reefs in the northern Red Sea, in Sharm-el-Sheikh
which is on the tip
of the South Sinai peninsula overlooking the Ras Mohammed National Park.
- Becoming one of the first Career Development Centres in the world (the highest PADI rating). Since opening we have issued over 25 000 PADI certifications. - In July 1993, we became the first centre in Egypt to offer Enriched Air Nitrox Courses.
We have more than 40 full time instructors as well as a crew of 60+ support staff all working together to make your diving adventure a holiday made to treasure!
The story
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 tolearn 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.
