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| National
Geographic Centre since
2005!!
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Hi
Divers,
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| United Celebrations in Sharm |
Red Sea Diving College and Sinai Divers got together in a joint celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Sinai Hotels and Dive Clubs. SDHC was formed in 1982 to promote and manage dive diving in the Sinai area, from Sharm to Nuweiba.
Who would have thought that the privilege to dive in the area wasn’t always readily available, and it is thanks to just a few pioneers that Sharm has become the hub of diving activity that it so clearly is today.
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25th April saw the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Sinai being taken back by Egypt, from Israeli control. On that day in 1982, the Egyptian government set about forming businesses to ensure economic growth under their leadership.
The fantastic coral and fish life, and the opportunities that offered to divers were still a little known secret. Only the truly bold and adventurous made the multi-country trek that was required to even get to the area. Once here, few provisions were made for their stay, huts on the beach and basic food were the best the explorers were going to get.
Sinai Hotels and Dive Clubs was created to manage diving businesses. The venture was taken on by Alain Sobol and Rolf Schmidt. Already residents in Sharm, they were hired due to their extensive knowledge and expertise in an activity and industry which was in its infancy. How did they pioneer the creation of Sharm el Sheikh into the most dived resort in the world?
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Alain Sobol owns the multi-award winning Red Sea Diving College and Red Sea Waterworld. The Belgium born businessman first visited Sharm in 1972 when he came here with his father, who organised a trip with the European Sub Aqua Club.
“I fell in love with the area and moved here to run the first diving base a few years later, but returned home after 6 months as I was still young and missing the city life!”. Alain Sobol first became a diver when his father set up the Belgian Federation CAS, starting his training in 1959. Before being asked to head the Sinai Hotels and Dive Clubs, Alain was working in his fathers yachting and diving shop, but making frequent trips to Sharm. He soon found himself drawn back to Sinai, running diving bases in Naama Bay, Dahab and Nuweiba.
“In the time after the return of Sinai to Egypt, and the setting up of SHDC, we saw interest in diving here increase dramatically. The success of SHDC, leading to the later privatisation of the tourism industry, meant we had the opportunity to set up our own businesses- for me, the first of which was AquaMarine” says Alain, who later, in partnership with Guy Haywood, set up the Red Sea Diving College, later to become the first CDC and National Geographic Centre in Africa and Asia. Red Sea Waterworld Taba was to follow in 2000.
When asked what he misses most about Sharm in the early days, the lack of traffic seems an odd response. “The quiet roads, or what passed as roads, remind me of the simplicity of life in those days, although I would not want to go back to the food choices we had then!”.
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Diving in Sharm is no longer the main reason for visiting the Sinai, guests requirements have changed in the last few years dramatically, but Alain is quick to point out that the biggest challenge he has, and is facing in the past, present and future is the ability to be flexible enough to adapt our operations to changing needs and wants from an ever changing client base. “We started with the philosophy that customer service, facilities and standards are the only priorities and we have been able to ensure that element of our company has never changed”. His dedication to customers has been recently recognised in this years diver awards, naming Red Sea Diving College the Dive Centre of the Year!
Rolf Schmidt currently owns Sinai Divers, which has centres in Sharm, Taba, Dahab and the newly opened Marsa Alam.
Like Alain, Rolf went to Sharm as a diving tourist in the early 70’s, on an organised trip. “We travelled along the coast with VW buses, compressors, tanks and all the required equipment for a full 10 days diving, ending our trip in Sharm el Sheikh.” Previously working in the photography business, Rolf had only learnt to dive the year before, after a chance meeting with an instructor whilst he was travelling in Tanzania. “I returned to Sinai the same year, with the same diving centre, Aquanaut Reisen, but this time as a dive master and tour guide”.
After taking a short trip home, Rolf returned with his girlfriend Petra after the Sinai had changed ownership and was quick to take up the running of Aquanaut Diving Centre. “In 1987, I left the company and, together with Antoine Riad, from South Sinai Travel, we started Sinai Divers.”
Rolf quotes one milestone, the point when he realised that Sharm was taking off as a destination. “Once the first hotels opened and charter flights started coming in from Europe the diving really took off. The need for us to build the first live-aboard, to meet customer demand, Ghazala 1 in 1987, really was a turning point”. Whilst the days of having time to explore new sites have gone, elements of the foreign interest and all it has bought with it are welcomed. “Poor housing and lack of communications with the outside world really were an issue. Not to mention the lack of spare parts and servicing!”. Rolf believes it is a credit to the hard work and ingenuity of all those based here that the diving community has survived the ups and downs that this part of the world has to offer. Flattered to be considered one of the people who are responsible for making Sharm what it is, Rolf continues to be involved in Ras Mohamed National Park, which he helped set up, and is upbeat about the future of Sinai. “The area will continue to grow, there is no doubt about it, I see development be concentrated in the Taba / Nuweiba region where resources are still abundant and interest is already growing rapidly.”
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Tamer Al Anna, the owner of Wide Angle Photographic and Videography services in Sharm arrived in Sharm weeks before the handover. He has played a large role in making Sinai visible to the international market through photographic means.
“I became an instructor in 1988, but originally came here to set up a series of harbours and jetties to enable boat use in the area. Being a serving military officer was my ‘proper’ job until I started offering photographic services to the diving community”. Without realising the effect he would have, his photography started being published in many international publications, culminating in winning the International Film Festival twice. “This has been my biggest achievement to date, and one which I am immensely proud of. The coverage this and all my work up to and after this achievement ensured that the wonderful diving opportunities that are to be had in Sinai were seen worldwide and this definitely contributed to the popularity of the area as a dive destination”. Being a father of two boys, Tamer sometimes misses the “wild times” of Sharm, but wouldn’t change the direction his life has taken as a ‘Sharmer’. “Of all the things I do miss, living in my van for 9 years is not one of them!” he says, preferring the relative luxury of his current villa.
Technological changes have been a big influence on Tamer, and keeping up with them has been, and still is, his priority. “I feel as a person and as a businessman I have successfully grown with the times and welcome the chance to live in the cosmopolitan city we now call home”. Although he is concerned that the politics of Sinai must serve the economy to the benefit of the residents and not the other way round, Tamer feels that Sharm has been lucky to have the advantage of seeing other resorts developing and learn from them. “I’ve seen some of the plans for the future and I’m excited!”.
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| The party saw the two centres bought together and they celebrated in traditional College style, which once again saw the rinse pool filled not with kit, but drinks to help the celebration get off to a great start. Guests and staff alike partied into the small hours, the food and drink flowing, making another memorable night for all those involved! |
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