If you thought this was just a series of children’s books by Enid Blighton think again, this year Red Sea Diving College is proud to announce the winning of the prestigious Dive Centre of the Year from the Readers of Diver Magazine for the Fifth year running!

If the post Christmas blues are getting you down and the prospect of the long cold winter months seem to stretch out endlessly in front of you then we have some great last minute offers for a little escape to the sun.

Spoil yourself with a little new years treat and swap your Christmas stockings for dive booties, it may be a little late for Santa but there are still many surprises to be had on the reefs of Sharm.

Just click here to open up your chance of a bargain…

It is impossible to ignore the recent shark activity in Sharm el Sheikh, we would like to reassure all our divers and address some of the key issues involved. Yes, there were 5 attacks in Sharm with one fatality but contrary to several news reports on the issue, not one of these involved divers.
Whilst we do not recommend jumping in the water wafting a juicy T-bone saying ‘here sharky sharky’, there is no reason to be afraid of any diving activity in Sharm waters. According to the Shark Trust more people are killed every year by dogs, bees, lightning and lions than by sharks. So unless you are afraid to go on picnics, out in the rain or on an African safari there is really little to concern you when diving. Even more interestingly enough you are two and a half times more likely to die in a vending machine accident than from a shark encounter.

The 2011 London International Dive Show at the ExCeL Centre falls just before the start of the UK diving season. This is a great time to get yourself all kitted up and ready for the year ahead. See what’s hot and what’s not in terms of equipment, destinations and of course scuba fashion.

We receive frequent enquiries from people asking us what age is too old to dive? This month we ask our doctors about any age limitations and the considerations which the older diver will need to take into account.

Firstly let us be clear that fitness to dive is not purely age dependent as you may find a 60 year old is still running marathons whilst a 20 year old sofa dweller is unable to manage a quick jog to the local shops. However the body does decline with age and each decline has its own concerns when diving.

The boat jetties can seem chaotic in the mornings as you wait to board, there is random screaming in Arabic and then you get ushered on to the boat where kit is everywhere and then told to leap off the dive deck into the blue. OK so this is an exaggeration but for the un-initiated this is how boat diving can first appear. The reality is quite different; in fact short of staying in a Tahitian beach villa where you simply need to roll off your balcony, diving does not get much easier than this. Here are some handy hints and tips for stress free boat diving.

By Cheilinus undulates

As one of the largest reef fish in the world this gentle giant of a fish has endearing, roving eyes which seem to exude intelligence and human like characteristics. With no fear of divers they tend to come very close and almost pose for a picture with their huge pouting mouths.

The subject of much speculation and rumour, one of the Red Sea’s most popular wrecks is investigated in an informative BBC documentary during its “World About Us” series. Although dating back to 1981 this provides the most conclusive story as to how this amazing ship ended up sitting on the sea bed off Shab Mahmoud, near Beacon Rock. Take a look at the following link and put to bed the various stories of Lawrence of Arabia, untold sunken treasures, perished children and WW1 pirate ships. The Dunraven is accessible by day boat from Sharm el Sheikh and includes an early morning dive in Ras Mohammed free of hordes of daily divers.

Find a twin set clumsy ? Travelling to a remote location where only single cylinders are available?  Recreational diver looking to extend your bottom time ? Then sidemount diving could be for you.

Sidemount refines « no-mount » diving pioneered by British speleologists who used scuba to negotiate water-logged passages. Cylinders worn at the diver’s side are trimmed and unclipped to/from the hip to negotiate narrow restrictions.