“The large protests and the battles that have been seen on the streets have been limited to Cairo, Alexandria and Suez,” James Dawson, of Aziab Media, told Divernet yesterday.
“The Red Sea resort towns have seen very little by way of demonstrations, and those that have occurred have all been peaceful.”
Some dive centres are “operating as usual”, he said, but others have “made a decision to close for the short-term and hope to re-open as soon as the [volatile] situation comes to an end and life returns to normal”.
The move by dive centres has mirrored that of a number of tour companies which have suspended flights, the volume of tourists arriving in resort towns “steadily diminishing” as both businesses and clients await developments.
“Hurghada has been very quiet but flights are still coming in from some countries,” said Dawson. “The centres that have closed mainly cater to the Scandinavian market and are planning to re-open in about three weeks when the flights are scheduled to resume.”
In Sharm el Sheikh, the “Ghazala Beach and Joli Ville hotels have just closed because they don't have any guests”. Colona, whose quests are “mainly Swedish”, remained open but “also have no guests”.
Overall, the town seemed to be suffering from “the trinity of sharks [attacks in December], season and the political turmoil”.
The road to Marsa Alam was “open according to the centres down south, but again they are operating with very few guests in the resort”.
After a general shortage of fuel, said Dawson, petrol stations were “now opening”, but he did not have much information “regarding fuel for the dive boats”.
DIVER magazine’s technical editor, John Bantin, travelled to Sharm el Sheikh this week on a scheduled diving assignment. He has confirmed that it is “all quiet in the Sharm area”, with an “unnaturally quiet” airport.
British divers were the most numerous of remaining visitors.
“Food supplies are good and fuel adequate,” he said yesterday. “Carol Flowers of Tornado Marine fleet estimates they have fuel for a month.”
Overall, it seemed like “a good time to visit”.
Related links
British Foreign Office travel advice
Egyptian diving tourism continues
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