Dive Review of Piano Diving Club/Old Palace in
Red Sea

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Piano Diving Club/Old Palace: "Quick trip to the Red Sea", Oct, 2019, by Stuart Waite, MO, US ( 2 reports). Report 11198.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	A trip to Egypt cant really be complete if you don't get to the Red Sea--especially if you are divers. Our primary purpose of visiting Egypt was to see the antiquities and historical markers of time! However, we did not want to travel that far without diving the Red Sea. In planning our trip we carved out 4 days to stay at an all inclusive resort called the Old Palace. It is a big beautiful place on a quiet cove of water where you can relax and enjoy the warmth of Egyptian people and the sun. We dove for two days. A 10 minute shuttle by zodiac took us to a dive boat and crew of 8. We had approximately 12-15 guests on the boat with us. Some diving, some snorkeling, some just enjoying a day on the water. Two dives, and all the gear you needed were included. The dive gear and wet suit were all acceptable for us--certainly not as compfy as our own stuff--but good for what we needed. Drinks and snacks were available. Making new friends from all over the world was available and recommended! The diving was relaxed and mostly entry to moderate level. We dove with a knowledgable PADI divemaster--speaking four languages. Dives were no more than 60 feet of depth, little to no current, with a giant stride entry off the back of the boat. Getting back into the boat was easy enough and you were quickly attended to for help with the gear. The visibility was great, the marine life plentiful, and the health of the coral consistent with what we see wherever we dive. Some signs of "bleaching" to the careful observer--but not obviously present-- hard to know if its a big change or just the new normal. We paid 65 USD per person for these day trips. Our experience told us we would like to come back to dive the Red Sea with more time and devotion. Perhaps a Live Aboard-- or a more remote area than Hurghada, maybe a little further south --Marsa Alam sounded nice. One challenge that I would like to pass on to your readers--It was difficult to communicate with our travel agent --who lives in Egypt and did not know much about diving. He set us up to have an intro to diving experience--which many of the tourists to this area like to do. This was confusing to the dive operations when we registered with our Rescue Dive cards. It all worked out for a great experience but we would have preferred to have that understood from the beginning.
Websites	Piano Diving Club Old Palace
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Cayman, Cozumel, Thailand, Great Barrier, Belize, Saba, New Zealand, St Kitts, Martinque,
Closest Airport	Hurghada	Getting There	We flew to Cairo, then to Luxor and drove to Hurghada. Flew back to Cairo
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	79-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-70 Ft/ 15-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Multiple levels of diving experience on these day trips. Dive masters took groups of 2-5 people based on experience and certification.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Piano Diving Club/Old Palace in Red Sea

Piano Diving Club/Old Palace: "Quick trip to the Red Sea", Oct, 2019,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Piano Diving Club/Old Palace in
Red Sea