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Dive Review of Subex/Moevenpick in
Red Sea/Egypt, Queisir

Subex/Moevenpick, Aug, 2007,

by Thomas Lippert, AG, Switzerland . Report 3500.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments We had a direct flight from Zurich to Marsa Alam and then a 1 to 1.5 h transfer to the Hotel. The Moevenpick is operated by Swiss, and consists of bungalows which are arranged in groups (we were in group 18, which meant a rather long walk to the diving base of around 1 km). The whole resort is very clean and all the staff there is very friendly. There are several restaurants (1 buffet style, 1 “upscale” were you dine a la carte and get a credit from half-board, and one Italian + several special event, e.g. BBQ at the beach, fisherman dining etc.) you can use (we had half-board, but all inclusive is also possible were you can e.g. have as much Moevenpick ice cream as you want, and I was told this ice cream is great). The food was good and plentiful, but I thought for the high reputation of Moevenpick in Switzerland that it could have been better. There is also a nice bar overlooking the ocean with fantastic sundowns, where you can have some good drinks (after testing some, I stayed with mojitos) and shishas (hookah). There are also a lot of things to do (horses, quads, camels, tennis, squash, etc., we had a quad ride into the desert which was great). Most of these activities are only ok in this time of the year in the evening, as it is very hot (up to 40C in the shadow, but all rooms and buildings have AC). There are 2 pools and a very nice beach with life-guards, but to have a good spot you need to rise early, as the places are reserved by towels early (horrible custom). The ocean can only be entered at designated path to protect the corals.
The diving is mainly house reef diving with temperatures of 30 C at the surface and 26 in 30 m of depths (a skin or shortie was enough). The diving base is run very efficient with around 15 staff members. When you arrive you get an orientation and leave your C-crad and log-book (+ medical form), which is followed by an welcome dive (check out dive) which went with a guide (max. group size of 4), followed by two exercises (out of air and mask flooding). Afterwards you are rated either as independent or you will have to go with a guide. You list yourself in the diving list in a certain time interval to enter (e.g 2-4 pm) either from the base or by inflatable (with small added price). Then you get a card to check out and to get the tank (12 or 15l steel or nitrox for free to reserve 1 day before). Then you go to the base where you get the tank and hand over the tank. After the dive you check back in at the counter. We had normally dives of 60-75 min with no restrictions (depth etc.). BTW, the SUBEX bases (there are others in Egypt) have one specialty, i.e. the normal air is nitrox 28. The diving was easy, with good visibility (20+ m) and sometime a slight current (sometime some waves, when the wind picked up). We saw many murays (including larger ones), blue spotted rays, crocodile fish, grouper, lion fish, 1 eagle ray, 2 turtles, and a lot of the usual small reef fish, but the absence of larger fish striking. I went also once with the boat for 2 dives, which where at the same reef as the house reef, just further “left and right” from the hotel, which were slightly better (also the wave action was strong and some people became sea sick).
The diving is overall very easy, the organization is almost perfect and very safety and environmental conscious, and a perfect place to go with a non-diving partner, or to start diving again (such as me, after 3 knee surgeries).
Value: I pad around 2000 Swiss Francs with flight and 6 dives.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Alaska, British Columbia, Missouri (Bonne Terre Mine), Texas, Florida, California, Mexico, Galapagos, Bahamas, Cuba, Yap, Palau, Truk, Marshall Islands, Bikini, Hawaii, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maledives, Thailand, Egypt, Sudan, Baltic Sea, Tenerife, Malta, Switzerland, Germany.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 26-30°C / 79-86°F Wetsuit Thickness 0
Water Visibility 20-35 M / 66-115 Ft

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Check Dive, independent diving only for experienced.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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