Diving in Dahab

Dahab is a diver's town on the Sinai coast, and its great convenience is that you walk to the reef straight from the shore — no boat, no early start, just fins on at the water's edge. The Red Sea here is warm, clear and extravagantly colourful: hard and soft corals, reef fish in absurd numbers, and visibility that regularly runs to twenty-five metres.

The range suits everyone. Beginners do their first open-water course in the sheltered, easy entries; more experienced divers head for the famous Blue Hole and the Canyon, dramatic deep sites that have made the town's name. The relaxed, low-cost, backpacker-ish atmosphere is a large part of why people come for a few days and stay a fortnight.

You can dive here year-round, though a wetsuit is welcome in winter when the water cools. Whatever your level, the reef is right there off the beach — a rarer luxury in diving than it sounds.

A shore-accessible reef wall, warm water year-round, and the Blue Hole itself for the more experienced.

Get Open Water certified here if you aren't already — it's one of the cheapest and most reliable places to do it.