Advanced diving vacations in Dahab

Planet

We are fully committed to reducing the impact of tourism on this precious environment in Dahab and indeed the whole coast of the Red Sea.
To this end we try very hard to not use any plastics but especially the dreaded single use plastics and look for every opportunity to reduce or even eradicate our footprint and also from our guests too.

How do you see responsible tourism in action on this trip?
Everywhere from the rooms encouraging less waste of water, less electricity on air con, to cotton bags provided for shopping locally.

Does this trip visit or show support for one of our projects or any local projects?
We support local initiatives such as beach and sea clean ups, providing help and biodegradable bags for clean ups.
We have encouraged many cafes etc. to stop using single use plastic esp. the dreaded plastic drinking straw which we have not used ourselves for years.
Does the trip visit anywhere where the fees paid will help with restoration/conservation/
Fees are paid locally to everyone we use, all our drivers are Bedouin for example, we pay for use of tents and shelters and tea making by our Bedouin friends on every safari. Ultimately as the indigenous people of the Sinai, this filters down and allows an ancient culture and way of life to continue.

Local economic development? Do you use local leaders on this trip? Have they had training?
We use local Bedouin and Egyptian guides and drivers for all our safari and dive work.

Do the leaders give a Responsible Travel briefing?
All our guides are eco-friendly and all encourage rubbish pickups on the shore and in the sea, leading by example.
Our diving is designed to make sure that divers understand how to dive without touching or harming any of the precious aquatic life.

Do travelers receive a Responsible Travel Code of Conduct?
Yes, we suggest many ways that guests can follows our eco guidelines via a ‘How to be a responsible tourist’ leaflet in their room.

Is the accommodation locally owned? Do you use local restaurants/shops/markets/transport etc.?
Yes the accommodation is owned by an Egyptian family, with strong ties to the Bedouin community, formed over 25 years here.
We also encourage our guests to use the local restaurants, markets and shops whilst they are here. When they are diving we take them to local cafes to eat and drink, this way they have rest and have shade between dives.
We also recommend other places than our own for eating out in the evening.

What does the accommodation do to minimise its impact? Has it got good environmental/social practices? (e.g. with regard to conserving water & energy, recycling, composting, organic gardening, purchasing of food locally, local employment etc.)
We conserve water by using well water to water our plants. We ask our guests to have their air con set higher (26 degrees +) so it does not use as much energy.
We recycle all our food scraps to our ducks and goats. All our food is purchased locally. Every item in the club is sourced locally if possible too, allowing small local businesses to flourish i.e. bedding, towels, food, supplies etc.

What is the group size and how does this impact on the community and environment?
We are the only dive club in the Red Sea which stipulates a maximum number of divers to Instructor of just 4-1…this minimizes any potential for damage to the precious reef as well as enhancing the divers experience and making them better divers, for everywhere they might go afterwards.

As a company, what is your environmental policy in your office?
Refuse, Reuse, Recycle

As a company, do you support any charities or projects?
We support Responsible Travel as a company. We offer help to any local groups needing it for clean ups etc., we are always on the lookout for projects which need our help…for example we are currently looking at the St Catherine’s area and how we can support one of the many garden/Bedouin projects
running there.

We are excited to be a part of the Green Fins International initiative.
Green Fins is a proven conservation management approach – implemented internationally by The Reef-World Foundation and the UN Environment Programme – which leads to a measurable reduction in the negative environmental impacts associated with marine tourism. It aims to protect coral reefs through environmentally friendly guidelines promoting sustainable diving and snorkelling. It provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for marine tourism and its robust assessment system measures compliance.
Having passed a strict audit in March 2022 to establish that we are both following eco protocols, as well as continuously looking for new ways to be more eco.
Obviously COVID had an impact on our existing practices, for example we had managed to irradicate plastic bottles and replaced them with glass bottles but this was not accepted by the CDWS who police diving facilities in Egypt.
So we found a way round this by providing water dispensers in every room, so now our guests can continue to use their refillable bottles in the comfort of their own room.
We have replaced the obligatory single jams, ketchup, mayo etc with squeezy bottles which are sterilised and reused for example.
Our latest endeavour is the rubbish collection nets which we attach to every BCD, ensuring everyone can make a difference and pick up any rubbish found in the sea.

People

We have made many innovations in eco tourism and a big improvement is not using plastic water bottles...the ban of this area and many others. We use re-fillable bottles and ask our guests to bring their own to re-fill on demand within the club. We feel a massive responsibility to the environment we work in, as it is so precious. We are not flighty dive club owners just looking to make a fast buck and move on. Our home is here in Dahab and we have lived and raised our family here (2 girls and a boy) All our kids are very aware of how precious this environment is and as they are bi-lingual, they are able to chat away to the local Bedouin and Egyptian kids about why it is wrong to fish, why not to throw rubbish in the sea etc. and is very effective, coming from a kid.

This is the only way via the kids as the adults are too stuck in their ways to want to change. So we ask help of the local kids with our annual pick up in September. We pick rubbish from the beach at every site we go to and from underwater.

This doubles the effect as customers see us taking care of the environment and follow suit. The very fact that we dive with small numbers (Max 4) also means we can instruct more effectively about environmental impact issues like, good buoyancy, tidy equipment (not dangling and hitting reef) no sand kicking (stopping the reef feeding). We also are passionate about our fishes and pass on lots of aquatic information to each customer. We really believe that once someone has been 'urged' they are a better, more responsible, non coral bashing, informed, and environmentally aware diver and person.

We do presentations to the local schools about responsible behaviour towards the sea and hand out the Arabic version of the Project Aware brochure so that hopefully the message spreads even further.