My Little Slice of Heaven

When I decided to come to Egypt, I knew one of the main things I wanted to do was dive in the Red Sea. I was given the suggestion of going to Dahab for this.



Dahab is a small little dive town. It's nothing but dive shops and restaurants, sprinkled with gift shops all along the boardwalk. You pretty much meet everyone in town just by walking the 20 minutes it takes to get from one end of the boardwalk to the other.

There are just as many foreigners in Dahab as there are Egyptians. When asked how long the foreigners have been in Dahab, the shortest duration I encountered was 6 weeks. With plans to return within the next year. People just seem to show up in Dahab and not leave.

Dahab is a very special place indeed and I can certainly attest to the strong desire that pulls you into staying. My original plan was to come to Dahab for only four days. Now I'm working on getting my Advanced Open Water diving certification and have extended my stay another three days, and I'm seriously considering just staying for the remainder of my time in Egypt.


Diving in the Red Sea is a dream come true! The water is amazingly clear, the amount of sea life is incredible and I've already seen an array of awesome and interesting marine animals. I saw two octopi (or is it octopuses?) change color right before my eyes! That was intense! I saw a spotted ray literally floating through the water before landing close to me. I almost forgot to breath, I was just so astounded!

The funny thing is, the town of Dahab really isn't THAT special. There's really nothing to do here besides dive. It's still a pretty awesome thing to do, this being the Red Sea and all, but still... And the flies. They are relentless! In any case, I'm perfectly happy taking my AOW course, doing amazing dives each day and seeing the various fish undersea, lounging my nights away near the surf and keeping company with the cool ocean breeze.

I could certainly see myself doing this for at least another six weeks. If not more... If you don't hear from me, at least you'll know where to find me. I invite you to come look for me. I could probably use a roommate by that time.

© Connie Hum 2009