Dahab

Dahab city Travlie to Dahab. dive in Dahab

All Dahab dive site dive

• Dahab city

• the small city of Dahab lies 80 kilometres north of Sharm el-Sheikh and has seen

• considerable tourist development in the last few years. The number of scuba divers visiting its diving sites has risen amazingly, yet many of these divers are not clients of the over 30 local dive centres here but come from Sharm looking for different dives in a more relaxed and calm atmosphere.

• Dahab is divided into two parts, the southern part comprises the big, shallow bay of El-Qura bordered by a sandy tongue that forms a hook,

• sheltered from waves and dominating winds that blow almost constantly from the north, this is the more modern and touristic part with big 4 and 5-star hotels and a concentration of numerous windsurfers who find ideal conditions for their preferred sport (fresh wind and few waves)

• Less than 3 kilometres to the north is the ‘old’ part with a typical Bedouin slant that has

• grown-up around a second bay, even wider than the previous one called Assalah: this used to be the original Bedouin village that gave birth to the tourist centre we know today.

• Assalah is also divided into two parts: Mashraba in the south and Masbat in the north

• The Assalah bay is bordered by a splendid palm grove and a beach with fine sand of a golden

• colour Maybe this particularity is the origin of the name ‘Dahab’ meaning in the local language gold’, according to tradition the name was given by Bedouins here who were fascinated by this golden

• sand. Many bungalows, camps, a myriad of small restaurants, a lot of small and medium-sized hotels and most of the diving centres are concentrated in the Assalah area. The numerous diving sites, at least

• fifteen, are divided into two groups. those in the north of Assalah with sites between this bay and the famous Blue Hole (the most known diving site in Dahab) from where you reach the area of Ras Abu Galum, and those diving sites to the south of El-Qura bay with sites between this bay and the area of Gabrel Bint accessible by foot, camel or boat

• In contrast to Sharm el-Sheikh where scuba diving is mainly by boat, in Dahab, the sites are easily

• accessible by land and boats are rare. The tourist development in Dahab may be a recent phenomenon, yet in reality, the small city has a deeply rooted history, going back as far as the Nabateans, the legendary traders of old times who had their base close to Petra in Jordan, less than 150 kilometres from Dahab as the crow flies.

• Recent archaeological excavations in the centre of Assalah reveal traces of a port and Nabatean trading centre dating back to 1-2nd century AD