Better, down where it's wetter
It's official: wetsuits are the new black. Scuba-diving is in, say leading travel agents, who have noticed a dramatic increase in the popularity of dive holidays over the last three years. It doesn't take rocket science to see why: who wants to spend their winter holiday freezing their bits off on the piste, when you can get your thrills and tan your tummy at the same time? I can safely guarantee that if I can do it, you certainly can.
Normally a girl who spurns the thought of exercise in any shape or form, I was more than a little dubious when my mother announced we would spend Christmas diving in the Red Sea. All gung-ho dive enthusiasts, my family would trot off to do practise dives so they could dive freely once we were in Egypt. I thought the four of them were insane, exchanging their warm beds for the cold murky waters of Brighton pier. Safe in the assurance that I would rather spend my holiday lying on the beach drinking Pina Colada, I had no burning desire to join them in learning to dive.
Once we were in Dahab however, it was a different story. What with my mother waxing lyrical about the stunning coral reef - combined with the fact that our dive instructor, Jamal, was incredibly fit - to the astonishment of my family (and me), I took the plunge.
It was an unforgettable experience, best described as the closest feeling to flying you'll ever come across. I hadn't done the dive course in back in England, so could only go to five metres and was strapped to Jamal at all times (which I certainly wasn't going to complain about). But even at five metres the sea-scapes were breathtaking. Dahab is the ideal diving resort for both beginners and the more advanced diver - its location on the Gulf of Aquaba (a steep drop into the African rift) means you can reach a great depth close to the shore.
But it's not all about diving - you can't go to Egypt and without tasting the incredible culture. And I'm not talking about the Foul: there are various activities organised from most hotels, for instance camel riding (interesting, but not guaranteed for a comfortable ride), trips to Cairo, desert tours or simply a visit to the fabulous bazaars - any shopper's heaven. The marketplaces are filled with exotic spices, fabulous carpets and enough shishas to make the Hubbley-Bubbley Bar jealous. In Egypt it's kosher to smoke a shisha after you finish your meal - as soon as my mother, your archetypal culture-vulture, heard this, we were smoking the biggest shisha on the menu every night. Much to my eight-year old brother's delight (and to his teacher's horror), he was able to go back to school the next week and tell his friends about how he was "hooked".
It was the unique Egyptian way of life combined with the unrivalled coral reef in Dahab that made the whole holiday an unforgettable experience. Now a convert to the diving religion, I've already booked an open-water course this year in time for our next holiday. I strongly advise you to give it a go as well. It's better to do a course in England so you can hop straight in as soon as you arrive at the resort. Most diving schools charge about £300 for an open-water dive course, including five pool dives and four open water dives. All the equipment and training comes part and parcel. This means when you get to the dive resort you'll be qualified to dive to 18 metres. If you get hooked and want to do deep-sea diving, there are plenty of supplementary courses available.
Alternatively, if Egypt's a little far or you don't like the sound of the camels, Alexandra Kent at St Peter's is organising a diving excursion to Barcelona in the Easter holidays. She's offering a fantastic deal of £300 for flights, accommodation, one week's diving tuition, and of course the all-important nightly piss-up in Barcelona town.
12th Feb 2004