Nigel's Twin Centre Red Sea Trip Report

Our colleague Nigel Cass has just returned from a very enjoyable dive trip to the Red Sea. Nigel opted for a twin centre trip, staying at Roots Red Sea, El Quseir and Coral Garden Resort, Safaga. Nigel shares his trip report with us here...

Trip Report: Roots RED SEA and Coral Garden RESORT

Just one hour and 20 minutes from Hurghada airport lies Roots Red Sea, a small, friendly and relaxed “eco-resort” just north of El Quesir run by two dedicated Brits: Clare and Steve Rattle.

The first thing that strikes me as I arrive is how friendly the greeting is: a refreshing glass of fruit juice and the polite request to put all bags down, as someone will take them straight to our room. Following the usual check-in paperwork, we are directed to our room on the hillside of this cosy resort. A quick shower and then it's time to visit the bar to meet our hosts and fellow guests.

Steve and Clare gave us a warm welcome and shared a few beers with us as we relaxed into the laid-back Roots way of life, whilst eating the Roots’ Friday special: Fish and Chips! 

In fact the food - as with everything else at Roots - has a wonderful Britishness about it: on Sunday we enjoyed a traditional roast meal with a delicious apple crumble for dessert. Bliss!

The following morning after breakfast we visited the onsite dive centre to complete the necessary paperwork and then headed off to the house reef dive complex on the shore. A short walk across the sand and over a quiet road lies the other part of the Roots setup: a furnished kitting up area, complete with showers, benches and a collection of tanks. There are two buildings on this site; the other being the small restaurant where lunch is served.

Our first dive on the house reef was guided, to enable us to get our bearings. Plenty to see, including several large morays and the largest barracuda I have ever seen. 

The freedom to dive as and when we chose was one of the attractions of visiting Roots. Dawn dives and night dives are also available, but you need to request a night dive one day in advance, so the centre can apply for the necessary approval from the local authorities. On our second day we took a jeep trip to some sites up the coast, one of which was a stunning underwater cave system that I would recommend any diver should visit.

Another highlight was our trip to Elphinstone, which is available for a small supplement. A very early start (4:30am alarm!!!!) and an hour’s drive south to join the RIB awaiting our arrival followed. The three of us boarded and in 20 minutes we arrived at one of the signature dives in the Red Sea, hoping to see some sharks for which this site is famous.

A colourful, but shark-free, first dive along the reef followed. During our surface interval moored up to a liveaboard, we noticed an Oceanic White Tip swimming around the back of the liveaboard and directly under our RIB. “This bodes well” we thought…

The three of us dropped back in the water and hung around the back of the liveaboard at 10m, as three white tips took turns to cruise past us. For 50 minutes! And just the three of us were in the water. Simply stunning! This was one of my most memorable dives in many years of visiting the Red Sea.

Following a final dive at a local site in El Quesir, it was time to say goodbye to our friends at Roots and hello to Coral Garden Resort in Safaga.

North of Roots and only one hour from Hurghada, Coral Garden Resort is a small hotel and dive centre (run by Orca) right on the shore of their house reef: Gassous Bay. This is one of the best house reefs that I have ever dived and I would recommend that any diver spends some time at Coral Garden just to visit Gassous Bay. 

The team at Orca are rightly proud of their house reef and it shows. There are various areas worth exploring, including several purpose built metal frames that are already displaying some impressive coral growth and marine life and a seagrass area with two resident turtles.

As with Roots, you can dive the house reef whenever you feel like it, with dawn dives and night dives also available for the keen diver. In fact the well-run dive centre is set up for this: divers just kit up, collect a full tank from the appropriate area and wander into the sea. On return, simply drop your tank off at the empty area, collect a full tank and set your kit up ready for your next dive.

Coral Garden is a well-designed resort with the dive centre, bar, upper floor restaurant and spa all conveniently located in a central area. Breakfast and evening meals (buffet style) are taken in the upstairs restaurant (complete with cheeky sparrows on the scrounge), with a lunchtime menu available at the beach bar offering pizza, burgers, wraps and toasted sarnies.

Another highlight for us was the big fluffy black and white cat that followed us around and often visited our room in the evening for cuddles and some milk that we saved from breakfast. She probably realised early on that she had encountered a pair of suckers!

Roots Red Sea and Coral Garden lend themselves perfectly for a twin centre holiday which would suit buddy pairs and larger groups. In fact, Roots is already set up for school and university groups, as they host the Marine Biology students from Glasgow University for six weeks every year.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a laid-back diving holiday with no other distractions, then give Roots Red Sea and Coral Garden Resort your serious consideration.

RESORT DETAILS

Roots Red Sea is a small friendly resort ideally suited to divers & snorkellers wanting peace and quiet, but with the convenience of the small traditional town of El Quseir on its doorstep.  The resort is surrounded by magnificent colourful mountains on one side and unspoilt Red Sea beaches on the other, making it a wonderfully relaxing destination. Pharaoh Dive Club has a base both at the resort and on the beach allowing divers to come and go as they please with easy access to a beautiful house reef. The centre runs daily shore trips to over 50 different dive sites as well as having their own zodiac and hard boat for full day excursions.

Roots Red Sea has 29 rooms, consisting of Eco Huts, Deluxe Chalets and Superior Boutique Rooms.  We offer Deluxe Chalets, which can be either twin or triple rooms.  Superior Boutique Rooms may also be booked at an additional supplement. All rooms are built using natural materials, a mixture of wood and local red stone. The wooden furniture and tiled floors enhance the authentic natural feel. The gardens have been cleverly created to minimize water usage, but at the same time with some careful lighting help create a wonderfully relaxing ambience.

Coral Garden Resort is a true divers resort. Situated 22km south of Safaga, Coral Garden Resort is a true divers resort. Located on the northern end of a long sandy beach by the beautiful Gassous Bay, Orca Dive Club is based on site. The resort provides a relaxing stay with superb views over the bay and to the western mountains. Gassous Bay offers a fabulous house reef, ideal for both divers and snorkellers.

Rooms are arranged in a bungalow village style, set in beautifully landscaped gardens. A total of 39 rooms provide spacious and simply furnished accommodation, all with air-conditioning, satellite television, safe, twin beds and a great view. The hotel has a popular beach bar with its own pizza oven, pool and table tennis and a shisha bar. The buffet style roof top Al-Saif restaurant boasts great views of Gassous Bay and serves both authentic Egyptian and Arabic food along with international cuisine.