Egypt’s Red Sea Ranks Third in Dive Travel Award 2018

Egypt lands the third place as the best scuba diving destination around the world in the Dive Travel Awards 2018 by Dive Magazine.

According to Dive Magazine, Egypt’s Red Sea is home for 400 species of coral and hundreds species of fish making it with a well established diving industry an attractive location for those who are interested in marine life.

Egypt’s best diving location, which is considered the best in the world, is located at the meeting point of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. This point is known as Ras Mohammed. The schools of jacks and batfish are very prominent during the summer.

For those who are interested in livaboards, Dive Magazine highly recommended Brothers Island or El Ikhwa Island. These two offshore islands are a great location for experienced divers due to some challenges in the water such as the strong currents. It is also home for hammerhead sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks.

St. John’s Reef is located is a remote reef in the southern part of the Red Sea. As the name suggests, it is a home to coral gardens and seamounts.

The list was topped by Indonesia and the Philippines who ranked the first and second place respectively. Following Egypt was the Maldives in fourth place and the Solomon Islands in fifth place.

Egypt hopes that this award revives its slumbering tourism industry. Tourism sector represents the main source of foreign currency income in the country in addition to being an important building block to stabilizing Egypt’s economy.

Following the 25 January 2011 revolution, the Egyptian economy had suffered and the rate of tourists influx significantly dropped due to the political unrest and terror attacks that hit the country. The crash of a Russian plane in October 2015 shortly after it had taken off from Sharm al-Sheikh airport further exacerbated the problem, leading to a sharp decrease in the number of tourists in 2016.

However, relevant progress in the revenues and the number of tourists have been noted in recent months with strong efforts made both the public and private sectors.

Additionally, Egypt floated its currency in November 2o16 against all the foreign countries, a measure that attracted even more tourists to the Red Sea resorts and all the tourist attractions in Egypt due to the relatively cheap prices and the increased competitiveness in the sector.