FAQ
All important topics at a glance
Topic: Questions about travelling during the "Corona" period
The travel information listed here is current and subject to change at short notice. Please check with the Foreign Office and your travel agency or airline before your trip!
Life in Hurghada goes its usual course. In public buildings, in supermarkets etc. a mask has to be worn, just like in Germany. Some hotels, shops and restaurants are still closed, but the streets are busy and you can move around freely.
Hurghada is considered "Corona safe". Strict hygiene requirements such as fever measurement, frequent disinfection of hotels, compulsory masks in public buildings and means of transport are strictly implemented. Food is served at the table. All employees wear a mouth guard. Already on arrival at the airport, you go through a fever scanner. Free treatment is guaranteed.
While our affiliated hotels (Arabia Azur/Arabella Azur/Bel Air Azur) have not yet reopened, the Blue Water Dive Resort has also closed. But of course we will continue diving! Until the reopening of the hotels, our diving operations will continue in our sister base, the James & Mac Diving Center. You can book as usual via Email or in our Red Sea Shop. With our Transfer Service we will pick you up for free from any hotel in Hurghada for diving and bring you back home at the end of the day.
Diving centers on the Red Sea had to undergo an examination by the Egyptian state in advance. Our base has received the necessary hygiene seal and was therefore allowed to officially resume diving operations. Among other things, we have installed a Plexiglas panel on the office counter. Tables and chairs were arranged according to the minimum distance. Disinfection possibilities are sufficiently available.
In the James & Mac/Blue Water Transfer buses, wearing a face mask is mandatory.
There is a dispenser for disinfectant on each of our ships. A clinical thermometer is also available on each of our boats.
Upon return, our regulators are immediately disinfected by our staff in a chlorine bath and then rinsed in a water bath.
Unfortunately we do not have any further information about possible hotel openings. This will certainly depend on how the booking situation will be based on the current situation. In the meantime the Blue Water Dive Resort will remain closed. Until the hotels reopen, our diving operations will take place in our sister base, the James & Mac Diving Center. You can book as usual by email or in our Red Sea Shop. With our transfer service we will pick you up from any hotel in Hurghada for free and bring you back home at the end of the day.
Currently there are no direct flights from Germany to Hurghada. From Zurich there are offered several direct flights a week with Edelweiss Air and FTI Schweiz . Alternatively you can use Pegasus to travel from many German airports via Istanbul to Hurghada There are further flight options to Cairo with Egypt Air or Lufthansa with self-organised transfer to Hurghada. From 03. October the Turkish Airlines again three times a week via Istanbul to Hurghada
Here are some alternatives where you can take the test. Now you have to see what would be best for you:
Hamburg:
https://www.centogene.com/de/covid-19/test-centers/testen-am-hamburger-flughafen.html
Frankfurt
https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/de/reisevorbereitung/coronavirus/corona-tests-am-flughafen.html
Munich
https://www.munich-airport.de/corona-tests-am-flughafen-9494091#e6476111 (Actually not very interesting because in Bavaria everybody can get tested for free and it is also very expensive! )
If you come from near Rostock, you can also go directly to Centogene
https://www.centogene.com/de/covid-19/test-centers/abstrichzentrum-rostock.html
Otherwise, there is still the option of being tested by your family doctor or in a "Drive In Test Centre", if available.
You have to ask for the respective costs. In Bavaria testing is free of charge. However, it sometimes takes 4 - 5 working days until the result is available, which you may have to allow for.
The PCR test must not be older than 72 hours (Information; Ministry of Immigration and expatriate affairs, current status 17 September)
A couple of guests reported that if you enter the country without a test, you have to stay on the plane until everyone else has got off. Afterwards you will be taken to a tent where the test will be done and everything will be documented on a form (name, hotel, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.). After the test you can continue to passport control and the baggage carousel. The duration was about 30 minutes. Then there is a normal transfer to the hotel. There is no further information about this at the moment, because it is offered quite new.
Achtung! Einige Fluggesellschaften verlangen den PCR Test Nachweis als Voraussetzung zum Besteigen des Flugzeugs in Abreiseland. Bitte erkundigt euch vor dem Abflug, wie bei euerem Flug die aktuellen Bedingungen sind!
If you arrive in Hurghada, the visa fees are free for all tourists staying in a hotel. This regulation is valid until 31.10.2020.
You are welcome to book in advance online in our shop, but please do not pay for any bookings until your trip is 100% complete! With today's online money transfers, this can be done quickly. If something comes up, we can simply cancel the booking after receiving an email from you (free of charge).
You are welcome to book in advance online in our shop, but please do not pay for any bookings until your trip is 100% complete! With today's online money transfers, this can be done quickly. If something comes up, we can simply cancel the booking after receiving an email from you (free of charge).
Topic: Booking
No, they can freely be splitted over the holiday period.
The dive package still remains cheaper than the same service booked on site. In case of a serious illness we usually cancel the dive package on site and count the transferred amount as a deposit.
!!! EXCEPTION: Not made dives during a Minisafari can not be refunded !!!
In case of cancellation of the trip we will transfer the total amount back. Inform us by mail with the account details for the refund.
No, only the current price list applies
Just book an available diving package in our Red Sea Shop, the ½ day will be put at the end of the holiday and is compensated by an additional payment
Yes, max. 2 full day trips can be changed into 4 half day trips on site for a surcharge.
No, that can be used only on the on-site prices of dives and equipment.
Pre-booking at our Red Sea Shop
The ½ day trip is the acclimatisation dive on the first day of diving.
Yes, parents can share a dive package.
Because it is charged per person per day on site depending on the dives made.
2 or 3 full day trips will be taken from your dive package plus the appropriate on-site surcharge depending on the type of Minisafari.
No, house reef dives can only be booked on site. Just contact our office.
Topic: Rental Equipment
Our tanks have DIN - valves. Adapters from INT to DIN are sufficiently available.
Free diving bags are available.
Yes, free storage is possible.
On your USB stick, your SD card etc.
Topic: Training
No, because learning on the PC alone lacks practical relevance, is more expensive and hardly saves any time.
Duration 3 days (1 day ashore, 2 days on the boat) including theoretical and practical emergency management training, resuscitation, effective first aid, accident management, stress detection and self-rescue. Minimum requirement is AOWD or equivalent, first aid certificate, max. 2 years old, recommendation: at least 40 dives, age from 18 years. Mostly it is a one-to-one course (1:1) and can only be carried out at short notice after availability of a diving instructor.
Topic: Medicine and health
It's actually part of diving. Usually the signature on the medical health questionnaire on site is sufficient for us, if your health and fitness condition is not restricted by any diseases If, for example, you take medication regularly and from the age of 60, a medical certificate is required. However, this could also be done on site at short notice.
In general, we advise you to take out diving accident insurance at home before your holiday. An offer of the company Hypermed can be concluded on site in our office. Hypermed offers a diving support programme for a period of 4 weeks, which covers up to 3 treatments in the decompression chamber in the unlikely event of a diving accident (decompression sickness or air embolism).
Topic: General Info
A copy goes to the authorities for the permits.
Because the ships are not allowed to return to port after dark for official reasons.
About 21-23 degrees.
Very variable, depending on the wind.
Yes, unless you have been in the water recently and/or are an experienced diver and do not need rental equipment.
