Holiday Destinations (help)

[podge]

My wife and I are off to Sharm at the beginning of February and chose the Iberotel Fanara as well. A lot of internet research suggested it was worth a try and had a fantastic house reef. Unfortunately all the shark business rather spooked my wife and she's threatened to hide all the freediving kit away so we can't take it with us. I've got two weeks to win her over with some delicate negotiations!

Ian.

Ian, do us a favour and let us know how it goes, what it’s like?
Hotel, shore dive’s, food? Comfort levels? Etc etc.
Thanks and let me sort out that rep bar of yours in advance.

 

[IanAHaley]

Ian, do us a favour and let us know how it goes, what it’s like?
Hotel, shore dive’s, food? Comfort levels? Etc etc.
Thanks and let me sort out that rep bar of yours in advance.

Will do!
If you don't see a post by the end of February, assume the shark got me.

And ta muchly for the rep.

Ian.

 

[Wanny]

Hey Ian, we go at the beginnning of Feb as well so may see you there! My negotiations are focussed on my wife looking after the kids (apparently it is a holiday for her as well?) and finding room in the luggage for my big fins!

 

[rddk]

I've been in sharm at the only one apnea center this november for the AA instructor course and i was in the village where the center is "club sharm" and i can tell ya that the food people and location is 10++++ and am italian and very esigent with food and other stuff i can tell ya that rooms were really clean perople fantastic and kind and polite i definatly suggest ya all the stuff. For sharks don't worry it recognize freedivers and they don't touch em.
jusgt a suggestion take all the stuff for protect ya from mosquitos they are like birds and all the morning withouth protection you have lost half liter of blood cvuz they have sucked it all like vampires.

 

[spaghetti]

Spaggie do have anywhere that you might know of around Sicily, again that’s not a romantic hideaway that would have a bit of reasonable diving? Not necessarily with a speargun but with a camera.
Thanks for your patience folks.

Panarea: dive an active volcano! It's one of the small Eolian Islands (Vulcano, Stromboli, Lipari, Filicudi, Alicudi).
The place has quite a messy nightlife too (disco's, go-go girls et cetera).
Here's a short docu from italian TV. Skip the talk parts and look at the underwater footage with the "bubbles" from the volcanic activity.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG0ghuNpjuE&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Le subacquee di Panarea[/ame]

 

[devondave]

Sicily was the best non-activity holiday ever.
Very expensive but the best food in the world, scenery to die for everywhere, ancient ruins galore.
And something Spaggi might know about, Sicilian woman are beautiful, I mean really walk into lamppost type of beautiful. :crutch

 

[podge]

Panarea: dive an active volcano! It's one of the small Eolian Islands (Vulcano, Stromboli, Lipari, Filicudi, Alicudi).
The place has quite a messy nightlife too (disco's, go-go girls et cetera).
Here's a short docu from italian TV. Skip the talk parts and look at the underwater footage with the "bubbles" from the volcanic activity.

Thanks Spag, appreciated.

 

[IanAHaley]

Hey Ian, we go at the beginnning of Feb as well so may see you there! My negotiations are focussed on my wife looking after the kids (apparently it is a holiday for her as well?) and finding room in the luggage for my big fins!

Hi Wanny - sure, be great to meet up and have a freediving buddy. I'll PM you my contact details.

Ian.

 

[IanAHaley]

Ian, do us a favour and let us know how it goes, what it’s like?
Hotel, shore dive’s, food? Comfort levels? Etc etc.
Thanks and let me sort out that rep bar of yours in advance.

Just got back from Sharm - so here's a bit of feedback.

We had a great time and I'd thoroughly recommend the Iberotel Fanara to anyone. The hotel is spacious and clean and spread out in really attractive grounds with a huge pool compex. The staff were always helpful and friendly and seemed genuiniely interested in trying to make all the guests have an enjoyable and relaxing holiday as possible. Bedrooms are nicely equipped and spotlessly clean.

The nationality of the guests is quite varied (a plus in my view) -some British, but also German, Russian, Polish, French.

Before this trip I'd never been to Egypt before and was not expecting too much from the food. I'd read many horror-stories of luke-warm grim buffets serving up the same bland fare day after day. I needn't have worried - the food at the Fanara was really good. Yes, all meals are buffet-style, but the quality was great with fresh ingredients and a huge choice. Each evening's fare follows a different theme (my favourite was Lebanese night) throughout the week.

As you'd expect, the hotel has all the usual facilities such as gym, spa treatments, kid's club, dive centre, sports facilities, etc.

The best thing for me though was the house reef. The hotel has its own private beach and sits directly above it. Just a gentle 100m swim from the water's edge across a shallow lagoon and you come to a 30m+ drop-off with an amazing array of corals and fish. Better than reefs I've been to in the Caribbean or the Maldives.

On way to judge a hotel is how it copes in a crisis - and the Fanara scores top marks here. When we arrived the hotel was getting on for 25% full but by the time we left there were a mere 20 or so guests (in a place that has a capacity of 750) and deliveries of supplies to the hotel were becoming patchy. This required some changes to the catering for the last day or two of our holiday - but quality never suffered and the staff remained as committed as ever to ensuring we were having a good time.

I did wonder whether the same standard could also be maintained when the hotel is full. I spoke to a few guests who were regulars (another good sign) and they said it was no different.

Finally - would we go back? Yes - definitely. We've already pencilled in a return visit for next year.

Ian.

 

[podge]

Ian, thanks for the heads up.
Hotel sounds great, and the house reef with its 30 meter drop sounds spot on for a bit of photography.
Glad you had a good time and now that Egypt is moving towards its freedom it can only get better.

 

[apneaboy]

Is the Red Sea taking a hit on tourists at the moment then. How empty are the hotels? Yours was 25% what about the others.

Is Naama bay empty too?

I might check for some good deals.

 

[devondave]

Now is a great time for the Red Sea.
The scuba companies have really good deals at the moment.
If you've got the time grab yourself a cheap holiday while you can.
The poor old Egyptians sure could do with the trade, what with rogue sharks and revolutions scaring the tourists away.

 

[IanAHaley]

Is the Red Sea taking a hit on tourists at the moment then. How empty are the hotels? Yours was 25% what about the others.

Is Naama bay empty too?

I might check for some good deals.

Our hotel was 25% full when we arrived. It was down to the last handful of guests by the time we left a week later. On the coach taking us back to the airport we asked eveyone if their hotels were the same and they said yes - all down to the last 50 guests or so.

Naama Bay was like a ghost town. We drove through it and I counted no more than 15-20 tourists wandering about. Most of the shops, bars, restaurants etc seemed to have closed.

If you do decide to grab a last-minute bargain, it might be wise to chose an all-inclusive hotel. Otherwise finding food and drink could be a challenge.

It's a real shame because the locals desperately need the jobs that the tourists bring. Let's hope that things start getting back to normal.

Ian.