All in all it was a very nice experience, but I won’t dive again in this area.
Last year I was diving in Egypt, where a double dive with lunch buffet and hotel shuttle costs between 50 to 80€ per person. The red sea is amazing for diving with lots of colorful coral and big sealife like turtles and sharks. I’m a somewhat experienced diver with something between 50 and 100 dives.
This year we booked the Hotel Aristoteles near Ouranopolis and I wanted to check diving offers in the area. There are only two on Google maps, which i thought was strange. On the second day here I walked on the beach to the Athos scuba diving center, where they explained me that a double dive costs 140€ plus gas. I thought no way will i pay that much, so the next day I called the other place from the hotel reception, they offered to pick me up so we can discuss prices in person. Then they offered me basically the same rate, 140€ per double dive plus 25€ for gas. I pondered a few days until I thought okay let’s do it one time this vacation, at least I don’t forget how to dive.
So on the day I get picked up by car from the hotel lobby at 09:30 by Nikos, really nice guy, and we drive to the dive center. Pavlos, Maria and a friendly divemaster trainee are already there. I pay, we pick up the equipment and I walk with Pavlos to the beach. He buys me a coffee (thanks!), we chat a bit and jump on the boat. It’s a zodiac, a tiny but fast inflatable rubber boat. We are lucky that it’s mid September and cloudy, otherwise I’d get cooked without a roof. I’m asking if I can drive a bit, Pavlos says I need a license 🙂
We drive over to Ammouliani into some small bay on the north coast, west side. It’s just the four of us, Nikos goes with me and Pavlos simulates a tourist with underwater problems so the divemaster trainee can help him. The dive is really boring, mostly rocks with some sand and grass, until Nikos GRABS an octopus from under a rock and just holds it to show me. After a few seconds he lets it go and it escapes in a cloud of ink. I thought they can bite, apparently not. Other than that it feels like floating over an underwater desert for 45 minutes in up to 15 meters depth.
For the second dive we drive a bit further to the west, to the tiny island “Ρυάκι”. This spot has more to offer, we see many corals and fish. There is a flying gurnard that takes off as soon as it sees us, showing us his pretty wings. I find an octopus but don’t want to grab it, Nikos pokes it and it takes off. The dive takes about 45 minutes and goes up to 12 meters.
We swim a bit on the surface, then drive back to the dive center. We wash the equipment and Maria drives me back to the hotel. Back in the hotel, i see that they have sent me some nice pictures by mail that Nikos made underwater, free of charge.
So in total, really nice team that I can totally recommend. If you want to learn diving then these guys can show you how it’s done. They offer courses with official certificates. If you are already here and want to dive, then doing it once is fine. Just don’t come to this area to dive every day, there are other places for that. – via 
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