Travel Information part 2
We like to give you some more useful information if you are planning to visit the Sinai...
Passports and Entry
Your entry to Egypt requires a passport which is at least valid for 6 months. There are two visas available, you can buy / get them directly at the airport. The most common visa is a one month visa, costs about 15 USD and is placed like a stamp in your passports visa area. With this visa it is possible to travel everywhere within Egypt. The second visa is just a free, simple entry stamp placed as well in your visas area of your passport. With this stamp you are allowed to stay a maximum of 14 days on the Gulf of Aqaba coastline of the Sinai only, travels towards Cairo, the Egyptian mainland, the national park Ras Mohamed are permitted. In short words: you can just stay in the area between Sharm El Sheikh and Taba.
IMPORTANT: If you choose the simple 2 weeks visa you cannot travel to some highlights like
- National Park Ras Mohamed
- Thistlegorm Wreck
- Dunraven Wreck
- St. Catherine
- Coulored Canyon
Currency & Exchange
The Egyptian Pound (EGP or LE 'Lira Egiziana') is strongly related to the US Dollar, so most hotels and restaurants accept as well US Dollar for payments. We recommend to take enough cash money with you to Egypt. Credit cards, mostly Mastercard or VisaCard, are accepted by big hotels and restaurants, but very often you will have to pay a charge of 4-5% of the total amount. Banks and ATMs are available in all big cities of Sinai, but they will only give you local currency. Diving centers mostly accept Euro or US Dollar only, if you pay in local currency most of them have a quite bad exchange rate compared to the banks.
Scuba College - Diving Camp Nuweiba does NOT accept credit cards or cheques.
Medical Treatment & Hospitals
All larger hotels have a doctor,or are able to call a doctor if necessary. The hotel reception will be able to help you. Please remember that all Medical treatment here, has to paid for cash! In serious cases, the hospital in Nuweiba is also available, as is the international hospital in Sharm El Sheikh. For diving accidents, there are now 2 re-compression chambers in Sharm, 1 in Dahab and 1 in Eilat / Israel. Treatment in the chamber costs ca. $750 per hour, so please remember to dive conservatively, and to arrange a dive insurance prior start of any diving activities.
Immunizations
Get informed by your holiday operator, or the Egyptian embassy for the currently advised immunizations. It makes sense for divers to be up to date with Tetanus.
Electricity
The electricity in Egypt is 220V/50Hz. The plug is suitable for continental European plugs.
Clothing
The usual dress code in Nuweiba is a T-shirt and shorts, or any other type of loose fitting clothes. As there are many shops that sell T-shirts, you do not need to pack many. Women should remember that this is an Islamic country, where women are usually covered up. The less you wear, the more stares and comments you will get. Nuweiba however, has become quite liberal due to tourism.
For trips into the desert, we recommend you to do it like the Bedouins, a hat, cotton clothes with long sleeves and trouser legs. If you are going to St. Catherine monastery and / or Mt. Moses, we recommend warm clothes and firm footwear.
Tips
Egypt is a land of "Bakshish". Small tips are expected for everything. If you are participating in a trip, accompanied by Bedouins, they expect a small tip between 5 and 10 LE per person. You will usually receive a warm Bedouin tee as a thank you. Groups on live-aboard safaris should tip the crew at the end of the week (~5 US$ per person/day).
Baggage Limits
In the winter period, you will require a 5mm-7mm, and in the summer a 3-5mm wet-suit. Please bring a DIN-adapter with you, if you do not have one, it is possible to rent one from the dive center.
Presents / Souvenirs
If you plan to bring us something from Europe, we will be extremely happy about pork in any form, sweets, chocolate and gummy bears, or dark bread.
When taking souvenirs home, the Egyptian customs generally dont care about what you take out, apart from if you are taking antiques and/or sea creatures (dead or alive), to these they react allergic. Please also remember the customs allowances for importing products into the EU from Egypt (E.g. the UK doesn't allow any food imports from Egypt).
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