The Red Sea Diving Safari is a collection of 3 dive centers along the southern Red Sea coastline which have been generous and long time supporters of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society. I spent a month in Marsa Shagra completing my PADI Divemaster course.

Thanks to their eco efforts and limits on diver numbers on the reef, Marsa Shagra’s house reef is one of the Red Sea’s most pristine and lively. Hard and soft coral, colorful fish, octopus, rays and turtles are frequent flyers, with visits from playful dolphins. Hidden in the desert, the Red Sea Diving Safari takes its name from its nascent days of a mobile camp, where guests would dive in one location for a number of days before packing up their tents, and moving along the coast to the next dive site. Accommodation options still include their Royal Tents, where guests can experience the RSDS as it used to be.

The Divemaster is the first professional level course in the PADI system and allows you to lead certified divers and assist instructors with teaching courses. Where there’s water there’s a PADI dive center, and so it opens up a world of possibilities in regards to work opportunities. I even found it to be the case that a lot of professional divers preferred Divemaster roles to Instructor, as they enjoyed more time out in the ocean, leading excursions. The Divemaster was my first choice for training to kick-off my internship, to start exploring the world of professional diving.

The training was a mix of online e-learning, classroom sessions, and practical in-water training. I also accompanied instructors to aid and observe on their open-water training with guests.

I had only ever dived in a recreational capacity prior to starting my course, and the mindset shift was one of the biggest learnings for me. I was no longer diving for pleasure, with only myself and my buddy to look after! Some aspects were daunting at first, being responsible for a group of mixed experience divers, ensuring everyone was safe and enjoyed themselves, it seemed like a lot to think about! But with the guidance of my instructor and taking the course step-by-step, it started to come together quite naturally.

As the course came to its close, the things I had been most worried about like giving briefings to larger groups, ended up being what I enjoyed the most! It was quite the memorable day though when I gave the dive briefing for Elphinstone.

One of the world’s most famous dive sites, Elphinstone is an elongated off-shore reef that’s over 300m long with drop-offs descending beyond 100m. The reef is a looming presence in the blue with an alluring atmosphere. A darker, deeper, and more mysterious dive that feels special in its contrast to the sunlit coral reefs of the coast.

The currents at Elphinstone can be strong and unpredictable, sometimes making for challenging diving, but bring nutrient rich waters to the reef, making the length and breath of Elphinstone alive with marine activity. Adding to the excitement of diving Elphinstone, with its large tuna and shoals of barracuda, is the possibility of sharks being present, most frequently hammerheads and oceanic white tips.

Oceanic Whitetip sharks are not uncommon visitors to Elphinstone and are very inquisitive. They can get quite close to divers out of curiosity and so the briefing is quite unique, with guidance on how to behave around these animals- staying vertical, and never giving your back to the shark. Only a 15 minute boat ride away from The Red Sea Diving Safari, Elphinstone is one of the most popular dives. There was always anticipation around boats returning from their trip there- everyone would want to hear the news- did they see sharks??

It was wonderful completing the course and qualifying as a Divemaster- I felt like a ‘real’ diver! It was a funny feeling having guests consult me about their gear configuration, or ask advice on elements of their dive, and even more peculiar to find that, for the most part, I was able to answer their questions! This is all thanks to my instructor and the wonderful, supportive team at The Red Sea Diving Safari, who were patient with me all through the training.

My sincere thanks to all of the team at The Red Sea Diving Safari for their generosity. It was such a fantastic experience, I look forward to visiting you all again! Thank you to PADI for supporting my Divemaster course materials and for giving me the opportunity to make a video for PADITV about my experience of the course, and to DAN Europe for keeping me safe on my adventures. Thank you to The Our World Underwater Scholarship Society for this incredible experience, and my coordinators for making it all happen.