Fantastic Diving starts here in the Red Sea! Coral gardens, wrecks, abundant fish and warm water. Master Diving Center in Makadi Bay welcomes you!
SCUBA Dive School Name: Master Diving Center
Address: Serenity Hotels, 36 Km, Safaga Road, Makadi Bay, Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt
Note: This is an independent dive base review based on my personal experience.
The Dive Center: Founded by Instructors; offering PADI and CMAS courses, SCUBA diving and snorkelling. The center itself, located on the shores of the Red Sea in the Serenity Makadi Beach hotel, has a professional, inviting look! Equipment including BCD, regulator, fins, snorkels, etc. are in excellent condition, the compressor is in a separate room, fresh water rinse tank is clean.
According to their website, Master Diving Center requests documentation:
Quote: Upon arrival at our dive center we kindly ask you to submit the following documents:
1- Diving Certification
2- Log Book
3 medical certificate signed by a doctor (within the last two years) stating that you are fit for diving
Please note that as a professional dive center we are unable to cater for divers without the above required legal documents. End Quote
Our group of 4 arrived with none of the above. In fairness, the beauty of the digital era allows for a quick check of certification through the online PADI verification site. This was not done. We did not have log books and we did not have a Doctor note. However, we were welcomed with open arms and asked where we would like to dive. No offer of a refresher course, no offer of a certification check…
Check Dive / Refresher: We requested a check dive / refresher for one member of our group, as she was open water certified 15 years prior and had not dived since. They immediately obliged and set an appointment for a pool review as well as an open water dive. Skills which we had expected to be checked in the pool such as mask clearing, bcd functionality, reg retrieval, clearing and buddy breathing were not performed. A friendly young man put her equipment on and then sent her swimming.
Immediately following the pool escapades, she was taken to the pier for a house reef dive. A different instructor greeted her, set up her equipment, gave a quick briefing and they were on their way. Here as well, no skills, including buoyancy were performed. However, she was happy with the service.
The price was right at €20, the rest was not – not from a long time certified diver perspective, not from PADI, not from CMAS and not from SSI.
The Service: First contact was the salesman, Mostafa – he was professional, friendly and knowledgeable. Instructors (?) / Divemasters (?) were friendly, but arrogant. All Certifications displayed on the wall belonged to one person, the owner – Ahmed A. Salam a PADI and CMAS Instructor. We would prefer to see certifications present from ALL instructors and dive masters.
Certified Diver Dive: Two from our group booked the Salem Express wreck which has a maximum depth of 32 meters for €90 each. Plans were made around the next day excursion and as instructed, the guys were at the dive base by 7 AM the following morning – no one was there. Finally at 7:30 someone showed up to inform that regrettably, Salem got cancelled because it was not paid in time. To make up for it, they graciously offered a free reef dive from the pier and Salem the next day. Salem never happened!
Instead, they dived the El Mina Wreck with New Dino Dive boat. The wreck was good, however, after diving to the non-decompression limit, divers were almost immediately briefed and then told to prepare for the next dive. Basically, no surface break.
The 2nd dive was briefed as a coral block with current on one side. The idea was to dive along the side with no current and then easy ride the current back. Instead, the dive guide (said he was an AI) led everyone straight into the current where they fought against the drift. Three of the four paying certified divers surfaced with headaches. One finished the dive on an octopus, all had to swim 20 minutes back to the boat.
3rd dive – everyone except one of the certified divers refused to dive.
No boat briefing - not told what was included or where the toilet was. Drinks had to be paid for - €2 for a beer, which they tell you after offering and opening.
Lunch was included, rice, potatoes with tomatoes, kofte, grilled eggplant and green peppers. Water, regular coke (with sugar) and orange mirinda were also included.
The diving is amazing, even the house reef was enjoyable; the equipment was excellent. I truly wish I could have written a more favorable review. Hopefully Master Diving Center will take this as a positive indicator to take affirmative action and not as an assault. We look forward to returning, confident that the needed changes will be applied.
If you are a certified diver, please, ask for a refresher – everybody should have one after 6 months to 1 year of not diving, even instructors.
Contact:
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.masterdivingcenter.com
Facebook: Master Diving Center
Telefon: +20 111 7239114
Office Phone: +41 76 338 35 30
Inside Hotel Extension: 1850
Opening Hours (according to their website): 8:15 AM to 6 PM
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Location: Africa > North East Africa > Middle East > Egypt > Hurghada > Makadi Bay > Serenity Hotels > Serenity Makadi Beach > Master Diving Center
