Hurghada

Hurghada

Take a tour with Jesse Haye to Mahmya Beach Resort on Giftun Island, a hours boat ride south of Hurghada. Daily departures from the Sheraton marina jetty every morning around nine o'clock.

"The lovely sandy beach dipping into the sea is equipped with parasols, furnished with natural wood tables and beach mats. Life at Mahmya is a life of paradise. From sunrise to sunset personalized service makes dreams into reality. Within the peace and seclusion of Mahmya, we offer our guests a variety of activities including diving, snorkeling, a well equipped bar and a restaurant. At the Mahmya we are proud to offer the widest possible range of facilities, our guests experience a champagne life style of relaxation, in fact we tempt our guests to make our Resort their home. The Mahmya could well be described as a work of art, however, within the Resort numerous people are artists in their own right".

All underwater photography by Jesse Haye with a "Sea&Sea Motor Marine II" camera, using 35mm, wide angle and macro lenses. Other photography with Olympus IS3000 and Canon F1, T70 and IXUS cameras. Photos copyright 1999 - 2000 Jesse Haye.

Take nothing with you, Leave nothing behind...

Al Alia Tourist Development Hurghada Sheraton Road P.O. Box 1

Tel. & Fax + 20 65 444 806

On the seventh of May, 2000 I returned from Hurghada, for a week of diving with Jennifer and Yehia Safwat. It was great seeing them again, and we attended many "conferences" with our friends in the desert. I was the guest of Ahmed, owner of Andreas Hotel and apartments. Adel Dory organized a party shortly after I arrived one night in a beautiful canyon, deep in the desert where we partied until sunrise. We also went to Giftun islands Mahmya twice and Yehia and I did several dives in the vicinity.

Jennifer and Yehia have their own diving business and are founding members of the 2006 AIDA Freediving World Championships.

Friday, 5 May 2000, the day that the planets of our solar system where aligned with the sun, turned to a nightmare when we were caught in the worst sandstorm to hit Egypt in memory during our return to port at the Marriott Hotel. We were caught in deep water, unable to anchor, with 0 visibility and waves three meters high. Our ship did not have the required compass, radio and life vests, and its electrical systems failed about an hour into the storm. Yehia took the helm and fought the elements for three and a half hours, trying to keep the boat on a due West course, using the compass of one of our dive consoles. On the starboard side (North) we knew to be many reefs and wrecks, two of which we had visited earlier. I prepared the six Russian passengers for abandoning ship, just in case we would be thrown onto the reefs. This could have happened since the engine was overheating and had died two days earlier and consequently had to be towed back to port. Rudderless in a storm with reefs all around would have meant the end, but with the help of Allah we limped into port three and a half hours late, but safe, and to the applause of Jennifer and many other friends and relatives anxiously waiting in port for us. Search parties had been sent out thirty minutes earlier when the storm had died down, but failed to find us until we had port in sight, because of our boats non functioning lights. All in all, it was an incredible exciting week with a some very good adrenaline rushes and another close encounter with the forces of our creator and the dark side.

It was good seeing all of our Egyptian friends again. I thank all of them all for the great times and adventures we shared. Inshallah, we will return soon.