Dimensions Bleues-Ducks Safaga

Ducks Diving Safaga dives from big boats. Onda is 26 m and licensed for 26 people, Phoenix is 28 m for 28, Ghareb is 21 m for 18, and the 14 m Turbo Omar, licensed for 12, takes the half-day trips. Onda carries two toilets, one adapted for disabled guests, and the two largest boats have two entry and exit points. The base goes out up to twice a day to different sites, with a zodiac alongside that can drop divers straight onto a spot the day boat is too big for or that they have always wanted to see.

The brand and the people are German-speaking, but the base is shared. Since 1 May 2020 Ducks and a French team have worked from one base under the joint name Dimensions Bleues-Ducks Safaga, and the French team looks after French-speaking guests. The owner and base manager, Lutz, has been in Egypt since 1994 by the base's account, and is a PADI and SSI instructor who says that diving with children is his greatest pleasure. The founders, Robert and Lydia, still support the base from a distance. Adel, an instructor who came up from ship's cook and has been with the base since 2008, and Alaa, who runs the office and teaches, are among a core team that seasonal staff rejoin each year.

The house reef is 20 m from the base and suits beginners and returning divers. Beyond it the base dives the inshore reefs around Toubia and Abu Soma, outer reefs such as Shaab Sheer, Middle Reef and Panorama, and the Salem Express wreck. Shaab Saiman and the outer Shaab Hamdallah depend on calm weather, so a windy week can mean sheltered reefs only.

Courses follow PADI and SSI guidelines, with CMAS on request: Bubblemaker from 8, Junior Open Water from 10, Open Water from 15 with a certification depth of 18 m, then Advanced, Rescue, Divemaster and Nitrox. Advanced Open Water is a two-day course with five dives. Disabled divers are assisted by dive buddies trained by HSA, and scooter dives are offered.

Guests can stay in the 12-apartment El Manzil hotel and restaurant that the base runs at the entrance to Safaga town, or in the neighbouring resorts, and the base handles the airport transfer. Since 2013 it has also organised week-long dive safaris with a partner operator.

Nervous beginners and first-time divers come up most often. Reviewers describe a calm, patient approach from Lutz and the instructors, flexible handling of families and children, and the house reef as an easy place to start or restart. A friendly boat crew and good food on board are the next themes, and Nitrox between 27 and 30 percent was included in the dive price for one guest. Several reviews name Lutz, Alaa, Achmed and Adel.

Many guests return: one has come since 2003, another since 2009. Reviewers also mention good equipment and tidy organisation, and some say that almost any request is met.

Complaints are few. The recent one is weather: in a windy week in September 2022 the Salem Express was not visited and outer reefs only rarely, and that guest said the base was not to blame. Two reports from May 2000 and May 2001, written when the base ran from a hotel under its founders, criticised dated rental gear, a night-time theft of boat equipment, errors in course theory sheets, short briefings and divers whose qualifications were not checked with a dive.