Day 15: Stella di Mare, Ain Sukhna

We’d heard about the development in Ain Sukhna only recently from friends in Sharm, but had no idea how vast and well managed this ‘new’ resort was. Of course, living in Egypt for a number of years one might easily think that you know where everything is and what the leading resorts are. It seemed inconceivable that a place like Stella Di Mare (www.stelladimare.com) escaped attention for so long. It is at least ten years old and the name is little indication of its far-reaching guest base who visit from several different countries. This was the first surprise, that the resort had a following from such a diverse range of nationalities and all visiting for several different reasons.

It took us nearly ten minutes to ride our bikes from one end of the resort to the other, passing 1,800 villas, a golf course and three hotels with a total of nearly 600 rooms. These hotels are named the Stella Sea Club Hotel, The Stella Grand Hotel and the Stella Golf Hotel, which are four, five and five star respectively. The whole resort runs like a finely oiled machine with the many hundreds of staff all knowing exactly what they should be doing. There are many places which invest heavily in buildings and landscaping but the all-important management and service culture was very apparent in The Stella Di Mare resort (which is Egyptian and Italian designed and owned). We were greeted by Ole Christensen, the General Manager who is from Norway and a keen scuba diver himself.

Ain Sukhna has a new road from Cairo. It is wide, straight and only 100 km from the big city. As a result, the resort is popular for visitors getting away for the weekend. It is also popular for Europeans because it has a long, deep sandy beach with real waves and a tide that exposes a hundred meters of sand banks. There is also a private jetty for a selection of boats used in diving and watersports. Amazingly, this area is found close to the entrance of the Suez Canal, which is not a location normally associated with a five-star resort boasting pristine beaches and clear blue water. Basically, it was built out of the desert alongside the sandy banks of the Gulf of Suez. Industry is significantly distanced not to affect the views and environment of the resort and watching the big ships pass by has become an attraction in itself.

Such is the proliferation of ornamental trees, plants and beautiful green lawns that Stella Di Mare seems to have created it’s own climate! The air doesn’t seem dry and hot around the resort but has a slight humidity and a cool breeze on most evenings. Even in the summer months you can adjust the air-con to almost Arctic temperatures. It's not a resort...it's a small city!

We waited a day to be joined by our instructor friend, Maurizio, from Sharm El Sheikh, who was being posted from the Sharm branch, Stella Sharm Beach Hotel, to join the dive centre in Ain Suknha -the only recognised dive centre in the area. During this relatively quiet day, compared to the demands of the last two weeks, we were given a tour of the whole resort by Walaa Mustafa, the executive secretary of Stella Di Mare. It was here that the scale of the complex became apparent where we were shown huge spa, health and fitness centres, gyms, restaurants, swimming pools, children areas, bars, and an 18-hole golf course designed by Karl Litten.

The course is run by British PGA professional, Chris Geraghty who showed us around. All of the grass in Stella Di Mare, lawns and the course, is grown with unique compositions. This allows it to be watered with 80% seawater and 20% fresh water keeping the stress on the environment to a minimum. It also made it look like a big green carpet, beautifully maintained by the grounds people. They have plenty of competitions and a free coaching session for anyone to attend on a Saturday afternoon. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the club is it’s ‘aquatic driving range’. In most driving ranges you’ll find a wide open grassy area stretching 300m by about 200m wide with several marker signs showing how far you’ve hit the ball . Here, in front of the tee off area was…a lake! In the middle of the lake were the marker signs. Chris explained that the range balls were slightly lighter than usual golf balls so that they could float. Then, every few days, somebody would go in and scoop them all up. Different! The adjoining five star boutique hotel for golfers is stunning and attracts many international golfers to the 6,500 m course. It certainly stands up to the top golf courses found in Europe and beyond and has all the facilities a decent golfer would expect.

And so to the business of diving! The entrance to the Suez Canal is a busy place and along with that, special permission is required by the coastguard because of the security attached to the shipping industry around this vital point. During WW2 in 1941, 82 days were lost in canal closures due to enemy action disrupting allied supplies. Several ships were hit, blocking the canal until cleared by salvage operations. These included OHMS Tynefield, which slowed the famous SS Thistlegorm’s passage from Sha'ab Ali. These days, the coastguard and navy considers a number of threats associated with the modern shipping industry and the need to protect it at the narrow entrance of the Suez. We weren’t able to obtain permission for the wrecks we wanted to visit but we did get to dive on two local reef systems offering a diversity of coral we hadn’t seen elsewhere in the Red Sea. (On most days, permission is given to dive the wrecks. Recent events in Egypt results in a more cautious approach although that is easing as time goes on.) Some species such as a gorgonian flower are normally only found in the Med, but then again the out flow from the Suez canal is connected to the Med 200km to the north. It makes for an interesting exchange of species.

Visibility varies depending on the tide, which was still unusually low following the recent lunar eclipse. On most days it is about 10 to 15m sometimes reaching higher. The topography of the area isn’t like other resorts and mostly it is sandy with occasional areas of coral. Having said that, the coral was very good in quality and very diverse. Ole, the GM, was having a day off and he joined us for the two dives with Maurizio. Today, the sea was calm and the tide was coming in. It was almost like a European beach with a 100 meter stretch being exposed by the low tide. There is no drop-off in Ain Suknha, just a gradual beach that eases its way deeper over a long distance. We moored up on a simple mooring (there are several around the area and you find them by GPS) and dropped in for two drift dives. Currents are small and we quickly found the reefs on both dives.

If you’re reading this and getting worried that you might be run over by a 50,000 ton container ship,then don’t worry, it’s not quite like that! The Gulf of Suez still runs several miles wide and the passageways a long way from any of the dive sites. You might hear a big ship, but just like in Sharm El Sheikh’s Tiran Straits, they are still a long way off!
The centre is ideal for learning to dive and visiting a number of very accessible reefs. It has all the major accreditations expected of an international dive centre and staff who are trained and experienced with hotels of this type. http://www.stelladimarediving.com/

 Now that Egypt is settling down, guests are returning and Ain Suknha is becoming better known as a significant visitor region, the authorities will now hopefully open up a wider area to diving for genuine operators. It just needs some control, licensing and implementation.

Many thanks to Ole, Maurizio, Walaa and the staff of the Stella Di Mare resort for their great hospitality and kindness. Looking forward to seeing you all next time.